2. Warren
2
WARREN
A nother month, another auction.
Over and over, but never the same. New girls. New billionaires. A constant flow of cash running between the two.
The opportunities offered by the auction were endless.
It was part of the excitement.
When I had first founded the Black Silk Auction with a few of my closest associates, I’d never imagined the success it would have. The impact it would have, not just for those who sold themselves, but for us on the business side as well.
The only thing sweeter than the cash it brought was the information that fell with ease from the mouths of the wealthy.
It was like they just couldn’t keep it in.
Back then, I was bored. My business had been growing but not providing me with the same rush it had when I’d first started. So it wasn’t long until I wanted to expand it into the more devious side of things.
After all, buying, selling, and tearing down companies only did so much for me. Even the most fun, corrupt ones started to lose their flair after a while.
They were all the same. Crooked men sticking their greedy little fingers into the lives of their employees and sucking them dry of their money and happiness. It was just… the norm. I’d seen it all. Lived it all.
But the auction…
The auction was a place where the billionaires came to play. And boy , did they know how to play.
And I could play them.
They had the money to make anything they wanted come true, but once they were pitted against each other for a beautiful woman? They were stripped back down to their barest form.
Self-made billionaires knew what it was like to lose, and they weren’t going down without a fight. And those who’d never had to work for their wealth and never lost got to experience it for the first time.
It made them hungrier. Made them salivate at even the chance to win a beautiful woman—and beat all others in the process.
The rules were simple.
One girl. One month. All yours.
We had a handful of girls who were screened for the opportunity. Hundreds were rejected before they even made it to the second round. And once they passed that, they had one last trial.
The welcoming party.
A place where we invited the richest and most powerful men to come for a preview before the show. They were also screened, and anyone unsavory was declined entrance immediately.
The Black Silk Auction might have been a place for them to explore their stronger urges, but there was no way I’d put the girls in danger.
It was supposed to be exciting for both parties. A way to explore yourself and every desire they wrote down on the blank page of the contract we gave them. It was up to them to spill every single one of their desires or leave it blank.
The exclusivity worked in my favor and had people foaming at the mouth to get in. It provided me with endless satisfaction. I was the one in control of whether they got in or not. And most men would do anything to get in.
The desperate were the most gratifying to reject.
“They look good this month,” Maxwell said as he looked over the girls filtering out of the room one by one. Each of them had an extravagant animal mask on that hid their identity and cost at least three hundred thousand.
Maxwell was the newest CEO of Sterling Enterprises and has given it new life. During his first quarter, he’d reached earnings his father never could even after thirty years in business.
He was one of the first people I’d reached out to when I had the idea for Black Silk Auction. With his vision and connections, I knew we’d make this into something to be proud of.
“They’d better, or I’d fire Dante,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. There was no room for error, and even though I was continuously impressed by everyone in the auction, my standards were high.
“Hey, what about Maxwell? Ares? I’m not the only one who looks at the girls,” Dante replied, coming up to my left and handing me a glass of whiskey.
I gave him an appreciative hum.
“You have the final say,” I reminded him. At first, I’d wanted to handpick every single one, but after a while I realized it was better to relinquish some control.
“A job well done, Dante,” Maxwell said, turning his focus to him. “New dresses?”
“I knew you had a good eye.” Dante puffed his chest at the compliment. “Sponsored by none other than our friend Kian Knight.”
That caught my attention.
“Will he attend?”
Kian Knight was a world-class designer. Getting him in the auction would help us reach an audience we wouldn’t be able to otherwise. People in his circle, the artistic type, often wouldn’t be caught dead in a place like this, and every time I tried to reach out, no matter my status, I’d been rebuffed.
If Dante managed to open this door, I would need to give him a raise.
“He’s out of the country, but when he comes back, he said he’d be here for sure.”
I nodded, satisfied with the answer.
“He even gave us his latest piece. Most expensive as well. I saved it for the best.”
Dante motioned to one of the girls lingering in the corner with a few men already circling her. They’d made their choice. I could tell by the way they looked at her and would immediately open the small phones we gave them to input their interest.
It wasn’t hard to understand why.
The dress hugged her body tightly, showing her perfectly toned body. Long legs, delicate hands that were currently wrapped around a champagne glass. I noticed her grip was tight. Nervous. Her blonde hair complemented the dress color perfectly. Crystals decorated her body, and she had a cat mask on.
She was drop-dead gorgeous, even if I couldn’t see her face.
But when I finally looked her in the eye, my heart stopped in my chest. Shock washed over me but was quickly replaced with anger.
Addison fucking Mercer. The woman who’d single-handedly almost ruined everything I’d worked so hard for and all because of her shit-for-brains father.
A man I used to trust. Who was my best friend before ?—
I didn’t let myself think about him anymore. It made my chest ache and my veins burn with anger.
She’d been brought up to be the perfect daughter. Horseback riding lessons, gymnastics, etiquette classes. She’d go to every gala, every party, and always dressed in the latest and most expensive designers of our time.
She’d literally been bred for this world before her father ruined it all. She might have once belonged in this room, but she was like a fish out of water now and woefully unprepared for what the men attending wanted to do to her.
I had seen her when she was younger. Watched as she flirted with the socialites and attached herself to her dad’s arm.
She’d been innocent. Perfect for a trust fund billionaire with a clean face who would marry her just for the heirs she could breed.
I’d wanted her once. But all I wanted to do now was destroy her pretty little image. Force her onto her knees. Make those eyes burn with the kind of desire she’d hate herself for.
Or destroy whatever was left of her image. She deserved it.
“What the fuck is she doing here?” I growled, my gaze cutting to Maxwell.
His expression was normally reserved, but there was a smirk on his face.
“She needs money, just like every other girl here.”
Anger raged through me. But it was dulling by the second and being replaced with a dangerous need for the girl.
A need to ruin her. A need to own her. A need to hear her sweet apologies drop from those pink, plump lips.
The same lips I’d tasted only once in my lifetime but never forgot.
She was sweet as sin, forbidden, and way too young for me, even back then.
But after what she pulled?
I didn’t give a fuck about that anymore.
“Will you buy her?” Dante asked, his tone somewhat hesitant.
“Did you do this on purpose?” I asked. “Are you trying to get fired?”
I shouldn’t get involved with her again. Nothing good would come of it. But now that she was right in front of me? I didn’t have it in me to stop myself.
Maxwell let out a warm chuckle.
“You won’t fire me,” he said.
No, I won’t.
I cursed internally. Without knowing, they’d given me the best gift. But also the greatest curse because there was no way I’d be letting her go.
At least not until I had paid her back in full for all those lies that she’d spewed about me.
I imagined her on her knees, hands tied behind her back, her face messy, painted with my cum as she begged for forgiveness.
She’ll look so beautiful when she’s finally knocked down a peg.
My cock hardened just thinking about it.
Just wait, Addi. You’ll be mine again, and this time there’s nowhere to run.