Chapter 3

The steward bowed and led the way, his manner deferential in the extreme.

He stepped aside of his own accord to clear a path, paying no mind at all to the two standing there with faces gone ashen.

Seeing this, Karina flew into a rage and snapped at the attendants.

"Stop her! What makes a whore like her fit to sit upstairs with us? What makes her fit to set foot in the Thorne family's private box?"

A few attendants stepped forward hesitantly, but when they caught the warning look the steward shot them, they stopped dead in their tracks.

Eli snapped at Karina, his voice low, "Enough. You're making a scene."

To my ears, the words only sounded like a joke.

I lingered no longer, and climbed the smooth, cold-white marble stairs to the second floor at an unhurried pace.

More than a dozen partitioned boxes ringed the second-floor hall, divided by screens yet still overlooking the entire floor below. The box dead center, with its carved and gilded doors, was the Thorne family's own seat of honor.

I stepped into the box.

Every gaze below clung to my box at once, murmurs rising and falling.

I glanced to the side. Whether by design or not, Karina had settled into the box next to mine with two bodyguards.

Eli, meanwhile, had gone into the box directly across from me.

Karina stared at me in open challenge, the jealousy in her eyes nearly enough to burn through everything.

Eli, for his part, kept his eyes lowered, fingertips absently rubbing the cuff of his suit, his gaze drifting, thinking who knew what.

Before long, the curtain behind the auction stage drew back, and the underground sale officially began.

Everything that changed hands here was the priceless treasure.

Antique treasures, famous paintings and firearms, one-of-a-kind classified dossiers came out in turn.

Every one of them was worth a fortune, and the crowd bid against each other, calls of new prices rising on all sides, the room growing livelier by the minute.

Trading on the Perrone family's deep pockets, Karina won three pieces of antique jewelry one after another.

With every fall of the hammer she made a point of looking toward my box and lifting her paddle in a show of triumph, wearing the look of someone certain of victory.

Eli stayed silent the whole time and never once raised a paddle, only resting his fingertips against his jaw, his gaze fixed on me throughout.

That gaze was a heavy thing, and it left a dull ache pressing in my chest.

"So it turns out some dogs come around just to have a sniff."

Karina laughed out loud and raised her voice to mock me, drawing a wave of jeering laughter.

"You penniless little bitch, get out already, before you foul the air in here!"

Her eyes were full of scorn, her tone carrying a threat.

I ignored her, my gaze settling on the display stand. This round's lot was what I'd come for.