Page 22 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 1

Shall I save you a seat as one of the bidders?

Alana Toussaint

Was she delusional? The woman and her husband had been invited to my wedding to Bianca, for crying out loud. How dare she drive a knife into my heart by suggesting I’d want to bid on a new bride. And so quickly after what she knew had been a horrifying betrayal?

“The nerve,” I sneered as I clicked on the attachment.

A pop-up box demanding a password appeared on the screen. I ground down on my teeth as I typed JULIANNE in all caps the same way it was displayed in her message.

Instantly a headshot of Julianne Myers covered my entire screen with the wordsNew Candidate Entered Into Private Auctiontyped above her head.

The fuck?

I snatched my phone up from where I set it on the desk, scrolled through my contacts, and dialed her number. She answered on the first ring.

“Bonjour,Gio,” Alana greeted in that melodic French lilt.

“What the fuck are you trying to pull sending me this?” I snapped.

“Ah, I can hear in the tone of your voice you have reviewed my email,oui?”

“Yeah, I got your fucking message. What kind of shit is this?”

“I’m afraid what you see is what you get,chéri. I couldn’t turn her away.”

“You’re her godmother, for Christ’s sake. You own the auction. Of course you can turn her ass away. You just say no! Or in a language perhaps you understand better,putain non!”Fuck no!I said in French to make my point crystal clear.

“You are angry,” she surmised.

“Yeah, I’m furious. What were you thinking?” I barked.

“Darling, I understand your frustration as it is shared by two. However, Julianne is her own person with her own mind. And she’s made hers up.”

I opened my mouth, closed it, opened it again, and growled. “Alana,” I grated and took a full, deep breath in to calm my wrath. “You cannot agree to this. She’s pulling something.”

“This I know. Our Julianne is a spitfire. She’s also very convincing,” Alana explained gently.

“Pull her ass out!” I demanded.

“Je suis désolé mon cher."I’m sorry, dear.“It is done. Julianne will be sold to the highest bidder in two weeks’ time. I have saved you a very coveted seat. When the waitlist of suitors sawma petite fleur,my little blossom,they went into a frenzy. Many know exactly who Julianne is and the reputation she will bring as a wife. I’ll leave you to your thoughts. It was good talking to you. Ta-ta for now.Au revoir.”Goodbye,she finished and then promptly hung up.

I sat very still, Julianne’s beloved face plastered across my laptop screen.

My Julianne.

The childhood partner in crime I’d climbed trees with alongside her brother.

The friend I’d shared my fears and woes with.

The girl I’d experienced my first kiss with, out on the docks at the very lake house I was hiding in.

The eighteen-year-old I’d deflowered on the best night of my life. One I later had pretended not to remember.

I’d shoved that experience so deep into Pandora’s box over the past eleven years, I was surprised when shame rose to the surface along with the sweet memory of our single night together.

Julianne was going to allow herself to be purchased in The Marriage Auction. Be bid on by strangers. My mouth dried out and bile rose up my throat.

“Over my dead fucking body,” I swore to myself.

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