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Except he wasn't. I hadn't expected him to grab me by the throat.
I'd still rather be here with him than with any of the others, with their greedy eyes and too-big bank accounts.
But I couldn't. Maybe the laws of society had broken down for these people but I couldn't bring myself to do that while bound and trussed naked on a stage before them.
I sobbed when the light turned to me and the bidding started. Lost my cool, lost my edge, lost my detachment. I cried.
At 5.5 million, the blond man with the incredibly cruel eyes smiled up at me.
I don't remember losing consciousness but maybe you never do. All I could remember was waking to hear Cole talking low and earnest with someone who sounded angry but as if he'd already lost whatever battle they were having.
When my vision focused again, I saw him talking with the man who had won the auction for me, shaking his head, clearly looking for agreement and finally he said, "You're a junior here. I can stop you from taking her without giving you anything in return."
The blond's mouth looked like a shark's, predatory and somehow angry.
Cole went on. "She's not ready. I will honor our agreement when she is and deliver her to you personally but for now, she goes nowhere. Not this night, not this week, not this month, and most likely not this year. Are you going to challenge me on this?" His voice alone appended sweeping insults to the end of the statement.
The blond snarled something in return about collecting in January and stalked away, leaving me shivering with relief and cold. It was Cole who climbed up the stairs to the makeshift stage and touched my face. I couldn't have hated him more at that moment but I leaned my head into the touch, my eyes locked with his, my mouth slightly open, lips parted as I breathed through the residual nausea. "I bought you," he said, as if to himself. "You're mine." There was no compassion in his voice.
