Page 1 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 3

Episode 59

Make Her Pay

JULIANNE

Bianca screamed as I pulled the trigger and pretended to shoot her. The safety was on. I knew that when I’d taken it from Lee, but I wanted to scare the hell out of her. I’d had a lot of experience with guns, growing up with a dad who loved to hunt, and even had my own concealed carry weapons permit. Even though I kept the gun I owned in a safe in my bedroom closet, I was still very familiar with them.

I watched as Bianca slid to the floor to avoid being shot when I didn’t have any intention of actually shooting the vile woman. For one, I’d never hurt a human with a firearm unless it was a life-or-death situation. Two, she was pregnant, possibly with my husband’s baby. I wouldn’t ever risk a child’s safety.

“Get the fuck up and go stand over there.” I kept the gun pointed on her and unlocked the safety. “Lee, check on Gio. Something’s wrong with him. He hasn’t moved or made a single noise since we arrived.”

“I tired him out, and he’d had a lot to drink before we made love.” Bianca spoke in a haughty tone.

“Sexual assault is not making love, you twisted bitch.” I moved forward and kicked the bundle of her clothes closer to her. “Put your clothes on. Now!”

“Giovanni.” Lee tapped at Gio’s handsome face. He looked like he was asleep. “Wake up,” Lee encouraged. “He’s unconscious. I think he’s been drugged.”

Rage poured through my veins like liquid acid. “Did you drug and assault my husband?” I snarled and spat like a wild animal ready to rip its prey to shreds.

Bianca slid her shirt over her head, her face pale in response to the anger simmering and vibrating the air around us, ready to boil over.

“That’s absurd. Gio drank too much, and we got frisky. He used to do that a lot with me. Never able to keep his hands off.” She lifted her chin and rubbed a circle around her slightly protruding abdomen. “I’m sure it was the idea of me carrying his baby that made him so handsy.” She smiled and batted her eyelashes as though I gave two shits about any of the crap she was spewing.

Still, I clenched my teeth so hard I feared I might crack a molar. This woman was so much worse than I once thought. She seemed to believe her own lies.

“His eyes are rolling in the back of his head. He’s not responding to me at all. He’s definitely drugged,” Lee stated curtly. “I think he needs medical attention.”

“Call the cops and tell them we have someone in our custody that we believe assaulted Giovanni Falco and get an ambulance.” I moved closer to the bed, putting my hand on Gio’s foot, needing to touch a small part of him while keeping the gun trained on Bianca.

“Well, this has been fun, but I’m going to take my leave…” Bianca started to sashay forward and move past me.

Um, I don’t fucking think so!

I backed up and then pointed the gun directly between her eyes. “You’re not going anywhere, and if you so much as attempt to get away, Iwillshoot you.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and smirked. “I don’t believe you have the balls.”

Without preamble, I pointed the gun just past her head and shot the ceramic lamp on the nightstand. I knew the wall behind the bed was extremely thick and the bullet wouldn’t go through. Not that it mattered because Giovanni’s bedroom didn’t have another apartment behind it.

The lamp shattered into a million pieces, covering the floor. The boom from the gunshot made Bianca jolt into action, bending in half and crouching closer to the ground. I pushed her the rest of the way with a forceful hand on her shoulder until she was ass to the carpet. She crawled over to the corner to escape me.

“You’re crazy!” she screeched and pulled her legs up against her chest, making her body into a tight little ball.

I could hear Lee on the phone, calling the cops. With one eye on Bianca, I approached the bed, lifted a knee, and sat down next to my man. Then I reverently cupped his cheek. “Gio, baby, I’m here. I’ve got you. Just breathe. If you can hear me, I’ve got you. We’re getting help.” I ran my fingers through his thick black hair over and over while I plotted the many ways in which I wanted to hurt the woman cowering in the corner. Once she’d had the baby first, of course.

With my husband laid out like a naked Adonis placed on an altar, I looked the rest of his body over. I lifted the sheet and saw red lipstick marks running down his pecs but stopping at his abdomen. There was a lipstick stain smeared across his mouth and jaw too, something I wanted desperately to wipe away, as if I could wipe away this entire experience for all of us.

“I’m sorry this happened. I should have come up with you…” I gulped as my nose ran, a sourness churning my gut so hard I almost vomited. Instead, I took a deep breath, assessing thesituation to the best of my ability while trying to detach myself from the white-hot anger boiling inside me.

Lee came around the bed and put his hand out. I handed him the gun right as I heard the elevator ping, announcing its arrival.

“Police!” someone shouted.

“We’re in here!” I called, and two cops appeared, each with guns out as they assessed the situation.

“Officer! This woman tried to shoot me! Thankfully, she missed!” Bianca called out, tears suddenly falling down her sunken, bony cheeks.

“That’s not what happened,” Lee stated with zero emotion.

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