Page 82 of Auctioned to the Billionaire Surgeon

“Sorry.” I stood up, pulled the chair next to me out, and turned to the woman. It took everything I had in me not to gasp in horror.

The woman smiling up at me was the hot brunette who’d appeared out of nowhere at Cayenne months ago and sucked me off before going up on stage to fuck others. “Hello, Paolo.” She held her hand out to me as if I was going to bring it to my mouth and kiss it, Regency style.

“Hello.” I shook her hand, confused. Mama and Dad were smiling up at us as if we were a couple.

“Paolo, you remember Gia Santoro don’t you?”

Oh, fuck.Thiswas Gia Santoro? I felt almost faint. “Yes. Of course, I do. How are you?”

The two of us sat down. “I’m doing great. I’m in town for a few weeks.”

“Gia is thinking of settling in West Bay permanently,” Mama shared, leaning forward and patting Gia’s hand.

Dad looked at Jelly. “Paolo and Gia grew up together in Italy before he left for boarding school in America.”

“Oh, how nice. Were you friends?”

“The best of friends,” Mama lied through her teeth, and I saw a flash of insecurity cross Jelly’s beautiful face.

“We sometimes rode bikes together,” I said, taking my mother’s claim down several notches.

“I might have had a big crush on Paolo, too,” Gia giggled, covering my hand with both of hers.

“It’s nice to catch up with old friends,” Jelly said lamely when no one else spoke for a while.

“It sure is. Who’s your friend?” Gia asked, staring at Jelly.

“This is Jelly Pinkoe,” I said absently, distracted by the layers of unspoken conversation going down at our table.

“Jelly?” Mama looked taken aback. “I thought you said her name was Ann.”

“It’s my nickname,” Jelly spokeup quickly.

“How… quaint.”

Jelly’s smile froze, but she didn’t let it slip. There was a commotion by the door when Reynolds and Nadine entered the room. “Oh, please excuse me. I need to go say hello to my friend. It was very nice to meet you.” Her smiled took in my parents and Gia as well.

They watched as Jelly crossed the room to Nadine, who practically knocked her down with her enthusiastic hug.

“She’s friends with the mayor’s wife?” Dad sounded a little more impressed.

“Yes, they’re best friends. They grew up together,” I said.

“Didn’t the mayor meet her at a gentleman’s club?” Mama asked, a sour expression on her face. “I heard she was a…” she leaned forward and whispered, “stripper.”

“Goodness,” Gia looked properly scandalized, and I fought to keep from rolling my eyes.

Dad’s impressed look fell away.

“Well, I see some colleagues I need to speak with. I’ll see you at dinner later this week. Gia, it was nice to see you again.”

They all smiled at me, and I walked off as quickly as I could.

CHAPTER THIRTY

Paolo

I was so disturbed to discover that Gia Santoro was the hot brunette who’d sucked me off in Cayenne the night I’d met Jelly, that I bypassed work colleagues and headed straight for Jelly.