Chapter 20
Twenty
LUKA
I surveyed the room. It was the usual collection of investors, along with a few new faces. The bank opened a second room to allow space for everyone to gather around two sets of oblong tables. I knew it would be crowded. I knew the auction would attract a high level of clients. But I also knew I had spent the last few weeks making sure the word was out that the Novikov organization was going to be the owner of the Vieux Carre. There shouldn’t be any threats of real competition. This show of force was for the bank clients who didn’t realize who they were up against. The bank expected us. I assumed we would be out of here in thirty minutes.
Then she walked in.
I spotted Ciro first. He was easily a head taller than everyone else. He cleared the area before Amara walked in with a man who I presumed was her father’s attorney. I wondered if the second bodyguard would be in tow. The one with the jagged scar across his nose. My uncle’s killer.
What was she doing here? I had made it clear Lorenzo didn’t have a chance in hell of getting this hotel. He sent her? What kind of plan was this?
The powder blue dress made Amara look innocent. Almost angelic. Her hair was pulled back in a low bun. Her lips and cheeks were a light pink. Fuck. She looked beautiful. I knew she saw me sitting at the end of the table, but our eyes never made contact. Could I blame her?
I had tossed her out of my apartment after bringing her to the pinnacle of vulnerability. After promising her she was mine. I gave her utter protection. A vow. Then I broke it. I saw the shattering effect in her eyes. I wasn’t proud of what I did, but it had to be done. For her sake. To keep her alive. It had tortured me every night since. She was the last thing I thought of when I fought sleep. The first thing I thought about in the morning, but fuck me, I didn’t expect to ever see her again.
Lorenzo’s attorney held a seat for her while she positioned herself at the table far from me. I couldn’t see her face from the new angle. Ciro stood outside the room. She wasn’t the only woman present, but there were only a few others. She stood out. She was young. Graceful. Fucking sexy. Every man getting ready for the auction noticed her. It was impossible not to. If it had been possible, I would have shuttled her into the hallway and told her this wasn’t a good idea. She shouldn’t be here. Lorenzo shouldn’t have sent her. It wasn’t safe. None of the men here were safe. My chest hammered with a need to shield her.
I had to pry my eyes away from Amara when the bank’s president stepped up to the podium .
“Good morning.” He didn’t bother to smile. He shuffled a tablet on the podium until the screen behind him was illuminated with the name of the bank and the property number. It was a stark contrast to the brightness of the room when the lights were turned off.
“You are here because of property 6-4-3-2-1-1.”
I just wanted him to start the bidding. Get the charade over with. Get the fuck away from Amara before I made a mistake. Viktor sat next to me. He had instructions from my father to annihilate anyone who came close to the hotel. I was there to represent the Novikov organization. To demonstrate the family solidarity. Viktor had been my father’s legal counsel since I was a kid. A deal never floated across the desk that didn’t have his eyes on it.
The president continued to list the features of the hotel along with the tax codes and the registration numbers for the auction. Formalities bored me. From the corner of my eye, I saw Amara scribbling notes as quickly as the president spoke. She didn’t need to put herself through this. It was unnecessary. Why the hell did she need to be here?
I stared at the podium. The president opened the bidding. I sat back, letting Viktor handle our first bid.
The Amato attorney made a motion. I leaned near Viktor.
“Hold off until he’s finished,” I instructed.
Viktor nodded. “You know him?”
“I know the family,” I whispered.
“Anything I should know about them?” he asked.
“They’re new. Shouldn’t be a problem.” But I underestimated Lorenzo’s plans. I underestimated how he would react after I rejected his proposal. I rejected his daughter. I had insulted him. He was out for blood today. He sent Amara in as the assassin. I knew she had no idea what position she played on this chess board. She hated me. She had to.
I couldn’t wrap my head around everything that happened before it was too late.
Viktor kept bidding, but Amara didn’t stop. I was certain there was a cap for Lorenzo. He should have given her details on when to stop. She kept raising the price. It surpassed market value twice over.
Fuck.
“What do you want me to do, sir?” Viktor asked.
“Keep going.”
We were the only two in the room left bidding on the hotel. She didn’t know what she was doing. What consequences she was unleashing. There was no way her father had agreed to go this high. Was there?
