Page 7 of Seducing Selena

A man stood at the bottom of the few steps in front of me, smiling. He had a glass of champagne in his hand and drank from it lazily. He smelled stale. Like bread that had been left out on the counter for far too long. “I don’t think you’re supposed to look at me.”

I dropped my eyes to the floor. The backstage manhadsaid that.

“Better.” Something about the way he said it made me shiver. Not in a good way. His tone sounded oily and smooth, like someone hiding something. “Though I must say I like your eyes. I might like to see the fear in them while I break you.”

Terror ripped me in half. I couldn’t breathe. “What’s your name?”

What did I say? I didn’t want to talk to him. I didn’t want to be here. Emotion started to overwhelm me, and I fought the whine in my throat.

“You won’t get any words out of her,” a new voice said. My eyes snapped up, and I found myself face to face with the Alpha from backstage.

Up close, his eyes were a piercing blue, and he was even more handsome up close. But beyond that, hisscent. Crisp and cold, like mountain air. An intangible sweetness like I was on a brisk and beautiful winter walk. It was one of the most incredible things I’d ever smelled in my life, and my Omega body reacted. Perfume whirled out of me and toward him.

I saw him stiffen, pupils going wide and dark as he caught my scent. Did he like mine too? What was he going to say to this man? Was he going to save me? Was he my enemy?

With his scent wrapped around me, I felt dizzy.

He recovered after a moment. “She’s not allowed to speak without permission. Isn’t that right,gattina?”

CHAPTER FOUR

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DEREK

The pre-auction drinking was in full swing. “See?” I said to Nick. “Everything is fine.”

Anger burned in his eyes. I felt it too, but I was better at hiding it than my pack mate. “Nick,” I said. “Get through it and beat the hell out of the punching bag later.”

He nodded sharply, nodding to someone as they walked by. The cameras in the corners were panning around as those clients who weren’t here in person observed the merchandise.

I didn’t like to call them that, but it helped to keep my mind on the part I was playing.

“When can we start this?” Seb asked.

“Give it a few minutes,” I said. “Some of them need time to call their bosses.” Which was important, if we wanted to track them. We needed them to buy and be hooked. So we would let these people drink and ogle the beautiful women before we sprang the trap.

A few clients stopped to chat and ask questions. Nick turned on the charm, and absolutely nothing was amiss. I understood the mental strain. After so long trying to get to this point? All of our nerves were frayed.

“Who the fuck is that?” Seb asked.

I followed his gaze to the edge of the stage, where a woman was standing like she was terrified. She was fuckinggorgeous. Curvy and tan with long black hair that shone even across the room. The smoothness of it made me want to fist my hand in it while I did naughty, naughty things to her.

But none of that mattered because she wasn’t supposed to be here. Every one of the women in this room we knew. We knew their names and training and what they planned to do once we inserted them with the clients.

This woman was a stranger, which meant danger.

Delano approached her, and Nick swore. “This isn’t good.”

“I’ll take care of it,” I said. “Seb, as soon as we take care of this, go ahead and start. If there’s something wrong, we can’t delay.”

“Agreed.”

I put my hands in my pockets as I approached, putting on a casual air. Like nothing bothered me, despite my instincts going absolutely fucking crazy. The closer I got, the more my Alpha told me there was something about her. I wanted to reach out and hold her so that scared curve in her shoulders would disappear.

But first, I needed to get her away from Christopher fucking Delano.

I was about to open my mouth when her scent slammed into me. Roses on the wind mixed with the delicious, sweet sharpness of oranges. It made me want to bury my face in her neck and breathe it for a thousand years.

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