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“But before Mikey could deal with Antonio, he and his gang were killed by your husband.” He pointed at Lexi. “Mikey did me wrong, too, but when I got my hands on her, she offered to make a deal, one she knew I couldn’t resist. She brought me you.” He inclined his head at Lexi. “Tieri, her partner in crime, found you at a university in Canada, of all places.” He chuckled.
The crowd hung on his every word; he was thoroughly enjoying this.
“None of this has anything to do with me!” Lexi screamed at him.
“It has everything to do with you, my dear.” Castillo shook his head slowly. “We want to tear down Blackstone, and you’re the first step to doing that.”
“That’s rich.” She made my teeth clench at her bold behavior. “Well, the joke’s on you because I'm no longer a Blackstone wife. They threw me out.” Her eyes blazed as she screamed at everyone in the room. “Bid on that, assholes.”
The room went silent, and Castillo looked at me in confusion. I shook my head to let him know it wasn’t true.
Rosa hissed something in Italian and spat toward Lexi.
“You wanna say that again?” Lexi’s temper flew again, and I wasn’t sure what Castillo might do if things got out of hand any more than they were. I glanced at Chili, who stepped close and loomed above her.
“Think twice about where this could lead,” he grunted at her, and she backed off but still looked completely unhinged.
“You can’t say I didn’t bring the entertainment.” Castillo laughed loudly, and a trickle of half-hearted laughter could be heard at his lame attempt to smooth the situation.
When Lexi looked at me again, I shook my head and glared at her as a warning to calm the hell down. She flipped me off and folded her arms over her chest.
Castillo waved at one of his men to stand next to her in case she got out of control. “Oh, yes.” He pressed his hands together as though to pray and then drew them down in a point toward Rosa. “You should know, Rosa, or Mikey, or whatever you call yourself, that I changed the terms of our deal.”
“Excuse me?” Rosa’s thick accent brushed over her thin, white lips.
“We let Teiri go free.” A dark smile played across his lips as her eyes widened. “You, it turns out, are much more valuable.”
“We had a deal!”
“Deals can be broken. You taught me that.” He waved at his men to have her removed. She held up her walker as a weapon, but they merely brushed it aside with a laugh and lifted her off her feet and dragged her away while she hurled profanities in Italian.
“Never a dull moment,” I grunted into my glass.
“I think it’s time we get down to business,” Castillo called as he stepped up on a raised platform and stood behind a glass podium. I rolled my eyes again. Of course, he’d gotten a podium. “Bidders, get out your checkbooks because this little spitfire is up for grabs. Let’s start the bidding, one million.”
“One point five.” Grim smirked down at Talya, who had suddenly materialized again and held tightly to his arm. Grim glanced down at his phone, probably waiting for his banker to call him. She glanced over at me and made a show to run her hand over his lapel. I looked away, unfazed. I had bigger shit to deal with.
The bids went up and up, and Chili stood back and waited. I pressed the prongs of the fork I still held against my thigh as I sat back and watched. Sweat soaked my collar, and I fought to keep my breath steady. This was a huge move, and it had to go just right.
“Five and a half million, going once, going twice—”
“Six,” Chili called, and I felt my heart drop from where it was wedged in my throat.
“Six!” Castillo beamed with greed. “Do I have six and a half?” Chili stood like stone as the others eyed him, angry he’d jumped in and hadn’t shown his hand until now. It was a bold move to wait until the very end. “Anyone?”
“I’ll do six and a half,” a buyer I didn’t know very well said. I could feel Lexi’s eyes burn through me. Grim tucked his phone away and shook his head at Talya. He wouldn’t bid higher. That caught my attention. Normally, if Grim wanted something, he took it.
“Eight,” Chili countered, and I got to my feet as the bidder looked at Lexi again, then hesitated as my heart pounded in my chest. Then he turned his nose up and looked away.
“Pass,” he called. I let a little pressure off the fork.
I noticed Castillo glance at Roman, who eyed Lexi then shook his head, uninterested. That was impressive. Maybe her wild temper had turned him off.
Though that made me nervous that the other buyers were backing off, I wasn’t sure Castillo wouldn’t suddenly toss the whole bidding game aside and finish her off himself just to toss a curve ball.
“Eight, going once, going twice…” Castillo paused. “Sold!” He pointed at Chili, who merely nodded. I allowed myself to take a breath as he made his way over toward Castillo to seal the deal. Everyone began to disperse, some murmured together, and I caught a few angry glances and unhappy faces, but the deal was done. Drinks clinked and music began to play, and a party atmosphere took over.
I snagged a drink as one of the staff members zipped by and downed the nasty liquid in one swallow. Lexi was thankfully quiet and had sunk down onto a chair.
