Page 56 of Auctioned To Be Mine

She looked back out at the city. I thought about leaving a life of luxury behind for one that mattered to her. That was brave. Principled. I didn’t know if I had that kind of courage.

20

VICTORIA

Istood on the sidewalk outside my building with my overnight bag on my shoulder and watched a black SUV pull up. Callum got out of the passenger side to open the door for me. I couldn’t believe he convinced me to actually go to New York with him. I was nervous. I hated being nervous.

The SUV took us to the private airport. Again, not surprised, but it didn’t help my nerves. I had been on private jets before. More times than I could count, actually. The novelty had worn off before I was ten. But that was a different life and a different version of me.

The interior was exactly what I expected from a family like this. Cream leather seats arranged in clusters. A polished wood table along one side. Soft lighting and a television mounted on a wall that separated the cabin. A flight attendant greeted us.

“Window or aisle?” Callum asked as we moved through the cabin.

“Window,” I said.

He gestured me toward a cluster of four seats near the middle of the plane. Drew had already claimed the seat across the aisle. He nodded and said hello but there was something on his phone that had his full attention.

A woman appeared. “I’m here!”

She looked at me and her whole face lit up. “Victoria!”

I looked at Callum. He smiled at me. “Victoria, meet my sister, Cleo. Cleo, go easy. You’re a lot to handle.”

She waved him off. “It’s so nice to have another woman in the family.”

In the family?

The engines started and the plane began to move. I watched the Los Angeles sprawl fall away beneath us through the window.

“You okay?” Callum said quietly, close to my ear.

“Perfect,” I said.

Once we leveled off, the flight attendant brought coffee and a spread that was significantly more impressive than anything an airline had ever offered me. Fresh fruit. Pastries. Yogurt with a little jar of honey beside it. I helped myself to a croissant and tried not to be obvious about how much I was enjoying it.

Drew was in the front half of the cabin, still sulking or staring at his phone. Callum patted my leg and got up. “Be right back.”

He disappeared up front and sat next to his brother.

“So, tell me how you ended up working for Betty,” Cleo said. “I’ve met her once before but I doubt she remembers.”

I gave her the abbreviated version. Cleo listened and nodded.

Cleo had the kind of energy that was warm and inclusive. She was the sort of person who made you feel like you’d been friends for years within the first five minutes. I liked her immediately.

“I love my brothers. I would die for every single one of them. But I grew up completely outnumbered and I have been actively recruiting women to our side ever since. I am so glad you’re here.”

I smiled. “Thank you.”

She refilled her coffee and settled back in. I got the sense she was just getting started.

“Okay, I should prepare you for New York.”

“Prepare me?” I asked nervously.

“The family. It can be a lot.”

“I know the broad strokes,” I said. “You, Mandy, the cousins.”