Chapter 3

Caleb

While I wait, prowling back and forth, always making sure that damned black door is in my sight, I sell my pickup. My perfectly restored vintage truck, my baby, and the rare treat I allowed myself. My neighbor had been lusting over it since I got it and jumped on the chance to own it. At any other time, the good Lord himself wouldn't have been able to pry that title out of my hands, but this was Shana. I didn't even blink as he promised to get the payment into my bank that afternoon and I told him I'd have my assistant deliver the keys.

Next, I called a real estate agent to sell my house. She thought I was joking since I'd only closed on it six months before. It was an extravagant purchase for anyone, let alone a twenty-one-year-old. However, my business partner and I had just sold a patent on one of our computer chips, so I was flush with cash. And it was for our future. Shana's and mine.

When she agreed to help me choose the tile, cabinets, and paint colors for the new construction, she didn't realize the significance of her decision. She was designing her own home.

The agent says I'll take a loss, but I don't care. I need cash now, and the new neighborhood on the outskirts of our town is in high demand. As long as the money gets to my bank account before the auction starts, that's all that matters. I call every single person I know and beg for any amount they can give me, promising I'll pay them back. I take out advances on my credit cards.

My last call is to my business partner, and it is by far the most difficult of the day. He's tough as nails and I don't always like how he runs things—in fact, I rarely do. But partnering with him has helped me get ahead a lot quicker than if I took some corporate engineering job straight out of college.

He argues harder than the real estate agent when I ask him to buy me out, but I make him see I won't change my mind and he agrees to wire me the money. Later on, I can buy a new truck, a new house, and start a new business with the knowledge that's still in my head.

But first, I have to get Shana out of this damn predicament she's gotten herself into.

It's a huge amount now showing on my bank app screen. I can only hope it's enough, as I keep staking out the front of the club. It gets closer and closer to the auction time, and the club has been open for at least an hour with no sign of her.

Breathing a sigh of relief, I start to relax. Maybe she came to her senses.

Then I get a text from her and my blood boils.

You're too late. Just go home.

How the hell did she get past me? I look around, spotting an alley that's half hidden by neatly manicured trees, and race down it, only to be faced with the mountainous bouncer again. He shakes his head at me. Not a public entrance.

With a roar, I head back to the front and burst past the doorman, flinging the outrageous entry fee at him, grateful I have enough cash. I shove past the patrons that are already inside, all businessmen eagerly watching the stage. A dark-haired woman is proudly parading back and forth while the men all around me shout out numbers that make my head spin.

Am I too late?

I elbow my way past everyone and find the hallway leading to the back, where three bouncers block the path to the stage. Putting my head down, I try to push past them, but end up being lifted and tossed outside into the alley.

Feeling sick, I stagger back to the entrance, demanding to be let back in. I have to get in there. I have to bid. An older man appears behind the doorman and the bouncers and gives me a once-over. He smirks at me and holds out his hand.

"I'm Nikol Antonov, the owner of this establishment," he says. "Is there a problem?"

"I need to bid on one of the women up for auction," I say, crossing my arms over my chest and meeting his eye.

Antonov snickers and mutters something about not being sure I'll be able to keep up.

"Try me," I growl, trying to restrain myself from pounding him into the ground.

"Let him in," he says, seeming amused. But I grit my teeth, knowing that he's the only way I can get to Shana.

I get up close to the stage just as a curvy redhead flounces off, looking pleased with herself. The guy next to me has the nerve to nudge me with a feral grin.

"Supposedly there's a virgin tonight," he says, all but drooling. His eyes are hard on his lined face that looks like someone roughly carved it with a dull hatchet.

Yeah, there is, but he'll rot in hell before he gets his hands on her. But I'm not so sure I can outbid all these much older men in their designer suits. I get up in the guy's face, pulling back my lips in a snarl as I grab his crisp lapels.

"If you bid on the virgin, I will kill you. The virgin belongs to me."

He laughs but sees I'm deadly serious. He furrows his brow in a scowl, jerks out of my grasp, and disappears back into the crowd. My heart is hammering when the announcer calls out that the virgin is coming out next.

I'm stunned to see my gorgeous girl flounce onto the stage, barely covered. I've always thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world, and it seems like a lot of the men here agree with me as numbers start flying from every direction. For a moment, all I can do is stare at her in a nearly sheer white bra and panties, with lacy thigh-high stockings clinging to her smooth legs. I've seen her in her bathing suits, church dresses, dance recital costumes, sweatpants, and everything in between—but her lush body, barely concealed in all that lace, makes my cock go as hard as steel.

Shit, I need to bid.

I holler out a number to beat the most recent bid and her head swivels at the sound of my familiar voice. The horror on her face when she recognizes me in the crowd is hardly satisfying. Then it turns to anger, but I don't care how mad she is at me when this is over, because I know her. She'll regret this decision the second she's stuck in a room with one of these old perverts fighting over her. She might think this is what she wants, but I know her better than she knows herself.

The battle wages until I'm very close to being tapped out and it's finally down to me and another guy I can't pick out in the crowd since he's too far behind me. When it's my turn again, I throw out my top number. Every last penny to my name.

The voice behind me stays quiet, and Shana and I lock eyes. I can't tell what she's thinking, but all I feel is relief. Then the hatchet-faced man I threatened suddenly steps forward and raises the bid far beyond my reach. Seems like I may just need to kill him after all.

Under the bright stage lights, Shana looks at me with fear in her eyes. It seems like reality is just starting to hit her. She gives me a pleading look that nearly knocks me on my ass. The pain rips through me and I stagger beneath the blow.

I shake my head. It's too late, I lost her. Every last dollar I had wasn't enough.