Chapter 2

TWO

Hugh

I’m going to wring my curvy little assistant’s neck.

The auctioneer looks around the room at the other men, and I glare at them, warning all of them with my eyes not to fucking bid on my girl. Finally, the auctioneer calls for the end of the auction, and I hold my breath as Letty is escorted off stage. I hate that other men got to see her like that. It’s why I bid so high, so fast. I needed this auction to be over with fast. Hell, I would have loved to stop it before it even began, but Letty wasn’t answering my calls or texts.

Normally, I would never be caught dead in a place like this. I never thought that I would buy a woman or ever even be at an auction, but there isn’t anything that I wouldn’t do for Letty.

I’ve been pissed off and on edge ever since I found out that Letty had put herself up for auction here tonight. I had only found out about it a few hours ago, and at first, I didn’t believe it, but then I remembered how weird and off Letty had been acting all day. I decided that I couldn’t risk it, so I called around and got myself an invitation for the auction tonight.

“Congratulations, sir. Now, if you’ll follow me.”

I nod stiffly and watch as Letty is ushered off the stage before I turn and follow the man backstage. He leads me down a dark corridor and into a room. My eyes lock on Letty and she looks nervous to see me.

“It will be just a moment,” the attendant tells me, and I nod.

He closes the door slightly, and Letty and I stare at each other.

“You bought me,” she says, breaking the silence between us.

Of course, I did. There was no way in hell that I was going to let another man win what’s mine.

“I wasn’t about to let another man win you,” I tell her through gritted teeth. “Do you have any idea who else was out there tonight?”

She shakes her head, her eyes nervously darting back towards the hallway.

“We need to go,” I tell her, trying to keep my eyes on her face and not her curvy body that’s on full display in that outfit.

“We have a room ready for you,” the same attendant says as he comes back into the room. “If you’ll follow me.”

I frown, wondering what we’re still doing here. Maybe I will go to that other room to pay, and then we can get the hell out of this place.

The attendant turns to leave, and I growl, grabbing a blanket off the back of a chaise lounge and wrapping it around Letty’s shoulders. I keep her close as we follow him down the hallway, through a few doors, and into a room with a giant king-size bed.

I see Letty’s eyes lock on the bed, and her pale green eyes widen.

“What is this?” I ask.

“So you can verify her virginity,” the attendant explains, and I want to punch him right in the face.

“Excuse me?”

“Each auction that features a virgin requires that the winner verifies his purchase and is satisfied before leaving the auction house.”

I hate how he keeps talking about Letty as if she’s property.

“That isn’t necessary,” I try to argue.

“I’m afraid I must insist. It’s protocol and part of the rules that you agreed to when you joined the auction.”

I grit my teeth at the reminder. The truth is that I didn’t even bother to read the rules. I just knew that I needed to win Letty, and there wasn’t anything that I wouldn’t agree to in order to do that.

I glare at the attendant and nod.

“Fine.”

“We’ll give you a few minutes,” he says as he backs out of the room.

I glance at Letty and see her cheeks are stained with a deep red blush. I want to tell her that we don’t have to do this, any of this. We can lie and say I checked and walk out the door.

Before I can get any of that out, though, she turns to face me, sets her phone and small purse down on the nightstand, and lets the blanket drop.

“Where do you want me?” She asks.

A million different answers are on the tip of my tongue, but I bite my tongue. I swallow hard and debate what to do now. I have my dream girl, she’s mine, but all of this is my worst nightmare.

I need to figure out a way to get us out of this situation, but first, we need to get out of this room.