Page 23 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 2

Sam pressed his chin to the top of her head. “You sure you’re good with this? Marrying some guy you barely know for a bunch of money?” he asked, and I waited with bated breath to hear her answer.

“It’s actually not just a bunch of money, Sam. It’s seven million life-changing dollars,” she corrected.

“Seven mil…shee-it. You want to marry me, too, Richie Rich?” His bearded lips cocked up into a wonky, still somewhat frightening, smile as he watched me like a hawk.

“Nope. I’m good with just Maia. It would be nice to have your blessing though. And, of course, we’d love to have you at the wedding when we work out the details,” I offered, knowing that, if this man had protected her from some harmful situations and given her a roof over her head when she needed it most, he was important to her.

Maia squeezed the man around his middle and then stepped back. “I’ll need someone to walk me down the aisle, you know,to give away the bride and all that. Unless, of course, you’re busy with the Hounds on a ride or something,” she tossed out.

“You want me there, I’m there. You know that. Me and you. Family by choice, yeah?” He confirmed exactly what I’d thought. “The brothers are gonna want to roll up to that wedding, depending on location. But even if I have to fly, I’m there, Maia.”

She nodded and sniffled, quickly wiping her eyes so that we wouldn’t see her tears. She was so tough. I wanted nothing more than to prove that she didn’t have to be so strong in front of me. I’d take care of her. Make sure she had all that she could ever want. We just had some things we needed to work through first to get there.

Sam rubbed the back of his neck and tapped his foot. “And if your fiancé pulls any shit, there’s a place in the desert that the Hounds visit on occasion. A place with no roads. No water. No one to come save you if you happened to get stuck out there alone. You get my drift…Rhodes.” He said my name as if it was the scum on the bottom of his steel-toed boot.

“Heard you loud and clear.” I reached out my hand for Sam to shake.

He took it and squeezed the hell out of it. I coughed at the short-lived pain and waited until he let it go.

“I think we understand one another. With that being said, if you swear you’re going to take care of her, I give my blessing.”

I jerked my chin in the affirmative. “I swear it. Which also brings me to why we’re here. We need to pack up her things as she’ll be moving to California soon.”

Maia spun around. “I will? California. You mean you don’t live in Las Vegas?” she asked.

“Los Angeles, actually.”

“Huh,” she puffed out her bottom lip, lost to her thoughts. “I’ve always wanted to go to California. But first, I’ve got business in Colorado. Is stopping there first a possibility?” Herquestion came out shaky, which was strange as she’d been relatively confident about everything else up until mentioning where she grew up.

“Sounds like you two have a lot to discuss.” Sam reached out and patted Maia on the head and ruffled her hair.

She ducked away and glared at him while he grinned wickedly.

“I need to pay you for this month’s rent.” She moved to pull her wallet out of her back pocket.

Sam waved his hand in the air and shifted toward his bike. When he got to it, he put a long leg over the Harley and fired her up. The pipes growled like a grizzly bear, my chest vibrating pleasantly to the sound. I’d always wanted to try to ride a motorcycle, but those dreams died when Portia got pregnant with Emily. Bikes were dangerous, and Emily needed me alive and kicking more than I needed to test the levels of my manhood on what was commonly called a death machine.

“Consider it an engagement gift. Let me know when you’re cutting out of Vegas and text me your new address.” Then his dark gaze lifted to mine. “She doesn’t check in with me regularly, me and my brothers will find you. There will be no hole deep enough to hide from us. You keep that in mind.”

“Sam!” Maia griped. “Stop threatening him. He gets it. Damn, and I thought Alana was scary. You’re batshit crazy.”

Sam shivered at the mention of Alana. Nowthatfear I understood. She could cut a man down to size with a simple tongue-lashing.

He pointed at me as he rolled his bike slowly past us. “You remember what I said. The desert awaits if you hurt her. I’ll be in touch.”

I lifted my hand in a wave. “I’ll protect her with my life.”

He slowed to a stop at the end of the driveway. “Not good enough, but it’ll have to do for now.” He made a facial expressionthat was half snarl, half smile before he shot off, his motorcycle blazing a fiery trail down the street.

“Well, that was interesting,” I ran my fingers through my hair and let out a relieved sigh.

“You actually handled that really well. Sam can definitely be scary, but there’s a teddy bear with a big heart underneath it all. He just wants the best for me. And he never liked the idea of the auction, so I think he had a knee-jerk reaction to it all. He seems good now.”

I chuckled as I followed her up the driveway to the stairs that led to the studio above Sam’s garage. “I think we have a different version of what the word good means, sweetheart,” I teased.

She grinned, and my chest filled with light. Making this woman smile was a new priority. She didn’t do it enough, but hell, when she did, it was mesmerizing.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Her cheeks pinked up before my eyes.

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