Page 89 of Auctioned to the Billionaire Surgeon

“I thought you were introducing her to your parents tonight.”

Count on Leo to be up on everyone else’s business. “I did. I mean, they’d met her before, but this was a dinner for them to get to know each other…”

“But Gia was there?”

I turned. Gia wasn’t smiling at Leo. His infallible charm would’ve worked on her if he’d tried to use it… but he wasn’t. Not even a little bit.

“Yes.”

“And Jelly went home sick.”

“Right.”

“Okay, then.” He looked pissed. “Y’all have a good night. Nice to meet you, Lia.”

“It’s Gia,” I called after him. I don’t know why. He kept walking anyway. “That was strange,” I said, as Gia stood up to join me. “He’s normally the nicest and funniest of all the Salazars.”

“That was a Salazar?” she asked accusingly.

“Oh, sorry. I guess I didn’t say that while he was here.”

“No, you didn’t,” she said, her smile tight. “I’ve wanted tomeet them for a while now.”

“I can introduce you another time.”

“Fine.” Her smiled brightened. “Can we pose for a few pictures before we go?”

Before I could protest or even think about why pictures might be a bad idea, she’d passed her phone to a willing waiter. Then I was forced into some sort of late night photo shoot. We took pictures all around the rooftop of the bar.

Finally, she was ready to go. I had my driver drop her at her hotel. She tried one more time to get me to go to Cayenne with her, but I wasn’t biting. She also tried to get me to go up to her hotel room. I didn’t go for that, either. She might have the type of body I was into and she might be gorgeous, but she had nothing on Jelly. Nothing.

I had to promise that I’d take her out again the next night in order to get her out of my car, and then my driver pulled away from the curb. “Where to, Mr. Lanetti?”

I thought about going to Jelly’s condo but decided it wouldn’t be very nice for my drunk ass to go wake her up. “Just home.”

“Not Salazar Heights, sir?”

“No. My penthouse, please.”

“Certainly, sir.”

Then I proceeded to fall sound asleep, and he had to wake me up when we arrived. I don’t even remember making it upstairs and collapsing into bed, but I know I did. That’s where I woke the next morning with a crashing headache; waves of pain rolling over me. “Oh, fuck.” I sat up and had never been more grateful for a day off.

I took pain medicine, drank a full glass of water, and went right back to bed.

I didn’t even think to text Jelly and check on her.

***

I woke very late in the day to the sound of my phone ringing. Something told me it had probably beengoing off for a while. I reached for it, hoping to see Jelly’s name on the screen. Instead, it was my father’s.

“Oh God.” I wanted to throw my phone across the room and go back to sleep, but I figured I might as well get the conversation over with. “Hello, father.”

“Good lord, Paolo. Why did it take you so long to answer the phone?”

“I was… in the other room.”

“Whatever. Tonight, you need to take Gia out on the town again. Show her the best places. Understood?”