Page 37 of The Marriage Auction 2: Part 4

“I couldn’t lose you. I’d rather not live in a world you weren’t in.”

Tears filled her pretty blue eyes as she leaned forward and kissed me softly. “Me either, so we’ll just have to go on living.”

“Actually, I’m going to suggest the exact opposite,” came a booming voice from the doorway.

Bruno entered wearing all black, a grim expression, and more swagger than he should for a man visiting a patient in the hospital.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Right then Julianne’s cellphone rang.

“That would be your godmother, Alana. Turns out we’ve been fighting a similar battle as they have but on different continents,” Bruno explained.

“I don’t understand,” Jules said.

“Answer the phone. You’re not going to believe anything I have to say until you’ve spoken with her,” Bruno claimed cryptically.

I watched as Julianne pulled out her phone and put it on speaker. “Alana?”

“Dieu merci!” Alana’s cultured voice spoke in rushed French.

“Alana, where the heck have you been? So much has happened…”

“There is much to discuss,chéri.”

* * * *

The information Alana shared regarding her kidnapping, Angus, and more importantly, Bianca could have been the plotline for a suspense/action movie. These situations didn’t happen in real life. Not only was Bianca married to a man named Dimitri, who was currently in jail for kidnapping Alana and Emily Davenport, but she was the daughter of one of the most wanted criminals across the globe. The same man that was the catalyst for including Julianne’s parents into the original Marriage Auction.

In turn, we explained what happened here regarding the assault, Bianca being jailed, getting bailed out and the bombing of our offices. Lastly, we shared our various injuries, including the fact that Brenden was still in a medically induced coma.

My head spun with each new detail she revealed.

Bianca had played the long game. Weaving herself into our lives until she could handpick the many ways in which to screw us all over, likely making her criminal daddy proud.

It was all so twisted and jacked up that I had trouble keeping track of the details. Then again, that could be because of the plethora of pain meds, antibiotics and muscle relaxers I was on, but nonetheless, it was unbelievable when shared out loud.

“What are we going to do? Where are you now?” Julianne asked.

“Christo and I are in a safehouse in France, with…um…a friend.”

Bruno grunted, seeming to have more information about thisfriendthan we did.

“What friend?” Julianne snapped. “You need to come here. Be with family. We can protect you.”

“I’m sorry,ma petite fleur, it is too dangerous for us to come to you. We would simply be bringing the devil to your doorstep,and I won’t put you, Brenden, or Giovanni in jeopardy any further than what you’ve already experienced.”

“That is not your decision to make,” Julianne hissed, her foot stomping on the floor like a petulant child. Alana always brought out a more immature side of Julianne. It seemed to fester and grow after we lost our parents. Which made sense that Alana would take on the role of matriarch in Julianne’s eyes.

“It is my decision and I have made it. I will stay in France and deal with Angus and Bianca myself.”

“You can’t do that! She’s insane! Look at what she’s already done to get back at you and the family,” Julianne switched from angry child to devastated family member in an instant. “They want you dead. They want us all dead. Don’t you see?”

“I do, my darling one. I truly understand the stakes are very high, but me and my friend have a plan. And that plan starts with you.”

Julianne batted away her tears. Her hands shook as she clung to the phone between us like a lifeline. “W-what c-can we do?” she croaked, jutting her chin out, firming her jaw, and pressing her shoulders back, readying for battle.

God, this woman made me proud. She’d been knocked down and hurt repeatedly, yet she still found the strength to fight.

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