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Why was she thinking like this all of a sudden?
Because she was still upset about Mateo. Only upset didn’t seem to cover the seething mass of emotions that twisted and turned whenever she thought about that afternoon. She felt guilty, because at the beginning of their encounter she truly hadn’t wanted to give the notebook back to him. Shehadn’tbelieved that he’d deserved it more than her and facing that thought was difficult and painful.
Mateo’s words had conjured a side of the Professor unknown to her and it seemed he was not entirely blameless in the one-sided relationship she’d seen and that was also difficult. But Mateo had also been wrong about his father not being bothered to be there for him, and once she had returned the octant to the Iondorran palace, she would make sure that Mateo not only had the notebook, but also understood that the Professor had bitterly regretted some of his choices.
And between anger and guilt, she was annoyed with herself for the utter extravagance of the dress she had eventually bought. She’d let Mateo’s taunt get to her and, even though she hadn’t quite understood what he’d meant by it, it had sunk teeth into her vanity and hurt.
She turned side-on in the mirror, casting a critical eye over what she saw. Red sequins covered every inch of the material that clung to her skin like water, flashing and sparkling in the bright bathroom lights. The deep v on her chest was replicated on her back, and the ruby-rich red colour of the material made her skin glow. The skirt flared out from the knee and pooled in a half-train behind her.
A secret feminine part of her was both giddy and thrilled, she really did look good, but the other more practical part chided the waste of it. Would Mateo even see her in it? The warning he’d left her with...did that mean he intended to come to the auction? Evie was confused by her feelings. That she wanted him to see her like this, that she wanted him to...wanther.
Not that it mattered. It wasn’t as if she would ever act on it. Mateo had already proved how utterly unsuitable he was. Someone like him would never understand someone like her. She rolled her shoulders and pulled herself together. Tonight, she would bid on the octant, tomorrow she would travel to Iondorra, and the following day return to her flat in London, where her normal life would resume.
Barely an hour later and Evie found a seat near the large, heavy-curtained window as the seats at the auction quickly filled up. Tuxedos, velvet, silks, and jewels were as on display as the items up for sale. While the evening auctions often held fewer lots than those in the daytime, the money changing hands that night would likely exceed sixty million, and people dressed for the occasion. People that, she was sure, would bid on the octant.
She sat through the early lots trying not to think of where Mateo was. Casting her eyes almost constantly around her, she’d not yet seen him. Maybe he wouldn’t show up after all?
‘Lot Thirty-Two, ladies and gentlemen, an unusual octant thought to have belonged to the great pirate Loriella Desaparecer.’
A gentle ripple of laughter broke out, cresting against her like a wave, and Evie fought back the irritation and frustration it caused in her.
‘While octants of the period usually sell for much less, this unique piece made with gold accents not only increases interest, but so does the inscription, connecting the item to the British royal family. Owing to significant interest, we’ll start the bidding at five hundred thousand.’
There was a gasp across the audience. Even Evie hadn’t expected the guide price to be so high. It differed from what was in the catalogue. A gentleman near the front started with the first bid, she countered, and so it began. The three or four other interested parties soon dropped away as the bidding got closer and closer to one million. Her heart was pounding and a cold sweat was breaking out across her skin as they got closer and closer to the Queen’s financial ceiling. Evie had a certain amount to play with, but any more would bring too much attention to the item and Iondorra still couldn’t risk anyone discovering their interest.
Back and forth she went against the man in the front, who didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. Unease filled her as they were now at the nine hundred thousand mark. So much for avoiding attention. The other bidders were now watching a tennis match as she and the man bid back and forth. She wanted to scream. Gripping the white card with her bidding number on it, she raised it to bid nine hundred and ninety thousand.
Her heart beat painfully in her chest as she saw the man waver. It was going to be hers. She would win the bid on the auction and be able to return to Iondorra with it. The Queen would be able to give her father the peace he deserved and she might be able to use it to find proof that would finally validate the Professor’s research. Wet heat pressed against the back of her eyes and she willed herself not to cry with hope.
‘The bid is with the lady in the middle. Back to you, sir?’
She bit down on her lip. She couldn’t afford to bid any more if he chose to counter.
The man shook his head.
‘Going once...’
She stifled the sob of hope and excitement that filled her chest. She was going to do this. She was going to get the octant.
‘Going twice...’
‘Two million dollars.’
In unison with every other person in the bidding gallery, Evie turned to look at the man who had just doubled her bid and the gasps of shock were drowned out by the sound of blood rushing in her ears.
There, at the top of the aisle at the back of the room, dressed in a black tux, sexy as sin with his hair in effortless disarray, was Mateo Marin, who had just bought the octant for two million dollars.
CHAPTER FIVE
MATEOMARINFIXEDhis stare on the auctioneer, because if he caught even the merest glimpse of Evelyn Edwards he might just implode. He should have spent the last six hours since he’d seen her working on the prep for his meeting tomorrow with Léi Chen. The merger would be a real coup if they could pull it off, bringing untold solidity to his financial base. That security...it was important to him. But instead, he’d been distracted by thoughts of Professor Edwards, so much so that he’d sent at least five emails to the wrong recipient and had nearly caused an internal incident. Henri had finally got on the line and told him to switch off his laptop, making him feel even more frustrated. And now? The victory he thought he’d feel at snatching away the precious item she’d clearly come to buy from her at the last second...it hadn’t helped one bit.
Evelyn turned to glare at him, ignoring the gossips in the seats beside her flicking their gazes between the two of them. Eyes rimmed with kohl made the deep chestnut of her irises glow golden. Her lips were a shade more intense, not powerfully rouged, but accented in a way that made her look freshly kissed. The subtle make-up stirred far too much of a reaction in him and he made to turn away, and then she stood up.
Cristo.
Tension hummed through his body as if he’d been shocked by mains electricity and he was forced to almost violent levels of self-control to stop himself from doing something monumentally stupid like reaching for her the way he had in Spain.
A red shimmering film clung to a body he’d not even had the faintest idea about. Hidden beneath the trousers and shirts he’d seen her wear was a body that rooted him to the spot. He failed terribly to stop himself from consuming her with his gaze, lingering over the span of a waist he wanted to encase with his hands, the shoulder he wanted to slide the silken strap of her dress from, the breasts he wanted to take into his mouth and hear her cry her pleasure. And then, when she started to walk towards him, the sheer sensuality of the glide of her hips on those incredible heels, and he had to turn away or embarrass them both. It had been too long since he’d allowed himself to be distracted by a woman and he had no intention of starting now.
