Chapter Seven
Loraine silenced her with a wave of her hand. “Oh shut it. I say a lot of things I don’t mean. Now do you want to go to Venice or not?”
“Fifty thousand!” the woman next to Riana yelled.
Riana placed a hand over her ringing ear. “But I don’t have the money.” She watched the hands shoot up all over the room and she felt desperate. They were at eighty-five thousand already. These women are horny vultures!
Loraine rolled her eyes. “I’m sure he doesn’t expect you to pay for it. He said bid to win, he didn’t say anything about you paying right?”
“No, he didn’t.” But he didn’t say he would pay either, she thought.
“So what are you waiting for?”
“Ninety thousand!”
Then the hands stopped shooting up and the room went silent. That was the final bid and no one was going to up it. She turned to the source of the shout to get a look at the lucky girl with ninety thousand to spend on her trip to Venice, but the room was too crowded.
Loraine clucked her tongue. “Riana, it’s between you and the slut in the hooker dress and Allan doesn’t look the least bit amused by your silence.”
Riana turned to Allan and Loraine was right. She was sure the others in the room couldn’t tell but his eyes showed how furious he really was with her. She saw the fingers of the hand tucked under his arm move up. He wanted her to bid higher.
“Isn’t that too much?”
Loraine knocked her elbow again and yelled, “One hundred thousand!”
“Loraine!” Riana hissed, stepping away from her and rubbing her elbow.
Loraine pulled her back. “Does he look hard for the cash? Look around you Riana. Do any of them look hard for the cash? He probably spends that much in one day buying a suit or flying his dinner in from Paris. He’s a damn billionaire!”
“But it’s not my money to spend!”
Loraine shook her fist in Riana’s face, tightening her grip on her arm until it hurt. “Riana, outbid that slut and go to Venice or I swear I’ll break your perfect little nose!”
“One hundred and fifty thousand!” Riana yelled leaning away from Loraine and her fist, taking the threat seriously. She liked her nose as it was.
Then she spotted the slut in the hooker dress charging toward them from behind Loraine. “We’ve got trouble!” she whispered.
“This is ridiculous! This waitress can’t afford that!” She protested, settling a seething look on Riana.
Loraine stepped in between them, shielding Riana. “Whether or not she can afford it is none of your business. Call out your bid or forfeit now. Either way, she’s the one leaving with him.”
“Damn straight I am,” Riana announced happily, bouncing on her toes.
Allan’s ex-girlfriend—stress on the ex—took Loraine in from the tip of her shoes to the top of her head with a superior look, her lips curved in a sneer. Then she turned to Riana, killing her victory instantly with her livid look. “Two hundred thousand.”
Riana chocked on her own breath as a gasp echoed in the room. She turned to Allan and he gave her a reassuring smile and a nod. “Two hundred and twenty thousand,” she countered.
Then the slut’s lips spread in a sinister smile and she turned to the stage. “Two hundred and fifty.”
Riana’s eyes popped. A quarter of a million dollars! She couldn’t go higher than that. Allan wouldn’t possibly agree to it. She turned back to Allan feeling defeated but his smile just grew wider. He nodded his head to the side, signaling her to his hidden fingers.
Riana’s head cantered to the side to see.
Is he holding up three fingers? She dipped her head further for a clearer view. Four, no five…five!
The same moment the slut cheered, “I win,” Riana exclaimed loudly, “Five hundred thousand! Allan you can’t be—”
“Sold!” Allan yelled from the stage.
Before the auctioneer could utter a single word in protest, Allan leaped off the stage and charged toward her.
“Half a million dollars! Really, Allan, if you don’t want to go with her just say no. You are allowed to. No one can force you otherwise.”
Allan grabbed her hand and dragged her away without a word in response, but that didn’t stop Riana from rambling on. She had to run to keep up with his long strides.
“Do you have any idea how much half a million dollars is? That’s too much! Let her pay. They can’t possibly force you to go if you don’t want to. What, is there a clause that says you’ll go to jail if you don’t agree to this?”
Allan brought them to a quick halt then turned to Riana with his brows creased. “You babble a lot. You just go on and on and on without a single break to breathe. Do you know that?”
Of course she knew that! The most Riana ever spoke was when she rambled and this situation deserved a babble! “Five hundred thousand dollars, Allan. That’s crazy!”
“My sentiments exactly!” the slut said breathlessly. Riana wasn’t the only one running to keep up with Allan.
Allan muttered something incoherent under his breath then pulled Riana back into a chase after him. They finally stopped at a desk and he quickly stuck his hand in the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out his checkbook.
“Allan, she can’t possibly afford you!”
Riana shook her head and shrugged nonchalantly. “I’m not paying for him. He’s paying for himself…or is it for me? I guess it’s for me since he’s the one who invited me to—”
“Riana,” Allan spoke softly cutting her off.
“Hmmm?”
“You are rambling again.”
“Oh. Sorry,” she whispered. He chuckled, shook his head and turned back to the lady at the desk.
The slut pulled at his sleeve jacket. “Allan, this is not how things are done. You can’t pay for yourself!”
Allan stared at her assaulting hand and she quickly dropped it before he responded, “She’ll pay me back.”
“I will?” Riana squeaked. She knew this would happen. Now where the hell was she going to get half a million from? She stomped her foot. This was all Loraine’s fault!
Riana looked back at Allan just in time to catch his eyes move over her like he was undressing her. When she finally met his eyes, the lust in them made her take a step back. The pit of her belly burned when she finally realized what kind of payment he meant.
He held her gaze and said, “Yes, Riana, you will,” with the most sensual voice she’d ever heard, and then he took a pen from the lady at the desk and leaned down.
Riana swallowed hard, and let out a shaky breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. What the hell had she gotten herself into?