Wyatt.
Freaking hell, he’s part of this too.
A sinking realization hits me.
Oh no.
It’s…Aurelia?
Before I can call his name, he disappears in the crowd, probably following the cage.
“Oh my God!” I mutter, squeezing my glass tighter.
“What?” Scarlett asks as another cage is brought to the middle, this time with a guy inside who flexes his muscles,earning himself a few whistles. Mostly from men, too. “You seem distraught.”
“That was Wyatt.”
“I’m aware.”
“Aren’t you a little bit surprised?”
“Not really. These two are attached at the hip. Don’t get me wrong, Wyatt and Ian were always together, but they did have individual best friends. So if Levi is part of something…Wyatt will be on it too.”
A familiar pang hits because I have no idea what it is like to build a friendship like that, where loyalty is everything and never questioned.
“Where is Ian?”
“I have no idea.”
Pondering on it, I decide to go to the bathroom and call Rafael to see if maybe he can talk to Wyatt about Aurelia.
Like, why would he buy her for the night? God knows what kind of humiliation he has planned for her next!
“I need to go to the bathroom,” I tell her, and she nods as she watches the auction, but this time doesn’t participate herself.
Pushing through the sea of bodies, everyone is so eager to see what’s happening on the stage. I walk to the bar and lean on the counter, smiling at the bartender who winks at me. “How can I help?”
“Where is the bathroom?”
“Go straight and then turn to the right, you’ll see huge double doors. I can walk you there if you want.”
“Oh, that’s so kind?—”
I feel the heat behind me as two muscular hands fall on either side of me, caging me between a hard chest and the counter, and I swallow, knowing who’s behind me without turning back. “I’ve got this, Trent.” The guy’s brow shoots up, but he quickly averts my gaze, nods, and moves on to the nextcustomer. “It won’t help her,” he whispers into my ear, his scent filling my lungs and disturbing all my senses because he sounds exceptionally wicked in this place.
I swallow once again and spin around, facing Levi, who still keeps me prisoner in his hold, and the counter now digs into my back as I push harder against it. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Up close, his mask looks even scarier and more sophisticated at the same time, while his blue eyes darken. “And even if I did, who cares? You are a liar.”
“When did I lie to you?” I hate that, on a technical level, he’s right, but he didn’t say anything when he brought me here, so he might as well have lied.
That’s what you get when you talk to lawyers—or future lawyers. They dismiss all your emotional outbursts simply because they aren’t facts, and to that, I say fuck it.
“Rafael won’t be able to help Aurelia, but you don’t have to worry. Wyatt won’t hurt her. He bought her so Ian couldn’t.”
What? How did Ian get into this conversation? “Ian is here?” I thought he had already used up his one-per-year visitation quota.
Plus, how does he have the money to bid on Aurelia anyhow?
“Somewhere. He has connections to have eyes everywhere, and he must have known Aurelia was in desperate need of money.” He clicks his tongue. “Ian has a soft spot for tortured souls.”
