Page 20 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 1

“Julianne, there’s more to the contract than just a simple ‘I do.’ You’ll also be expected to willingly share your body. All marriages must beconsummatedwithin two weeks of thewedding. The ceremony must take place, and the marriage certificate signed by an officiant no more than thirty days after the contract is signed. Do you understand what I’m saying? You will not fully be your own person any longer. You will be one half of a couple. A married couple.”

I didn’t exactly love the idea of becoming intimate with a stranger, but it’s not like I was scared of the idea. I’d had plenty of casual hookups. Sex was sex. I had a healthy libido. It was something everyone needed to take the edge off. At least in my experience. Aside from my first sexual encounter, which I’d locked away in a vault within my mind and would not be spending time thinking about.

“And what does Giovanni think about all of this?” she asked, speaking of the devil, the one person I’d been praying she wouldn’t bring up.

My nostrils flared at the thought of Gio, and I fisted my hands, desperate to hold back my anger.

“How should I know? I told you, he hasn’t been seen since everything went down. The night he found Bianca fucking my brother, you know, the day before he was supposed to marry the wicked witch of the West, he walked away and never came back. No one’s heard from him. I tried his penthouse in New York, even got the manager to do a wellness check. He wasn’t there. His assistant is the only one who knows anything about him and she’s not sharing. Apparently, he threatened to remove her from her position if she did.”

“Mon Dieu,”My God, Alana fretted.

“Yeah. I’m all alone.”

All alone.

I closed my eyes and shivered as the realization hit me as fast as a car going fifty miles per hour. Everything I’d ever known was gone. All that I worked for these twenty-nine years, gonethe moment my parent’s charter plane crashed into the side of a mountain overlooking the Swiss Alps.

And then there was Gio. I couldn’t allow myself to think about him or our past. I’d spent years getting over what happened between me and my brother’s ex-best friend. Besides Alana and my therapist, I’d never told a single soul. And I never would. He didn’t remember it anyway.

“You’re never alone,chéri. You will always have me,” Alana vowed with a confidence I believed.

And I did have her. She’d been a kind, intelligent, and compassionate presence in my life. I didn’t see her regularly or often, but she’d always been available when I called. And she’d visited our family throughout the years when her schedule permitted. Alana even attended my high school graduation party and then again when I graduated with my bachelor’s. She also sent me two dozen roses and a pair of diamond earrings when I secured my MBA from Columbia University. Alana was like extended family who lived abroad. You didn’t see them all the time, but you loved them from afar and gloried in the time you had with them when you had it.

“Then prove it. Put me in the next auction. Help me secure my future. You did it for my mother all those years ago. Until she died, she was the happiest woman in the world. She’d lived her dream life until it was cut short at the young age of fifty-two. Help me find my happily ever after, Alana. Please.”

“Julianne…”

“Please,” I begged, desperation coating my plea.

“I’ll do it.” Alana sighed deeply.

I let out the breath I was holding. Three years of being married to a wealthy man would be nothing. I’d spent more years as an undergrad striving for a perfect GPA. I could be a doting wife while I built my new empire and got my revenge on my brother.

“On one condition.” Her response was ominous.

“And that would be?”

“A private auction. Held immediately following my scheduled event in two weeks’ time. There will be no more than five bidders. All personally chosen by me. And you will agree to marry whoever is the highest bidder,chéri. Sight unseen, just like everyone else. Alas, as your godmother and a dear friend to your parents, I have a vested interest in your happiness and well-being. Therefore, I will choose wisely.”

“Fine,” I agreed instantly. “I trust you to put my wishes and desires at the forefront of your process.”

“Be careful what you wish for,ma petite fleur. You just may get it.”

Episode 8

Save My Seat

GIOVANNI

Grief was a fickle thing. One minute, I would be completely fine, going about my day-to-day activities as I would any other time. Then I’d catch a scent on the breeze, see a happy couple smiling in a frame on my bookcase, and I would be reminded of what I'd lost. When that moment hit, it was like I’d been gut-punched. My stomach would tighten, abdominals flexing against the invisible intruder. The rest of my body would realize something was amiss and would react accordingly. A sudden ache would throb against my temples. Deep, unending fatigue would coalesce in my veins, a sorrow-filled cocktail of sadness and emptiness.

Everything just feltheavy.

Before my parents left this earth just under three months ago, I would have said I had the perfect family. A stunning fiancée I was head over heels in love with. A best friend I could count on for anything. Extended members of my familial circle, a successful empire, and more money than I could ever spend in one lifetime.

Now, I had nothing.

All of it, gone.

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