Leilani takes Waylen’s free hand and asks, “Is this your way of proving your loyalty to me?”
“What’s wrong with proving my loyalty to you?” Waylen asks. “Are you afraid?”
His face looks chilly. He leans in threateningly and stares deep into her eyes. She stares back at him, too nervous to even blink.
“Answer me, are you afraid?” he demands.
“Yes, I am,” Leilani says.
She’s not afraid of cheating on him—she knows there’s no one else she wants. But she is afraid of dying. I find it hard to believe that the story about the poison tattoo is true—it sounds like an ancient legend to me, she thinks. But Waylen is superstitious, and he believes these things. I’m probably going to die in six months. If he has the tattoo, he’ll never be able to make love to another woman. He won’t be able to remarry or have more kids—he’ll be alone for the rest of his life.
“Afraid it’ll be impossible to stay faithful to me?” he asks. Then he lowers his voice and asks, “Is it really so hard for you to imagine a happy future with me?”
Leilani shakes her head, wondering how she can explain herself. It’s impossible to tell him the truth, but she doesn’t want to lie either. She shrugs her shoulders and looks away from him.
“I just find the whole story unbelievable,” she says. “It seems sort of barbaric to me.”
Waylen seems to believe her. He looks down at the bidding device and chews his lip. His long fingers hover over the keypad. According to the screen, the value is between one hundred and three hundred million dollars. The actual price could be anything in between those numbers, and the closer Waylen’s offer is to the value, the more likely it is he’ll win.
“How much do you think it’s worth?” he asks Leilani.
“Well, the turquoise stones are damaged, so they’re not worth much,” Leilani says. “But the story behind the rings—that’s really meaningful. The king had them made to prove his devotion to his lover, but his love couldn’t be measured in money. It was his willingness to pay the ultimate price and give up his life that was meaningful.”
Waylen drops the bidding device and stares at her. His eyes are pure fire, and he grabs her around the waist and pulls her onto his lap. Leilani can feel his erection through his pants—he’s as hard as an iron rod. He nips her neck and kisses his way up to her ears. He sucks the sensitive earlobe and traces the delicate shell of her ear with his tongue.
“Waylen,” she whispers. “What are you doing? We can’t!”
“Just let me hold you for a bit,” he whispers, his voice rough and low. “I’ve been waiting for so long, and I need you, Leilani.”
Leilani leans away from him and says, “The bidding is going to end soon. Don’t you want to bid?”
“No, I just want to make love to you,” he says.
“Okay, don’t bid then,” Leilani says. “That suits me just fine.”
“If I don’t bid, will you f.u.c.k me?” Waylen asks. “It’s been three months, and it’s safe for us again.”
“It’s not time yet,” Leilani says.
She pushes his head away and tries to get off his lap, but her dress is too tight for her to move her legs. She pulls the material up around her thigh. Waylen groans low in his throat and runs his fingers along the exposed skin. His hands are hot, but his touch makes her shiver. He pulls her closer, thrusting his h.i.p.s upward with urgent need.
“Waylen,” Leilani whispers breathlessly. “Waylen, please.”
Waylen groans and eases his grip on her thighs. She climbs off his lap, trying not to tear her tight red dress. He picks up the bidding device and starts to type a number. Leilani stops him, covering his hand with her own.
“Do you really have to bid on it?” she asks.
“Yes, and I have every intention to win it,” he says.
Leilani watches him enter the number: 290 million. Of course, he’d enter a number at the top of the range, she thinks. It’s how he and his family do business—they spend whatever it takes to get what they want. Thank God this auction depends on luck. Hopefully, the rings are worth less than 290 million; hopefully, someone else wins them.
The auctioneer announces that the time to bid has ended. He pauses dramatically and then announces the real value of the rings: 109 million dollars. Leilani exhales with relief. There’s no way Waylen could have won the rings, she thinks. His bid was more than 180 million dollars too high.
Waylen pages Robert and says, “Find out who won the rings and tell them I’ll give them triple.”
“Triple?” Leilani asks loudly. “The rings aren’t worth nearly that much.”
“I don’t care how much they cost,” Waylen says. “I want them.”
Robert runs back into the room a few minutes later, looking uncomfortable. He looks down at his shoes as he speaks.
“Mr. Bamford, the rings went to Mr. Oliver,” he says.
“Let me guess—he refuses to sell them to me,” Waylen says.
Leilani hides her smile behind her hand. Most other bidders would probably be willing to make such a nice profit on the rings, but Jackson will probably refuse to sell them to Waylen. He doesn’t need the money, and there’s no way he’ll want to help Waylen. Especially not after Waylen sent him the seahorse liquor.
“Mr. Oliver said it wouldn’t be necessary to buy it from him,” Robert says. “He’s willing to give it to you as a present, but he also gave you another gift.”
Robert gestures to a bodyguard, and the man steps forward. He opens a small velvet box and shows it to Waylen. At first glance, it looks like a plain green jade inside. The stone is round and semi-transparent, and it looks expensive. But then Leilani notices some bumps on the top. She gestures for the bodyguard to bring it closer, and then she gasps. The word “cuckold” has been etched into the top of the stone.
Leilani rolls her eyes and glances sideways at Waylen. Waylen and Jackson have technically called off their war against each other, but it seems like they’re still fighting. Instead of using guns and bombs, they’re using gifts and clever insults. Waylen grabs the jade and throws it at the wall, and it shatters into thousands of small green pieces.
“Sir, I also have the official ownership doc.u.ments for the ring,” Robert says. “Do you want them now, or would you like them delivered with the ring?”
“You can put them with the ring,” Waylen says. “I’m going to have some more of the turquoise made into powder for a tattoo.”
“Of course,” Robert says. “I’ll ask the auction staff to prepare it as you want.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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