Heartless Prince by Brook Wilder

Chapter 4

Leda

 

“We will begin the bidding at five hundred thousand,” the woman started. “The same rules apply as always. The club will not tolerate any fights or killings due to a bidding war.”

 

I swallowed. How many times had they done something similar? What sort of club was this?

 

A half a million dollars. Opening bid.

 

A hand went up, and the woman acknowledged it. “Opening bid accepted. Do I hear one million?”

 

Another hand.

 

“Two million?”

 

Another hand. My own palms started to sweat at my sides, and I wanted to wrap my arms around my waist to provide some comfort. I wouldn’t find any here, not among these assholes who thought it was okay to play with one’s life.

 

“What about five?” the woman continued, clearly pleased at the bidding. “Is ruining Carmine D’Agostino worth five million?”

 

They wanted to ruin my father. I wasn’t going to survive whoever won me. This kind of money wasn’t going to give me the life I had been hoping for.

 

This was going to be my death.

 

My stomach roiled. I wouldn’t see Nico or Rory again. They would wonder what happened to me, and after some time, I would be forgotten.

 

The bidding moved higher, almost to ten million, and my knees nearly gave out. Ten million dollars to ruin me and therefore have payback for whatever grievance they had with my father.

 

I hated this. I hated my last name. I hated my father.

 

“Twenty million.”

 

Pulling myself back to reality, I saw the surprised looks on some of the dons’ faces as they tried to figure out who had bid so high on me.

 

“Don Valentino,” the woman said, clearing her throat. “Are you certain?”

 

I watched with bated breath as the man from the back of the room moved forward, his arms now loosely at his sides.

 

“Twenty million for Carmine’s daughter.” His voice was rich, like a fine wine that had been aged to perfection, and now I could see the sharp features of his face, the ice-blue shards of his eyes as he coolly assessed me. They had a practiced blankness to them. There was no warmth but I shivered regardless. This man was here with a purpose. I knew I wasn’t just dealing with a horny middle-aged Don here.

 

The entire room went silent, and I noted that some of them were glaring at this Don Valentino with looks of disgust on their faces. It wasn’t a name I recognized, and it was clear that he wasn’t popular with the others.

 

“Well then,” the woman replied after a moment. “Are there any takers for twenty-one million?”

 

Suddenly I wanted someone to outbid him. I could tell that he was dangerous. There was no expression on his face, not even the tic of his jaw as he waited for someone else to speak up.

 

When it was clear that no one was going to attempt to outbid him, the woman clapped her hands. “She’s yours, Don Valentino.”

 

I fully expected him to come on stage and throw me over his shoulder, but his lips curved into a cruel smile, and I felt fear trickling down my ribcage as he turned and walked away.

 

That was it. He bought me.

 

“Come,” the woman stated as conversation started to buzz around us, grabbing my arm. “It’s time to get you ready.”

 

A laugh nearly escaped through my lips. Ready for what? Ready for my death? What were they going to do with me? Put me in another dress and lead me to whatever Valentino had planned for me?

 

She took me to the room where I had first gotten dressed, where the older woman was waiting. “Valentino bought her,” the woman said. “Make sure she’s ready for him. He paid a hell of a lot of money for her.”

 

“How much?” the older woman asked the moment the door was shut.

 

I couldn’t speak, the events of the last hour barely sinking in. I had been bought. I had been purchased. For twenty million, but it was still a purchase.

 

I would rather have been married off as had been my father’s original plan.

 

“Take that off,” the woman sighed at my silence and pointed at my dress. “It’s not his favorite color.”

 

“What?” I asked. “What are you talking about?”

 

The woman shuffled through the rack of clothing. “Don Valentino, of course. He has a particular taste.” She looked back at me, her eyes narrowing. “Are you a virgin?”

 

I blushed. I wasn’t about to share my personal information with a complete stranger. “I—”

 

She turned back. “Never mind. It’s written all over your face. That should make him happy. Makes all of them bastards happy.”

 

My mouth opened, but no words came out. Make him happy?

 

“Here,” she finally said, thrusting a black sheer negligee at me. It was sheer. Really? I might as well just go naked at this point.

 

“Put this on.”

 

“I don’t understand what’s happening,” I said instead, already slipping out of my sandals. “Please tell me what’s going on.”

 

“Are you dumb, girl? You were there. You saw it with your own two eyes and heard it with your own two ears,” she said. “You’ve been bought, and they don’t like to wait for what bought. Keep your head down and do what they say, and you might make it out of here with all your parts intact.”

 

Her words didn’t help me feel any better about this situation.

 

“Who is he? Don Valentino?” I asked as I stripped off the dress I was sold in.

 

There was no use in fighting, but wherever I was going after I got dressed, maybe I could escape from.

 

“Really?” she asked, arching a brow as I shimmied into the sheer negligee. In any other situation, it would have been cute, and I would have loved wearing it. But now… I felt dirty just being in it.

 

“You really don’t know who he is?”

 

I shook my head. I had never heard of him before. Was he a new don or a son of one? I doubted it, considering how the woman on stage had addressed him.

 

“Can’t hurt,” the woman said after a moment. “You are better off not asking questions and accepting your fate.” She took in my frantic expression. “He likes them quiet.”

 

Before I could ask anything else, she was herding me out of the room and down the hall, away from the stage to a smaller room instead. There was a bed draped with sheer curtains and silk sheets, and nothing else. “What is this?” I asked.

 

“The sampling room,” the woman replied. “Get on the bed.”

 

“Wait, what?”

 

She looked around before leaning in. “Your buyer will come to examine his purchase. If you are a virgin, he has to leave you that way if he wants his money back. But everything else is fair game.”

 

This was all too crazy. I wasn’t really here. This was a bad dream because I had eaten some bad delivery or something. At any moment I was going to wake in my own bed in my penthouse and this nightmare will be just that: a nightmare.

 

This couldn’t be my life. “Please, I don’t belong here,” I pleaded as she moved to the door. “This is all a mistake.”

 

The woman looked back at me, and I saw what I hoped were pity in her eyes. “Blame your father for this one, Miss D’Agostino. He brought this down on your head when he fucked over those men in that room. You are the compensation.”

 

She was gone before I could respond, the telltale sound of a lock letting me know that I wasn’t getting out of this room.

 

My shoulders sagged, my skin prickling from the cool interior of the room and the lack of clothing on my body. I had fully expected to put up a fight against my future husband today, not be sold to the very devil himself! I wasn’t lying when I said I didn’t know Valentino, but given my brief instances with him, coupled with the warnings of the old woman, I knew I wasn’t about to have a savior on my side.