Page 103 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 4

“Oh, she tried to name him after her father, but Gio’s already contacted our lawyers. His name will be changed to Myers Lewis Falco.”

“Lewis would be so pleased.” My voice cracked just a bit with the emotion I wasn’t able to hide.

I thought back to Lewis Myers. My first client. A busy businessman with big dreams, an even bigger bank account. None of that compared to his desire to find a mate for life. He laid eyes on Rachel that night, stood up and waved his paddle like he was an air traffic controller. Then he dared anyone in the room to bid against him and the woman he would marry. It was rather romantic and obnoxious at the same time, as I wastrying to hold a respectable auction and he’d ruined it with his impatience.

In the end, he got the girl and the life he wanted. It was unfortunate that a revenge plan, connected to me, was what cut their lives short.

So much tragedy and loss.

I wasn’t sure I could ever do it again. After all that we’d endured, not to mention all the people I loved who’d been hurt or I’d unknowingly put at risk, for lack of a better word, I was now gun-shy. And here we were, six months after the shooting in France, and I still hadn’t hosted an auction. Jade had gladly stepped into my shoes and had done well in the last auction with candidates we’d already vetted and bidders we were familiar with. So far, all of those candidates had been chosen, had gotten married, and were happy with their partners.

Everyone was happy but me.

Lately I’d accepted the reality that there was an inherent dark side to the auction I might never understand, and that frightened me to my core. However, it also made me wiser and more thoughtful about the entire process. Which was why I was back to sitting behind my desk in my Las Vegas office. I could no longer hide from the job I loved or the company I’d built.

Christophe was on the couch in the corner, reading. I hadn’t been able to be away from him since what occurred in France. He understood and took my neediness in stride. But it concerned me because he hadn’t made art since then either. I tried to question his lack of interest in creating new pieces, but he shook his head and told me to, “Leave it.” So I did. We were both working through our feelings on all that had occurred, and he was no different.

The sound of a baby crying in the background reminded me I was on a call, my thoughts having run rampant into the past. “I’lllet you go. Send my love to Gio and please forward us pictures of our new nephew when you have a moment.”

“I will…and thank you, Alana. For everything. Come visit us soon?” her tone held expectation within it and that mended my cracked heart instantly.

“We will evaluate our schedules and plan for a time to visit,” I promised.

“I love you, Alana. Very much. Please don’t be a stranger. I need you in my life now more than ever.”

My throat went completely dry, a bushel of cotton wedged into my esophagus. I cleared it and smiled. “We will be there for whatever you need.Je t’aime aussi.Au revoir.”

“Bye,” she said and hung up.

“They’re going to raise Brenden’s child,” I announced loud enough for Christophe to hear and look up at me from the pages of his book.

“I’m proud of them. It was the right call.”

“Me too.” I agreed.

“It’s okay to be a little sad.”

“I’m actually happier than I am sad. They needed to do this. Prove that Bianca hadn’t won in the end. And they’ll be great parents. Plus, their own child is due in six months. The boy will have someone to play with.

“Boy?” He smiled so sweetly his eyes crinkled at the edges in that way I adored.

“Myers Lewis Falco.”

“Lew would be so puffed up with pride you wouldn’t be able to fit him through a doorway,” he said of his old friend.

I chuckled, allowing the rest of my anxiety over the situation to dissipate along with our laughter.

“Okay,” I let out a sharp breath. “Time to get back to work.”

“Who’s your first client?”

“Diego Salazar.” I shivered at the mere mention of the man’s name.

We hadn’t seen Diego since he put us in a blacked-out SUV after everything had gone down and sent us back home. True to his word, we gave the authorities the exact information Angel’s team had trained us to say. I didn’t enjoy lying to Inspector Moreau, but since Bianca never spoke a word of what had occurred, we were only questioned regarding the kidnapping, the snipers shooting us at our home, and our dinner conversation between her and Angus, sans the shootout that occurred. True to his word, not a single peep had been mentioned about the bloodbath that we experienced in that hotel. I had no idea where or what they did with all the wounded or dead, but Diego made it clear it was not our problem to consider.

For once, I listened, did what I was told, and both Christophe and I walked out of the police station and never looked back.

The body of Angus Sokolov had also not been found and I suspected that it never would be. I did know that one of Diego’s younger brothers, Xavier Salazar, had taken over Angus’ empire. I hadn’t the slightest clue what that entailed, and I didn’t want to know. The further I was from their dealings, the better.

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