Page 65 of Ruled By Rivalry

Not for five hundred and ninety. Not for six hundred.

Across from me, Allegra’s fingers drummed against the white tablecloth, pattern getting more unrecognizable the higher that number shot. Her eyes were glued to the woman in the back; every now and then, she hissed something in her mother’s direction, frantically trying to explain a situation I’d also love to be let in on.

Finally, Red Dress gave up. The entire room exhaled loudly. She ruffled through her gray hair in annoyance, while her husband patted her hand on the table lovingly. And they say romance is dead.

“Six hundred and fifty. Going once, going twice . . .” It seemed like Elliot was hoping for a miracle. For another mystery girl—or guy—to suddenly put their paddle up and think, Yes, a night with Rowen Ashwood is worth that much to me.

No one did.

“Sold! To Tate Auclair for six hundred and fifty thousand dollars.”

The brothers exchanged a glance, and Tate lowered her hand with a satisfied nod. Instead of another joke, something to easily segue into the next item, Elliot simply said, “Let’s move on.” Then gestured to his brother to get off the stage.

Which some of the guests still laughed at. “That’s how he treats a six-figure price tag, by the way.” Rowen snickered as he skipped down the three stairs off stage, making at least the front row laugh on purpose.

But he sat beside me as stiff as a stone, continuously looking over his shoulder. When I followed his gaze, Tate Auclair was gone. And I had no time to ask what was going on because Elliot rolled on into what he’d made my part of the evening. My fingers flexed against my thighs.

“As always, we saved the best for last. And maybe I should’ve kept my brother on stage for some more of that flattery from earlier, because you’ve got another chance, Elizabeth!” A thumbs-up at the woman in red. “A better one, in my humble opinion.” Side-glance at Rowen, whose eyes I’d expected to roll. He wasn’t even looking, never mind listening. “Another date night. This time with yours truly. Let’s start at three hundred.”

In sync with twenty others, Allegra’s hand shot straight up, paddle in hand, ready to win. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Even Rowen’s head jerked back in her direction, brows pulling together. Her parents laughed and clapped and thought the gesture to be incredibly funny, apparently.

“Three fifty,” Elliot said, delight in his voice. Humble was the last thing the man was, and I didn’t know when that had stopped getting on my nerves.

Elizabeth’s hand was still the highest. Her husband simply leaned into his chair with a sigh. And there was no need for an entrance as dramatic as Tate’s. My paddle went up in the air. I hoped I wasn’t shaking.

The Amatos’ laughs died in sync with it. Allegra’s gaze jumped to mine, trying to assess, figure out what was happening before she hissed across the table, “What are you doing?”

“Bidding,” I said.

Elliot continued counting upward. Four hundred. Four fifty. Much quicker than he did when it had been Rowen’s turn. Like he wanted this part of the evening to be over, suddenly. My hand stayed up. So did Allegra’s.

“You don’t . . .” She trailed off, not sure if she wanted to go there. “You don’t have that kind of money.”

And because I didn’t know what else to say, I copied Elliot’s earlier words. “Don’t worry about my finances, honey.” The nickname was, again, a gift from the nerves still rattling my body.

A few weeks ago, I’d still been secretly hoping Allegra and I would become good friends. She’d been nice to me at the bar, and she’d seemed cool in that untouchable, perfect kind of way. She still was, but I’d long let go of the delusion we’d be anything but cordial to each other.

When she turned back to the stage, Allegra startled at the amount on the board. Six hundred thousand dollars. Almost at Rowen’s winning bid. But it had taken his brother almost ten minutes to get there; Elliot barely needed five. Because he was rushing, gaze fixed to our table.

Rowen whispered, with a smile on his lips, “You continue to pleasantly surprise me, Maeve Peterson.”

Ever since moving to New York, I’d been the girl who was surprised, caught off guard, and totally unprepared. So, it was nice to be the one doing the surprising for a change.

Elizabeth’s hand fell at the same mark it had earlier. Six fifty. Allegra was wavering, and so was I, to be honest. That it wasn’t my money didn’t help.

I searched Elliot’s eyes for an answer. For him to slowly nod, letting me know I could give him up to his ex after all. The single convincing shake of his head said, Don’t you dare.

So, my hand stayed up, heart racing, while Allegra quietly argued with her dad. Elliot must’ve realized we were getting to the finish line—he could see them arguing much better than I could; they were turned toward him and away from me. So, he jumped. “Seven hundred!”

And it was Allegra’s dad finally pushing her hand back into her lap that sealed the deal.

“Seven hundred going once, going twice . . .” He waited barely a second. “Sold! To the beautiful lady in the front.”

He’d been calling every bidding lady beautiful for the past hour, so it shouldn’t have made me blush. Heat still shot into every vein of my body as I lowered my paddle regardless. I drowned out the applause, the whispers, even the way Rowen patted my shoulder.

I drowned out Elliot thanking the attendees, the bidders, and the husbands allowing their wives to bid on him and his brother. I drowned out the laughs that followed the statement and the way he said, “Alright, let’s eat! We’ll reveal the final amount after dessert.”

I drowned everything out until he was right beside me again, letting himself fall into the empty chair with a sigh. A second before the first course appeared in front of us, Allegra got up, the sound of her chair scraping against the floor startling the entire table.