[Roman POV ...]
To my surprise, Bernard stood up from his chair face-to-face with . He wasn’t backing down so easily.
"Yeah, there is a problem," Bernard said as he glared at . "This son of a b*tch bought the woman that was ant for ."
Bernard shoved , and the guard held out an arm to keep him at a distance.
There was no way that I was going to let Bernard make lose my composure.
"Thanks for the invite, Bernard, it’s been a real treat," I said with disgust.
"I don’t need any problem here," the guard said.
"Take back your bid, billionaire boy," Bernard said. "Go buy so other woman with all your f*cking money."
"Tell sothing, were you seriously going to buy Hannah and marry her, Bernard?" I asked him, already knowing the truth.
"That’s none of your f*cking business," Bernard shouted at .
"Knock it off," the guard said, "or I’ll be asking you both to leave, and next ti I won’t be nice about it."
Bernard raised his hands. "It’s fine, we’re good," he said to the guard before taking his seat again.
The guard looked at expectantly. I eyed Bernard, who looked like he had a lot more to say, and I wanted to hear him out. "We’re good," I said to the guard. "Just give a mont."
The guard stepped back so that Bernard and I could talk in a more civil manner.
I leaned down to talk quietly with Bernard. "I know you were never going to take Hannah as your wife," I said.
"Not that it’s any of your damn business," Bernard said, "but what does it matter if was just going to have sex with her for a while and then bring her back here? That’s what this auction is for, and that has nothing to do with you."
I clenched my fists and fought against the urge not to punch Bernard into a coma. "You could have f*cked any of those won at the club for free, Bernard," I pointed out.
"What the hell is the point of buying a woman at a flesh market and using her so carelessly?"
"I will own her," Bernard hissed at . "She will do what I want, when I want, for as long as I tell her to do it."
"You’re one disgusting individual, Bernard Sullivan," I spat his na at him like it was debris that had been stuck in my teeth.
"So, you’re throwing around your billionaire dollars to save the damsel in distress," Bernard said. "What a f*cking hero."
"Dammit, Bernard, it’s not always about money," I said to him. "Stop thinking with your dick and use your head for once."
"F*ck you, Roman," Bernard responded, flipping off.
He was such a child. I couldn’t help myself. "I’m going to do as the auctioneer said and enjoy my prize," I sneered at Bernard before walking away from the table without looking back.
The auction continued during my discussion with Bernard. The guard, who had been waiting for us to finish talking, led past the rest of the tables and off to the side of the stage, where we were t by a tall, sleazy-looking man.
"I’m Jared Fitzgerald," the man said. "I own this club, and you’ve just bid quite a bit of money for one of my won." He held out his hand to . I clenched my jaw at the thought of touching a man who knowingly sold won to other n, but I took his hand and shook it. I just wanted to get Hannah and get out of there. "Co with ," Jared said.
He led down a long hallway and stopped next to an open door that led into an office.
He gestured for to go inside, and I did.
Once we were inside, he closed the door and walked past toward the chair behind the desk. "Please, take a seat," Jared said, indicating the armchair next to . I sat down and t his pale gaze.
He clasped his fingers and leaned his arms on the desk in front of him. "What’s your na and how did you hear about my club?"
"Roman Thaddeus," I said. "I was invited here by soone who apparently frequents your ... establishnt."
He eyed a mont before he continued.
"You bid one hundred million dollars on one of my won, Roman," Jared said. "I need to make sure you’re good for it. What do you do to make so much money? If you do indeed have the money."
I sighed. "My father is Preston Thaddeus," I said. "I’m taking over our family business."
Jared frowned. "Preston Thaddeus? The billionaire? You’re his son?"
"Preston Roman Harcourt Thaddeus the Third" I said, pulling out my phone. "I have the money in my bank account right now. We can do a wire transfer." I opened the banking app on my phone and showed him the amount currently in my main checking account. It was just over two hundred and fifty million dollars.
Jared whistled and leaned back in his chair. "Is soone bringing Hannah in here soon?" I asked Jared.
"Hold on a second, Roman," he said. "Not so fast. You’ll get your bride shortly. I need to make sure you know the terms of the contract." He pulled so papers out of a folder on his desk. "And I also need to make sure that my club is safe."
I wanted to say, ’F*ck you and your contract, Jared,’ but I didn’t.
"That’s understandable," I said instead. He slid a piece of paper across the desk at .
"I need your na, the address where you will keep your bride, and your bank information on this form," Jared said.
I scribbled down my na and the address of my family ho just outside the city, although I actually planned on taking her back to her house.
After completing the bank account information, I slid the docunt back across to Jared to look it over. "Is that all?" I asked.
Jared glanced up at . "There’s still the matter of the contract," he said, placing the docunt that I had just completed at the bottom of the stack of papers. "But first, I want to make sure you understand that I take the privacy of my club very seriously."
I didn’t want to be in the sa room as this deplorable man, let alone talk about keeping his precious, illegal flesh market a secret.
"I won’t tell anyone, and I won’t be coming back," I said. "I’d like to see Hannah, please."
"Very well," Jared said, sliding the contract over to . "The terms of the contract for your bride are written here, including what can happen to you if I find out that you have spoken or perpetrated anything against The Auction House."
l ignored Jared as I flipped through the contract, initialing and signing where the docunt was highlighted. It didn’t really matter to what the contract said at this point. I just wanted to pay the man and get the hell out of there with Hannah. We both needed to get far away from this dump.
I handed the contract back to Jared.
"Anything else?" I asked him.
He reviewed all the docunt pages while I sat there bouncing my knee, full of nervous energy. "Looks good," he said as he stood.
"I’ll make you a copy and then I’ll take you to et your bride." Jared turned to the copier behind him, and I stood, impatient to leave.
He gave my copy and we left his office.
Jared led down a dim hallway and we made a left into another hallway. A lingering scent of sewage greeted us as we continued to walk past a few doors. It slled like a bathroom that had a backed-up toilet and hadn’t been cleaned for weeks. I didn’t say anything to Jared about it. I honestly didn’t think I wanted to know where that sll was coming from.
We stopped at a door labeled as "the break room" in crooked letters. Jared opened the door and gestured for to enter, so walked into the room.
There she was, looking every bit as confident and angry as she had looked on stage. She was seated on a sofa next to two other won who were also waiting for soone to pick them up. Hannah was such a stark contrast to the other two won in her dress and her deanor. They looked so defeated, whereas Hannah looked like she was ready to pick a fight.
Her green eyes t mine.
"Hannah Macalester," Jared said, and she stood, not taking her eyes from mine. "This is Roman Thaddeus." I had hoped recognition would spark in her eyes when he introduced us. It was cocky of to think she would know my na just because my family had a successful billion-dollar business.
Hannah didn’t say anything. She looked over with her intelligent green eyes. Clearly, she didn’t rember from any of her father’s parties, either.
"Let’s go," I said to Hannah, and she followed out of the "break room" without a word.
Jared stepped out of the room and closed the door behind us.
"Before you go, Roman," Jared said, stepping in front of . I hid my annoyance as best as I could. Why couldn’t he just take the money and leave us alone? He extended his hand and said, "it’s been a pleasure doing business with you."
I ignored his outstretched hand, glancing back to make sure Hannah was still with .
"Yeah, a real pleasure. Co on, Hannah," I said, side stepping Jared and keeping Hannah in my line of sight as led us through the hallway with the sickening sll of sewage. We turned right and a guard waved us over to a side door that led onto the street.
Once Hannah and I stepped outside, the guard shut the unmarked door behind us. I exhaled a sigh of relief.
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