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I pull out my phone and message Mia to see what she’s doing later while we wait for the auction. I tell her I’ll bring dinner to her place and ask her what she likes, realizing I don’t know these little things about her that I should. I hope to be buried deep inside her by nightfall.
“You sure you don’t want me to do your bidding?” Angelo side-eyes me, knocking me out of my reverie as I swiftly tuck my cell into my jacket pocket.
I laugh. “Not sure that’s wise. Didn’t you blow a fortune at the last auction you went to? At your own gallery?”
Fynn and Marco snicker at the memory.
None of us were there, but he attended Rayne’s charity auction at Fortress Galleries. He blew thirty big ones on some Harry Winston jewelry and a hundred grand on some ridiculously expensive Chateau Margaux.
“Speaking of which …” Marco says, rubbing his chin, “when are we going to share a bottle of that expensive wine you bought? Been keeping it under lock and key.”
Angelo shakes his head, “One of these days.”
“Saving it for the wedding, bro?” Fynn adds, giving Angelo a wink.
“Not a bad idea. It was all fucking worth it just to have her look at me every time I raised my paddle.”
After being the big buyer of the night, he, of course presented Rayne with the jewelry the same night. My brother has always had a way with women, but only this one has captured his heart.
“You gotta keep your head in the game when things get underway,” Marco tells me out the side of his mouth, ever the practical brother. “Don’t let anyone see how much you want it.”
“I know, Marco.”
“What’s your limit?” Angelo asks me.
“A mill five, maximum.”
He whistles low between his teeth. “Seems reasonable. I wish I’d fucking known about this. We could have put our offer in before the auction and tidied it up nicely.”
“Tell me about it,” I concede. His way would be much easier, but the thrill running through me, mixed with adrenaline and a splash of fear that I might not get it, keeps me on the edge. I want to win.
“You gonna blow a mill and a half on some land with a decrepit barn stuck on it?” Fynn scoffs next to Marco. He just loves bugging the shit out of me. “You could buy anything, and you want a boho hangout where nobody can party or put up fucking stripper poles.”
I lean forward to look at him. “Will you shut the fuck up,” I whisper.
Fynn shrugs. “Just telling it like it is.”
I notice the mystery woman who walked past us turn her head from the front and look directly at us.
Angelo notices, of course, as I see the frown on his face.
He says something to Dom on his right and then talks into his wristwatch. He’s talking to Rocco, who’s somewhere close even though I’ve not seen him yet.
“Is everything okay?” I ask him quietly.
“Everything is fine,” he tells me as the auctioneer starts to speak on the podium, welcoming everyone.
I glance toward her again, but her attention is back now on the realtor.
Show time,I think to myself, taking a deep breath.
I feel Marco chuckle on the other side of me. “You look like you’re about to faint.”
I can’t tell him I saw my future children running around the grounds, chasing one another.
Additionally, I can’t tell any of them that the woman standing by my side is Mia.
Not only will they think I’ve gone completely insane, but they’ll also think it’s because I just got laid after six months and I’ve got my head in the clouds.
