first-class merchandise. Come now, surely someone will outbid the lady herself.”
Time wasn’t moving or maybe it was. More bids came and went as others called again for the silk to be removed.
“Two and a half million,” a tall man with dark skin said, stepping to the front of the crowd. “And she’ll accompany me back to my homeland.”
My eyes widened. “What? No. This is one night.”
“We have two and a half million,” Mr. Knapp said with a grin. “While this was meant to be a one-night arrangement, we here at Malaking Kuta are always willing to make exceptions. As luck would have it, the contract Ms. Pierce signed could be open for interpretation.”
My flesh prickled with goose bumps as the room began to swirl.
What was happening?
I eyed the edge of the pedestal. I could make a run for it, but then what?
“My offer stands,” the tall gentleman said.
“Going once. Going twice.”
“Five million.”
A hush fell over the crowd before it erupted, blooming into a symphony of murmurs and gasps. Through it all, only one man came into focus. The man who had just bid five million for me.
He was the same man who’d earlier held my stare. Cameron Kidwell stepped forward until he was in the front of the crowd beside the other bidder.
His dark eyes were more focused than they’d been a few minutes earlier. He wasn’t looking at me, but at Mr. Knapp. In his tuxedo, Cameron was an incredibly handsome man, his shoulders broad, chest wide, and waist trim.
Sometime over the course of the last few years, he’d changed. He was still intimidating, but there was more. There was energy that permeated from him, powerful and steady. His presence commanded the room.
“You heard my bid.” Cameron lifted his long leg, stepping up to beside the podium and turning toward the crowd. “Five million for this woman. I would suggest not countering; however, that is the way Mr. Knapp’s entertainment is done. Last chance, do I hear any?”
Even the man who had bid before shook his head.
“Mr. Knapp, do your job.”
Booker Knapp lifted his hand. “Ladies and gentlemen, remember we have two more excellent specimens yet to be auctioned. The night is still young.” He turned to Cameron. “Very well. Five million, going once, going twice.” He took a deep breath before bowing graciously at the waist. “Congratulations, Mr. Kidwell, may your deepest fantasy come true.”
Cameron offered me his hand. “Briana.”
“I—I...” Words didn’t want to form.
“Take her away. We have another to take her place.”
I placed my hand in Cameron’s. His long fingers surrounded mine as he helped me to the floor. Before leaving the spotlight, he unbuttoned the jacket of his tuxedo and without a word, removed it and wrapped it around my shoulders.
The spicy scent of his cologne mixed with the fresh aroma of bodywash filled my senses as the jacket enveloped me. With Cameron’s hand at the small of my back, we took a few steps. Before we reached the side stage, another woman passed by wearing a silk similar to the one I had been told to wear. Her eyes were red from tears, yet she continued to walk to where I had been standing.
Had she been given the same choice, dignity or hog-tied?
The crowd began their cheers and calls.
I was forgotten by all but one patron—the man who arranged my sale.
Curtis stepped from behind the side curtain. Avoiding my gaze, he spoke only to his brother. “Look at this, my little brother is taking sloppy seconds.”
Before I could speak, Cameron’s fist connected with Curtis’s chin.
“Oh,” I gasped as my fingers came to my open lips.
Curtis staggered backward before standing straight and rubbing his chin. “Don’t give her back broken.”
Cameron’s neck straightened—tendons and cords coming to life—with the obvious restraint he was enlisting to not hit Curtis again. “Goodbye, Curtis. Go back to Detroit. Briana’s condition is no longer your concern. I’m not giving her back.”
This time, Cameron reached for my hand and escorted me away.
The black velvet sky sprinkled with millions of stars came into view as the Alpine lift moved farther and farther away from the mansion. It wasn’t until we were near the beach that I finally spoke. “I don’t know if I should thank you or hate you.”
Cameron’s lips quirked upward. “There’s a good chance that before the night is through, you’ll do both.”
CHAPTER SIX
Cameron
She walks around the hut with its fifty-thousand-dollar artwork and profusion of fresh tropical flowers. It’s a beautiful place. She belongs in a beautiful place, one without