stake," I stammered into the

my numb fingers. She gave the crowd a charming,

Don't be modest, Alana. It was your idea, remember?

t, vicious threat.

le, a look of approval on his face. But he wasn't looking at me. He was looking at

, burst into applause.

at ten thousand dollars

ne hundred. Each number was a fresh wave of humiliation,

the corner? The one in the red tie? He' s already up to two hundred

old real estate mogul who had cornered me at

ed to half a m

e looseness at my shoulde

ied by the microphone still near me

s it started to slide down. A wave of murmu

ed with fake concern. "Oh, dear. I was worried you'd be clumsy

ng. The reporters in the front row scribbled furiously, thei

dollars to Mr. Henderson!" the au

ge, his eyes roaming over my body. He wrapped a swea

cold annoyance in their depths, but he didn't move.

tly revealing costume for a performance piece. Declan had been so jealous he

ought it

ss of a man who saw me as his property. A prope

him died in that moment. My eye

warned Henderson, my

ome on, darling. You're mine for the nig

lp, but found none. The guests and the media just watched, entertained by the

nking she could marry

ays just a g

ridgeable gap between my world and Declan' s. His love

gh and stopped struggl

ntract, her face a mask of distress. "There' s a problem with

d, and auctioning a person, even for charity, is illegal. It could be cons

erupted

m of a night with me shattered. He started yelling,

ffered Henderson a lucrative partnership on a new tech project.

rce wa

onto mine. He jerked his head toward

e silence was

n dollars," he said, his voice dangerously