“Oh, get off your high horse.” I rolled my eyes, stopping his lecture before it began. “As if you wouldn't have done the same in my situation.”
He narrowed his eyes at me, his mouth locked in a tight line, then climbed to his feet and held out a gentlemanly hand to help me up.
“You don't even know what situation you're in, drag?,” he muttered as I pushed his hand aside and stood on shaking legs unassisted.
“I know I would rather risk climbing down the side of a building than become a sex slave to some megalomaniac murderer like you.” I folded my arms across my chest and tilted my chin up stubbornly but was totally unprepared for his reaction. Was he seriously laughing right now?
The more he laughed, the hotter my anger boiled until I couldn't stand it any more.
“What is so goddamn funny?” I yelled, my fingers curled into tight fists under my arms in an attempt to rein in the fury.
He made no attempt to answer me, simply turning his back and walking away from me towards the door, his shoulders shaking with chuckles. My control and sensibility must not have been rescued along with me because the next thing I knew, I had picked up a book from the small table near me and hurled it at his head.
The book hit with a solid thunk, and I froze. Did I seriously just throw a book at the unstable murderer? All too late, I saw the unmistakable shape of his lethal firearm tucked into the back of his distressed jeans, and I cursed my lack of common sense.
“Did you just…” He turned slowly, glaring at the book on the floor, then at me. “Did you seriously just throw a book at my head?”
My eyes darted around the room; frantically searching for a way out but finding none, I went with denial. “Ummmm, no? Maybe it fell?” Who knows, maybe he will believe me?
“What are you, fucking twelve? Who throws books?” he yelled, picking up the offending item and brushing it off. “Jesus woman, have a little respect for the written word!”
Before we could fully engage in what was turning out to be the weirdest argument I had had in a long time, loud voices from outside the room interrupted us.
“Shit,” Vali swore, hurrying back over past me and yanking the window shut again. “Just, whatever you do, don't be yourself.”
12
The door to the room we were in—which, upon closer inspection, was actually a library—burst open with a loud bang, effectively cutting off my response to Vali’s somewhat insulting request.
“Dragomir, my son!” boomed the massive bearded man who entered the room like he owned the whole damn place. Maybe he did; how would I know? Either way, he looked like a fit version of Henry the Eighth, minus the crown and robes.
“Father,” Vali clipped, stepping ever so slightly in front of me and blocking my view of this older Romanul.
“I heard a rumor that you made a recent purchase at the Onyx Auction.” The older man’s voice was heavily accented and had a cruel-sounding rasp to it. I nudged Vali in the back, as subtly as I could, to try and make him move. I hated the feeling that I was hiding behind him.
“I did,” Vali responded to his father smoothly, reaching behind himself and swatting at my prodding hand.
“Well, let's see what you bought then. I heard you dropped a pretty penny on this one, so she must be something special?” His leering tone made me bristle, and I dug my nails into Vali's back where I had been prodding him. This guy sounded like a real piece of work. No one moved for a second, then the older Romanul made an exasperated sound. “Come on boy, move aside. We don't have all damn day; the party starts in an hour.”
Slowly, almost reluctantly, Vali stepped to the side and allowed me to get a good look at his sleazy father.
“My, my, she is quite the looker isn't she,” he purred and actually licked his lips! Ugh, so gross!
I opened my mouth to give him a piece of my mind but was interrupted by a very fake sounding cough from Vali. Raising my brows at him in question, he gave me a tiny headshake, and I remembered what he'd said about not being myself. Ah, this must be what he meant.
For some insane reason, my brain was screaming at me to trust him. I guessed things could still be worse for me than they currently were, and by the way his father was eyeing me up and down, I definitely did not want to find out what he was thinking.
I adopted my Emily personality, batting my eyelashes and giving the older man a vacant smile like a simpering fool. He continued inspecting me for a bit longer before giving a satisfied grunt and turning his attention back to his son.
“I see why you chose her, boy, but if you had wanted a girl, I could have given you one from the club. There was no need to go dropping millions at the fucking auction house. Dirty, fucking Russians.” He sneered his lip in disgust for the Onyx Auction coordinators. “Anyway,” he continued, “it's done now, and turning out to be a most profitable move. I have already been contacted by a gentleman offering twice what you paid for her.”
I sucked in a gasp, turning panicked eyes to Vali. He must be talking about Mr. Grey. As painfully obvious as it was that it was neither the time nor the place to beg for my life, the impending panic attack sneaking up on me was forcing me to still at least silently beg Vali not to let him have me.
He met my pleading stare blankly but answered his father, “You told him no, I should hope? I didn't travel all that way to walk away empty-handed, father.”
“No?” The man barked a loud laugh. “Don't be ridiculous! Of course I told him yes! He will be here to collect his property first thing in the morning. I thought you might appreciate a night with her first, eh?”
A small whimpering sound escaped my throat, and Vali's huge hand closed around my wrist. It was tight but strangely reassuring.
“Is that all you came to say, father? Because if so, you can leave again. The party doesn't start for another hour, and you're not particularly welcome until then.” Vali's voice was flat, bordering on bored, and I watched as his father's eye twitched and his teeth made an audible grinding sound.
“Very well. You must be eager to make the most of your time with this curva. I will see you shortly, son.” He gave me one last lingering leer, then strolled out of the library as though he hadn't just been effectively kicked out. Once he was gone, Vali gusted out a heavy sigh, and his shoulders drooped.
“Vali, um, I don't mean to sound paranoid, but that man that is coming for me is the same one from the auction house…” I chewed my lower lip hard and clenched my hands into fists.
He narrowed his eyes at me and said nothing as he stepped backwards to an armchair and flopped himself down.
“Why?” he asked eventually, watching me with shrewd eyes.
“Why… what?” I replied, confused.