Page 19 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 1

If anyone could understand what I was going through, it was Alana. She was my godmother, after all. More importantly, one of my mother’s closest friends and confidants throughout the many years they’d known one another.

“My entire life is wrapped up in the company, Alana. It is my birthright. Ever since I was a little girl, it’s all I wanted to do. Work the family business, right alongside my parents and their best friends. It’s what I went to college for. What I devoted every hour of my life to since I graduated six years ago. I built up the clients to what they are today, and my parents knew that.”

“I know. And I can understand your anger with them not leaving you a percentage of the company,” Alana agreed.

“Brenden and Gio were supposed to take over in a few years as CEO and CFO when our parents retired. I was their VP.Me.The person who trained her entire life for the role. And then hurricane Bianca rolls in and poof! My brother fucks over his best friend. Giovanni hasn’t been seen anywhere. All four of our parents are dead. And my brother is married to a viper. A heartless, cutthroat bitch who everyone thinks is an angel.” I pressed my thumb and forefinger to my temples as I paced my high-rise apartment in Manhattan, located walking distance from our corporate headquarters.

“What is your plan, Julianne? Enter into the auction for what purpose?” Alana asked, intrigue threaded through her tone.

I stopped pacing and grinned. I could hear in her voice that she was going to help me. Alana was nothing if not dependable. Plus, she was the most impressive businesswoman I knew. Once she understood the position I was in, she would do as I asked. I just needed to tread lightly.

“You know my entire portfolio of investments is locked in FM Enterprises. Most of my money. I’m not about to sell my interest,my birthright, to a stranger. That’s not what my parents would have wanted. But since Brenden and Gio are technically the co-owners per our parents' will, I need to find a way to get back on top.”

“And how do you propose to do that,chéri?” Alana asked.

“First step is to hook me a bidder for millions of dollars. I’ll use that money to start up a competing business. One that—if things go as planned—FM Enterprises can buy into later or absorb into our larger umbrella.”

“And how would things go as planned?”

“Eventually, I’ll get Brenden to see who Bianca really is and what she’s done to our family. My hope is that one day he will figure out Bianca is nothing but a backstabbing, conniving, heartless wretch who needs to be kicked to the curb, not worshipped on a pedestal like some Greek goddess. And then he’ll come crawling back to me for help.”

“You could sell the estate,” she countered.

“I can’t believe you’d suggest such a thing.” I choked on my reply. Alana knew what my parents’ home meant to our family. It was where we’d lived and loved. Where Brenden and I grew up. Where our parents came up with the very idea to start FM Enterprises. Together. Two sets of best friends going into business. Falco and Myers. Putting their money together and creating magic. I’d never sell it. Not in a million years. One dayI wanted to bring my own child home from the hospital to that house. I couldn’t fathom losing the one place in all the world I felt safe.

It was my home, even though I hadn’t been there since the funeral reception.

“Jules, I know you miss your parents.” Her voice lowered to one fueled by grief. “I do too. But do you truly believe starting a war with your brother instead of reasoning with him is the best action?”

“Alana, he’s left me no choice. We fought. I ripped into him for what he did to Gio. And then I told him how horrible Bianca was to me. How she was going to ruin everything we’d built. He f-fired me. Told me his lawyers would be in touch regarding buying out my shares. I told him to fuck off and I’d see him in court.” I swallowed down the hurt as Brenden’s scathing words saturated my memory.

“Bianca is twice the woman you could ever hope to be. Get out of my company and get out of my life. You’re not wanted here, Julianne.”

A tear fell down my cheek and I wiped it away, right alongside every last one of my dreams for the future. I had to pave a new path. One of my own choosing. And I needed to be smart. Stealthy.

“I’m so sorry. Do you want me to reach out to him?” she offered, as I’d suspected she might.

“No! He can’t know what I’m doing,” I growled.

“Why? Are you embarrassed?” Alana struck gold.

“That I’m asking my godmother to put me in one of her clandestine auctions so that I can score a rich husband? I’ll let you think on that for a second,” I scoffed.

“You know the answer to that question,chéri. Do not play coy with me,” she chastised, and instantly I felt my cheeks flush with shame. Alana was not the enemy. That position wasreserved for my asshole brother. Without Alana, I might not have existed at all.

“Julianne, I need to know that you genuinely want this if I’m to even consider your involvement. Once you sign, there’s no going back. You will be married to a man sight unseen for three years. That man could up and whisk you away to Timbuktu. When you’re the candidate, you go where the bidder demands.”

“Then I’ll run my new business from Timbuktu. I’m resourceful,” I fired back.

Besides, part of my larger plan was to take every last client I’d brought in to FM Enterprises and bring them over to my new business. If I crippled my family’s bottom line, Brenden would have no choice but to grovel at my feet. I could easily do both of those things from anywhere. All I needed was an Internet connection and a phone.

“And why do you need the money? I know your parents not only left you their estate but investments, stocks, bonds, life insurance…”

“I’m contesting the will. Everything is on pause. That means I get nothing from their estate until we’ve gone through the legal proceedings.”

“Chéri, I wish you’d discussed this with me prior to acting. Fighting a legal battle with your own brother? This is not how healthy familial relationships are made.”

My heart sank because she was right. Alana was always right. And yet I knew I had to do something in order to work this thorn that was Bianca out of our lives forever. And that would take time and money. The first of which I now had seeing as I wouldn’t be working in the office. The second I’d get from the auction to implement my plan.

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