Page 105 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 4

“I sat down personally and spoke to each of these six women. I showed them your photo. Two of them recognized you.” She pointed to one on the top of the list and one at the bottom.

“Ah, yes,” he rubbed at his chin. “This one,” he pointed to the woman on the bottom named Christy. “She was one of myinformants. Remove her from the list. Too many people are aware she’s a snitch. She wouldn’t last a day in my family.”

“Okay, done. I’ll attempt to replace her prior to the auction. Are there any others?” Jade was doing a phenomenal job running this meeting. I couldn’t have been more proud or grateful.

“Do all of the women understand what they are getting into? I want a mother for my three children. A life partner that will stay faithful, or risk ending up in a body bag. Not that I need to remind you,” Diego’s gaze flicked to mine. “My world is dangerous. The woman for me should not shy away from it. She must be comfortable in it.”

“These women thrive on danger. They are perfect for you,” Jade’s tone was confident as she lifted her chin haughtily.

Diego stood abruptly and buttoned his blazer. “Set it up. I’m ready for the auction whenever you are. Excellent work, ladies. I look forward to being part of The Marriage Auction: After Dark.”

I stood as did Jade. We shook hands and then Diego held up a finger to Christophe. “Un momento,” he said then walked to the door. He opened it and snapped his fingers. One of his guards handed him a plastic container. “Gracias,” he mumbled to his man then went over to my husband. “Tamales fromMamá. She wants you both over for dinner soon.”

Christophe’s eyes lit up as he rubbed his hands together, practically licking his lips. “Homemade tamales?” he breathed as if Diego had just offered him a plate of precious diamonds.

“Porkandchicken,mi amigo.” Diego waggled his brows and grinned like a lunatic. It would have been scary if he wasn’t so handsome.

“That woman is a saint. TellMamáshe holds a piece of my heart.” He took the container and practically hugged it.

Diego smiled. “She will be happy. And ifMamáis happy, everyone is happy. Dinner soon?”

“Absolutely. We’ll bring the wine,” Christophe agreed instantly, signing us up to become actual friends with the mafioso and his family.

Goodness gracious, we needed to have a very stern talk about who we allowed into our inner circle.

“Well, that went really well,” Jade breathed excitedly after Diego departed.

“It did. You were phenomenal, Jade. I’m impressed. You’ve proven yourself as my protégé. I want you to run this new side of the business with an increase in pay and a new title, Madam Jade. Something tells me Diego isn’t going to be the only morally gray character that wants to find love in the darkness.”

“I mean, bad boys deserve love, too, right?” Jade grinned, genuinely excited about this opportunity.

“Agreed. Bad boys deserve love too.”

“Can we talk about the next quarterly marriage auction? I’ve received a couple calls from Autumn Belanger. She’s Summer Belanger, now Larsen’s, sister. And from what I understand, a complete hippie.”

“And Summer wasn’t a hippie?” I recalled the woman entering my office, taking off her shoes and pulling her legs and feet up onto my couch. People at business meetings didn’t remove their shoes unless they were extremely comfortable in their own skin and unbothered by societal norms.

“She’s not our normal candidate. She doesn’tneedto be in the auction, she wants to be, and not for the money.”

I frowned. “Then what’s her angle?”

She smiled. “Love, of course. Plus, she claimed to have seen the future, and in it, she was being bid on at our auction.”

“She claims to be psychic?” I asked.

Jade shook her head and chuckled. “Not exactly. I actually clarified it with Summer. She claims it’s wild and unusual but that her sister has “the sight”, which is what she called it.Apparently, Autumn also envisioned Jack before she met him and asked where his son was. He didn’t have one then, but within two weeks he became the legal guardian of his friend’s toddler when she suddenly passed away. I don’t know if I believe it, but Summer and Jack both agreed she’s harmless and well meaning.”

I let out a long breath. “Okay, let’s schedule a meeting with her to discuss the finer details. If her sister has already been in it and is happy with her match, there’s really no reason not to allow her in the next batch of candidates provided she’s vetted and her record is clear.”

Jade scribbled notes on the tablet. “The next new bidder we have is a female and you’ll recognize her. In fact, everyone will. We may have to host a private auction for her too.”

“Who is it? Taylor Swift?” I chuckled, appreciating my own joke.

“No, but not far off. Juniper Ross.”

“Stop it,” I waved a hand at her trickery.

Juniper Ross was a Pop-Rock princess. Much like Taylor was a Country-Pop princess, Juniper had her own thing going for her. She was very much an Lzzy Hale meets Taylor Swift meets Tori Amos type of artist. Everything goes with her. She had a bad girl attitude, showed a lot of skin, hated the media, and was known for being spoiled rotten because she came from money. And not a little money, but a dynasty of music legends in her family. Her music reached far and wide, and she had several Grammys to prove it. The good girls loved to hate her but listened to her music anyway. The bad girls worshipped her because they wanted to be her. And men, well, she was every man’s sex symbol. A role she excelled at and leaned into much of the time in her stage performance and music videos.

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