“It’s too much,” Viktor whispered. “This is going to create a deficit I won’t be able to fix for your father.”
“If we don’t secure the tunnels, it’s going to be a catastrophic problem.”
I growled. It was obvious she wasn’t letting go of the hotel. I wondered if she knew about her father’s offer to marry her off in exchange for the property. Did she have fuel of her own? Had he given her another reason to hate me?
“We can’t back down,” I argued.
Viktor shook his head. “I can’t. They are going higher than anyone in their right mind. ”
I let my head fall. “Fine. Let it go.” As the Sovietnik I had to make the final call. There was no way to tell Viktor I had a plan to take out Lorenzo. Our grip on the tunnels would come later. Fuck me.
I shoved back from the table and strolled out of the room. I left Viktor to clean up the mess.
I waited outside the bank. I reached into my pocket for a cigarette. The smoke swirled into the air. I resisted the urge to punch the marble pillars marking the entrance. I didn’t know if I waited too long on purpose or if I lost track of time. The doors opened, and Amara descended the steps.
“What did you do?” I confronted her.
I couldn’t read her emotions with the sunglasses pulled over her eyes. Ciro flanked her side, almost to the point of shoving me. A mistake on his part.
“I just bought a hotel.” But I didn’t see a smile or any sign of pleasure from her when she spoke the words.
“We should talk about this.”
She turned away from me. “It’s done. There’s nothing to talk about. You made it clear the last time I saw you.”
“Amara, no. You’ve made a dangerous error.”
Ciro stepped in between us. His hulking frame was a pain in the ass. It was pointless to shove him out of the way in broad daylight.
“Let’s go talk. Alone,” I urged. I threw the cigarette on the concrete step and extinguished it with my shoe. I needed to get her to back out of this purchase, immediately.
“My father is expecting me. ”
“Two. minutes.” My voice was gruffer than it should have been for someone trying to persuade a woman who hated me to listen to what I had to say.
“For?” She brought the shades to the end of her nose. She motioned to Ciro to give us some space.
“You know what.”
She shrugged. “I’m not going to do the work for you. If that’s all you have to say…” She took another step toward the black SUV parked in front of the bank.
“No.” My hand landed on her shoulder. “Forget the hotel. Just talk to me. Tell me why you did you pull that stunt back there?”
“Stunt?” she scoffed. “Get the fuck out of my way,” she hissed.
“Amara, you put yourself in danger. Undo it. Now.”
The guilt had chipped at my soul. How was I going to protect her and keep her out of the crosshairs if she had just walked into them? There was now a direct target on her.
She paused, taking in a big breath.
I thought I had her. I thought she’d listen. I thought the connection between us was strong enough to undo the fucking pain I had caused her. Maybe she knew there had to be a good reason. I had done it for her.
I was wrong.
“Stay away from me.” She nodded toward Ciro who was next to her in one giant stride.
I watched as he helped Amara climb into the back of the SUV. Ciro slid behind the wheel. The doors were locked, and she drove away without saying anything else. When I turned around, Viktor was waiting at the curb.
“Ready, sir? We have to tell your father what just happened.”
I shoved my hands in my pockets and followed the attorney to our car a few yards away. My security detail backed away, allowing me to climb inside.
“I’ll break the news to him,” I offered. “It’s my duty as Sovietnik.”
“I get paid to do this kind of thing. I’ll do it.”
I buckled my seatbelt. “But you aren’t the reason we lost the hotel.”
“I don’t know that Mr. Novikov will see it that way. It was an open bid at the bank. That girl went higher than anyone should have. How can you be sure he would blame you, Luka?”
“Trust me. I’m the reason.”
I wasn’t afraid of my father. I’d seen how he wielded power my entire life. He taught me those skills. Trained me to take over the business. I couldn’t fear what I knew so intricately.
I’d seen him cut men to their knees with quiet words. I’d seen terror cover their faces when they realized Dmitry Novikov had them by the balls. He couldn’t make me cower. I only hoped Viktor could hold his own because he was going to need all the backbone and spine he could muster to tell my father we lost the Vieux Carre to the Italians. The same family who had his brother murdered.