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Jules looked down from the stage to the table where Meg sat with Daniel, and she met Meg’s eyes. Meg shook her head slightly. Fifty thousand dollars was too high for them to match. The team monitoring the online bidding also couldn’t help her.
Long seconds ticked by while Gord cajoled the crowd for any additional bids, talking excitedly about how much good this money would do for the shelter. Jules was dizzy and light-headed, unable to breathe and fighting a losing battle with her panic. She could not allow Michael to have any control over her. Not again.
“Final bid is fifty thousand dollars. Going once, going twice—”
CHAPTER9
“One hundred thousand dollars.”
Nik made the bid without hesitation, and the room went silent. The shock was palpable, and even the auctioneer was speechless, although he recovered quickly.
“Can I confirm you want to bid one hundred thousand dollars?”
Jules was on stage, and from his seat at a table beside the stage, he could see she was unsteady on her feet and trembling. She was holding herself together, but he had watched her go from slightly nervous to terrified as the bidding climbed higher. Something about the final bidder had her wound tight and looking very nervous. One benefit of being rich was using his money for good. Tonight he was doing that.
“One hundred thousand dollars.”
Nik repeated his bid with a nod, then turned to stare at the man he was bidding against. At a guess, he was in his early fifties, more than a decade older than Nik. Dressed in a designer suit similar to several of his own, and with a $500 haircut, he was clearly able to afford the bid he’d made. What connection did he have to Jules? There had to be one, as no stranger would have upset her this much. Nik locked eyes with the man, and the glare he received could only be described as malevolent.
Would he bid again? Nik didn’t care. He would pay any amount to keep Jules away from whoever the man was. He looked back at the stage and found Jules staring down at him, eyes wide.
“Will you raise the bid?” the auctioneer asked his competition.
Nik glanced away from Jules long enough to see the man shake his head, looking furious. The glare provided more proof that he was right to protect Jules. Nik allowed himself a small victory smile. He did enjoy winning.
“Sold to the gentleman at table four for one hundred thousand dollars!”
Applause thundered through the room, but Nik’s sole focus was Jules. He gave a small wave to acknowledge the excitement, then strode over to the stage and reached up to grasp her hand. He tugged her to the side of the stage, motioning for her to lean closer. “Come sit with me. You look like you need a drink.”
Jules kept a tight hold on his hand as he led her to the stairs at the side of the stage. She was hiding it well, but he could see she was shaken and unsteady on her feet.
Nik led her back to the table, keeping her hand locked in his, shielding her from everyone chattering excitedly and trying to get their attention. Jules seemed so small and fragile next to him, even though he knew she was anything but. He wished he could wrap his arm around her and hide her from the chaos his bid had created, but how would Jules react? She’d made it clear she wanted to keep their relationship professional. He’d already crossed that line when he’d made his bid, but he had no regrets.
He needed to deal with the crowd, but not until he made sure Jules was OK. He recognized the symptoms of panic when he saw them, and he wanted to give her a chance to recover before anyone else noticed. Arriving at the table, he pushed her gently down into the empty seat beside his.
When he’d asked Nate for a ticket to the auction, it was because he wanted to see how successful it was. Bidding on any of the dates had never crossed his mind, but the look of fear on Jules’s face had triggered a raw need to protect her.
Nik picked up an unused wineglass and poured a glass from the bottle sitting on the table, then wrapped Jules’s hands around the bowl. “Drink this. I’ll handle the crowd.”
The auctioneer—Gord was his name, Nik remembered—had done a good job handling the crowd while he plucked Jules off the stage, reminding people that there were still dream dates left to bid on, and letting them know the auction would continue shortly. Now he was hovering near Nik’s chair.
“That was an impressive and exceptionally generous bid. I thought I knew everyone here, but I don’t know your name?”
“I’m not from Vancouver. I’m Nik Costas.” Nik smiled and waved at the crowd again, hoping the auctioneer wouldn’t dig any deeper. People in financial circles might recognize his name, but outside the closed world of private equity, few people should know who he was—and he wanted to keep it that way. He didn’t want to tip his hand and start rumours that WYCK was working on a takeover. Speculation would affect the share price.
“Nik. What made you bid that much? Are you a big sports fan? Or was there something else about the package that enticed you to bid?” Gord tilted his head towards Jules and gave him an exaggerated wink.
Nik played along, dropping a possessive hand to Jules’s shoulder and laughing. “I do love sports, it’s true. But Ms. Roberts and I are old friends, and I promised her I’d place a bid to support a good cause. And what better cause than the women’s shelter?”
The lie rolled off his tongue, but it did what he needed it to. The crowd went wild, projecting a deeper meaning onto his words. The hint of a prior relationship was enough to get people talking all over the room. With any luck the jerk who’d lost the auction would assume the same thing and leave Jules alone.
“Whatever your reason, you’ve created a lot of excitement with your winning bid. That money will make a big difference for battered women in Vancouver. Now let’s bring out the next date!”
Some of the tension coiling in his muscles eased when Gord finally headed back towards the stage. Nik stood behind Jules, keeping a watchful eye on her as he continued to block her from unwanted attention, never dropping his hand from her shoulder. A couple of media outlets came over to ask for interviews, and the shelter director offered effusive thanks, which embarrassed him a little. He made a ridiculous amount of money and spent little of it. Tonight’s auction was making him think he needed to be a little more charitable.
Jules slowly sipped the wine as he ran interference, and the tremors that rippled through her body ceased. Her posture relaxed under his hand, and her hands stopped shaking. The crowd around them thinned as the auction started up again, although it was unlikely any of the remaining dates would generate the same level of excitement he had created with his impulsive bid.
“An old friend, Julia? Is that what you want people to believe? It seems to me that you’re trying to trade up in the world. I wasn’t good enough for you? Or wasn’t I rich enough?” Contempt dripped from every word.
