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Tate came back. “Eight hundred.”
The bald man raised a curious eyebrow and doubled down. “Nine hundred.”
My blood was boiling. Everything was happening all at once and in proportions way too large for me to fathom.
For a split second, I saw Tate sigh, as if in exasperation.
“One million.”
He threw out the number so offhandedly it took me a while to wrap my head around it.
Tate had just offered one million dollars to take my virginity.
Oh. Shit.
The bald man appeared to consider this, and then with a scowl, dropped his paddle.
“Fine,” the man spat with disgust. “Take her.”
Tate, who had been avoiding my eyes, finally looked at me head on.
“I will,” he said.
CHAPTER 17
Tate
OKAY, SO… I have no idea what came over me.
It felt like no time had elapsed between seeing Kiki behind that glass and agreeing to spend a million dollars on her. Had I blacked out and been taken hostage by some kind of ghost-demon who had a yen for virgins?
No, that’s not fair. Because despite how quickly the whole thing had unwound, I knew exactly what I’d been thinking. It was:
I need to save her.
Mac had been bidding the highest on her, his bald head glistening with sweat. He wasn’t a good guy. The things he might have done to Kiki made me shudder, even now that I knew he wouldn’t get the chance to try any moves.
The only gentlemanly thing for me to do was bid, thus saving her from that monster.
Right?
She just looked so… scared.
And the money was nothing. A million? Please, that was less than a week’s salary. I was only trying to finally use my wealth for good.
Okay, fine, maybe I also wanted to sleep with her. So what? She was beautiful, heavenly. My heart was in the right place, and if I reaped some small benefit from that, it seemed only fair.
A man behind me clapped my back.
“Damn, son,” he chuckled through a dry throat. “You must really want the pussy, huh?”
“Don’t talk about her like that. She’s a human.”
“Okay, okay. Jeez. Maybe you’ll calm down after you fuck the virgin.”
I stood up abruptly and as I scooted out of the aisle, I called back to the man.
“Unlike you, I don’t need to pay for women.”
Another guy, with long white hair and tinted glasses, laughed. “Buddy, you just did.”
My cheeks burned as I marched to the auctioneer, hands clenching and unclenching at my sides.
“Let me take you backstage,” he said demurely, and led me to a nearby door.
I knew Kiki was on the other side, and that she would be less than pleased by my conduct. I swallowed hard and hoped for the best.
The auctioneer bade me to follow, and in moments, I was standing in a small backstage waiting area with Kiki.
“I’ll leave you to it,” he said, moving back to the door.
She was aflame. Not literally, but between all the shades of red, she might as well have been.
“What the fuck did you just do?” she screamed at me as soon as the auctioneer had left.
“Saving you, Kiki.”
“By bidding a million dollars?”
“Just… come to my car. I can explain somewhere more private.”
“Oh no no, you’re gonna explain—”
“Listen,” I exhaled, tired of fighting. “If you want the money, your contract stipulates that you have to go to the next location of my choosing. I’m not gonna touch you without your permission, but I do need you to hear me out.”
“Who said I wanted your money?”
I guffawed. “Nobody who doesn’t sorely need the cash goes to these things. Besides, they never auction a girl twice, under the assumption that if she’s been auctioned once, regardless of what she says, she’s already slept with the buyer.”
Kiki appeared to think this over, then with a little huff and the stamp of her foot, she grabbed a khaki coat from the room’s only seat and flung it on herself.
“Fine,” she muttered. “Let’s go.”
We took the elevators down to the ground floor in disconcerting silence, her eyes affixed to the ground the whole ride.
After disembarking, she stormed through the crowds and out onto the curb, where the hot night air gently blew her hair back. She wore a stern pout. Though I knew it was meant to be intimidating, it reminded me more of an angry pug. The thought made me laugh, which only made her glare with more rage.
I’d called my limo on the way down, and he pulled up alongside the curb in seconds.
Without a word, Kiki clambered inside.
Midway into the limo, her tall black heel caught on the limo’s edge, and she tripped forward. I reached out an arm and steadied her. After she regained her balance, she shook off my hand and entered the limo.
Annoyed, I followed behind her, sliding onto the leather seat and slamming the door.
Kiki wasted no time.
“Okay, we’re in your stupid limo. Now, I repeat: What the fuck were you thinking?!”
