Page 8 of Auctioned to the Billionaire

“I’ve already told you. I was there to win you.”

“Why?”

“Answer my question first. Why were you at the auction, Letty?”

She takes a deep breath, dropping her fork as she leans back in her chair.

“I needed the money,” she says simply, and I bite back a growl.

“For what? What do you need millions of dollars for?”

“I didn’t need millions. Just a few hundred thousand.”

“For what?” I press.

She just shakes her head, and I throw my hands up in the air.

“It’s personal,” she says in her defense.

I sigh and she looks like she’s thinking hard, debating something. Finally, she comes to a conclusion and nods slightly.

“I don’t have much family,” she starts, and I nod.

“Me either,” I tell her, and she looks surprised for a moment.

“Well, the family that I have left sucks.”

I frown. Letty deserves to have the best of everything, and I hate that people who are supposed to love her have let her down so much.

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I don’t have many people. I’ve never been super popular, and that was fine with me. I like keeping my circle small.”

“Me too. Nothing wrong with that,” I agree.

She nods, looking deep in thought, and we finish eating in silence. I try to read between the lines, and I wonder what she needed hundreds of thousands of dollars for her family for. Is someone sick? I can tell that it’s hard for her to open up to me, which tracks. She’s worked for me for eight months, and I feel like I barely know anything about her.

Maybe I need to fix that tonight.

“You didn’t grow up here,” I say, and she blinks at me.

“No. Neither did you.”

“No.”

She looks like she’s trying to figure out where I’m going with this, and I clear my throat. I like to keep her on her toes. It might be the best way for me to break down her walls.

“Would you rather be cold or hot?” I ask.

“Cold. I hate sweating,” she says, scrunching up her nose.

“Same. I spent years in the desert, and I think that’s enough for me. Favorite food?”

“Pizza. Cheese.”

“Steak and potatoes. Do you like to cook?”

“Hate it. I’d rather clean or do literally anything else. It’s probably why I eat so many frozen meals and take out,” she says with a small smile.

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