When I try to follow the source of the bid, I could swear I see Liam.It makes my heart hurt.
I know I’m the one who said I didn’t want to see him again, but I do.I want the way he used to smile at me before I told him I loved him.I want the gleam in his eye when he threatened to break someone’s bones for touching me.
Somewhere in the distance, I hear Mr.Corvus say “Sold.”But when I look up to see who won me, everything slides into darkness.
Chapter Twenty
Ravi
When I wake up,I’m in the passenger seat of Liam’s truck.Wearing a tuxedo.My shoes and socks are missing.
If it weren’t for the last part, I might think I’d dreamed everything else.
“What happened?”I sit up straight, but my head’s still fuzzy.
“You passed out.Right on the stage.Of all the ways I thought that auction might blow up, that wasn’t one of them.I’m taking you home.”
My pulse spikes.“We have to go back.Whoever won me is going to be pissed.”
“I promise you, Ravi, whoever won you is damn pissed,” Liam says through clenched teeth.It’s very late, and there’s not much light on this road, but I know all of Liam’s sounds, especially his angry sounds.
“Liam, I’m serious.Take me back.I made a promise.If I don’t follow through on it now, I’ll be in worse trouble than anything you could possibly do to me.”
“I doubt that, but we’ll find out.”His low laugh makes the back of my neck bunch up.
“Liam, I don’t know what you’re talking about, but you need totake me back.I can’t deal with your shitty, messed-up power plays right now.”
Liam’s house is on the edge of Belle Argo, so close to the border that if you go past the fire hydrant at the edge of his property, you’re in the unincorporated area that sits between Belle Argo and Beacon Hill.His closest neighbors are undeveloped land, a nature preserve, and a five-acre fruit tree farm.
Which is why the longer the silence between us lingers, the more I worry.Usually Liam doesn’t scare me too much.He pisses me off.But the last night I spent in his house, the one when he spanked me until I got off, that was a side of him I hadn’t seen before.At least, I hadn’t seen it directed at me.
And now?Now, the car is silent except for the road noise and the grinding of his teeth.Whatever he decides to do next, there won’t be anyone around to hear me scream.
We pull through his fenced-in property and down the long driveway.The car is off and cooling before he speaks again.
“You’re not going back.”
“Liam, I have to.”
Moonlight cuts through the window, and I can see his fingers tighten on the steering wheel.For a painful amount of time, he doesn’t answer.
“You’re not going back, Ravi.”
I open my mouth to argue again.
“You’re not going back, because I’m the one who bought you.”
Wait.My pulse is all skittery again.“That’s not right.”
His laugh is as dry as the month of March in Florida.“I guarantee you it’s exactly right.If you don’t believe me, ask my bank account.You can probably hear it crying all the way from the bank headquarters in Texas.”
“But…” No.This is not happening.“I could have sworn I heard someone bid…” It hurts to swallow.“Ten million dollars.”
“Yeah, kid, it’s a lot of fucking money.”
If I thought I’d seen Liam angry in the past, I hadn’t truly.Not like this.
“So what are you going to—” When I realize I don’t really want the answer, I bite down on the question.