Page 14 of Sold to My Ex's Brother
“A million.”
For a moment, I think I must have heard it wrong. Because there is no way—there isnoway someone would pay that kind of money for me. I know men like this must be willing to throw all kinds of cash around to get what they want, but I just feel like I can’t possibly demand that high a price...
And it seems as though I’m not the only one in the room who is shocked to hear that number come out of someone’s mouth. The place is silent for a second, and I sneak a look at Artem, wondering if this is what he expected.
His eyes are impossible to read as he stares out into the crowd, trying to figure out who has laid down such an offer, but he eventually calls to see if there is anyone else willing to meet it, and is met with silence.
“Sold!” he calls out, and he turns to me, eyes flashing with black humor.
“Looks like you’ve found your new man,” he tells me.
If I didn’t know better, I could have sworn that he was jealous, realizing that I had been sold off to someone else. No doubt he had been hoping I would be left with no choice to be stuck with him again. I don’t know if it is better or worse that someone else has stepped up to the plate instead, but I guess I’m going to find out.
I feel numb as he leads me through the back, barking orders to his guards as he goes. He pours himself a drink and vanishes into the back room as the guard who took me from my cell pulls me towards a back door.
I trip over my own feet as I struggle to keep up. The world seems to slow around me for a second, my last few seconds of freedom stretching out before me as if my mind is attempting to make the most of them while it still can...
And then, the door opens, and I’m pushed outside.
“The payment’s made,” a voice announces. A voice, it hits me, that I’ve heard before. The guard nods and shoves me a few steps forward.
“Say hello to your new owner,” he tells me.
And, as I force myself to look up, I find myself faced with him—the man who bought me, the man who has taken my freedom, the man who decided I was worth a million dollars. The man who is willing to engage with a dark world like this one to land a woman, no matter what cost it comes at to her.
And a man, much to my shock, that I already know.
The man who saved me from the attacker at my apartment. The father of my child, even if he doesn’t know it yet. And now...
Now, mycaptor, whether I like it or not.
6
ANTON
I glanceinto the rearview mirror, to find her gaze fixed steadily out of the window, doing all she can to pretend that this isn’t happening. I grimace—I can’t exactly blame her, but she’s going to need to talk eventually.
She recognized me at once, I know she did, I could see the shock in her face when her gaze registered that it was me. I had half-expected her to lay it all out on the line then and there, tell me what the fuck she thought of me and insist on her freedom…
But she seems too stunned by all this.
I took her to the car and guided her to the back seat, and she didn’t say a word as I pulled away from my brother’s bar.
She seems too much in shock to manage anything more than the bare minimum, and I can’t say I blame her. I can’t even imagine what’s going through her mind right now, how terrified she must be, what she must think of me.
But my mind keeps running back to my brother.
Artem, the way he spoke about her, it was as though they’d had some kind of relationship in the past. But if that were the case, why would he be selling her off? Some kind of punishment for some perceived slight against him?
As far as I know, he hasn’t clocked on to the fact that I’m the one who purchased her, and that’s how I want it to stay.
He clearly has an established clientele, and he must have spent months, if not years, cultivating this kind of reputation. Right under my goddamn nose.
We drive in silence, and I look back at her every now and then, wondering if she wants to hear my assurances that everything is going to be okay.
I doubt it.
She likely thinks I have purchased her for nefarious reasons, though I would never in my fucking life lay a hand on a woman who didn’t want me. Fuck, the thought of it is enough to tense my hands on the wheel.
