Chapter 11 Noah
Chapter Eleven
NOAH
The man on stage leers at Summer, his beady gaze raking over her, lingering like he wishes he had enough money to bid for himself.
I should go up there and rip his eyes out of his head. He'd deserve it for looking at what's mine.
What the fuck?
Not mine. Not mine in the slightest. Her pussy might be good, but she is for sale.
"We'll start the bidding at twenty-five thousand," the announcer says. "Do I hear twenty-five thousand?"
Beside me, Robert nods.
I'm going to kill him.
I don't have a choice now. I don't know what he wants with her, but whatever it is, it can't be good. Especially not when he keeps urging me to move the family to Chicago. There'd be no reason to bring her along with us.
Which means he's likely going to use her and kill her.
Something about that doesn't sit right with me.
Summer's skin shines beneath the glow of the hazy red lights filling the room.
I don't know what they put on her skin to make her shimmer like that, but she looks almost ethereal.
Multiple men around the room stop to stare at her, elbowing each other and whispering about the bids they're going to make.
I eye her.
What if I kept her?
I could take her home and show her a good time. I could make her beg for me over and over again.
I could have one more taste of that sweet pussy, and then I could ruin her.
It's appealing, but the point of putting her up for auction is for the money. It's to expose the others who might want to get back at the Lyndes by purchasing one of them. Getting money for more arms deals. Making connections with those who might be able to help me.
This isn't about my desire to bury my cock in her until she's begging for release, only to scream my name when I finally give it to her.
"We have twenty-five, do I hear fifty?" The announcer glances around the room, and someone else nods.
I shift away from Robert as the bidding war continues. His bid keeps getting higher and higher. If he wins this, he's going to break her more than I ever could. He's a sick and twisted fuck.
When I'm on the other side of the room, I glance at Hector. "Stay near the back but start bidding. Don't worry about the cost, but drive Robert up as high as you can. Keep him spending his money. Let him win."
With a smirk, Hector disappears into the crowd, getting lost as the numbers keep climbing.
Her gaze drifts around the room, filled with hate, even though she's drawn in on herself and looking down at the ground.
The tiny silky dress she wears only accentuates the curves of her body, making her legs look miles long.
"Two hundred and fifty thousand!" The announcer's gaze finds mine again as I nod.
I stare at her, Hector's bidding rising higher and higher. They start to climb above a million dollars as someone on the stage forces her to turn around, showing off the curve of her ass and the way the dress barely contains it.
My cock strains against my zipper as I watch her, more bidders falling away once the price crosses five million.
Summer does her best to hide her disgust and act like a scared woman, her gaze darting around the room, nibbling on her bottom lip, her cheeks flushed.
What the fuck is she planning with an act like that?
Whatever it is, I know better than to trust it.
They're at seven million. Robert is going to have to pull out soon. I know what he makes, and once we cross the ten-million-dollar line, it's going to start hurting his pockets. He's going to either bow out or make the dumbest decision he could make.
Though, what man hasn't spent too much money in the pursuit of pussy?
Hector, however, is going to get a bonus for doing his job right. He's pushing the number as high as he can, and I doubt Robert has a clue he's the one doing it. I don't even know where Hector is standing right now, and I've been keeping an eye out.
And if Hector keeps driving him up, I'm going to get a better idea of what kind of money he has squirreled away—get an idea if my estimates are on point or way off.
The bid climbs higher.
Right now, I can't see Robert, but I know he has to be seething. Good.
He's trying to go behind my back for whatever reason.
I told him we had to get rid of her. I made sure she would be here in time for the auction. I made sure she was kept well enough so she'd get us a good price, and then I'd have more money to secure a bigger arms deal.
Instead, I'm giving myself my own money via Hector because Robert's thinking with his cock.
"Do I hear ten million?" the announcer asks, his voice high-pitched with excitement.
I spy Hector in the far corner as he nods.
The announcer keeps looking around the room, asking if there's anyone else there willing to give up ten million for her.
Other men in the room might know who she is, who she belongs to. They're likely afraid of taking the risk of pissing off Aiden.
Based on the look he's giving the people around him, the color draining from his face, and the way he checks his phone, he's close to his limit. He's deciding whether he can go one more round.
He tucks his phone back into his pocket and nods.
"Ten million, anyone?"
Robert nods.
Hector stops bidding, making himself disappear again, only a flash of a smile on his face before he's gone and moving around the room.
I grin at the stage, looking at the horror on Summer's face.
I have to admit, she's doing a good job pretending she's terrified. If I hadn't spent the last couple of weeks with her, studying her and watching her when she was alone, I wouldn't know the look in her eyes right now.
She's pissed.
She's going to do something stupid as soon as she's off that stage.
It's the same look she'd give me right before she tried to attack me.
The announcer looks around the room. "Ten million going once. Going twice. Sold!"
The deal is done.
Hector appears at my side. "Do you think this is a good idea?"
I lean back against the wall as a waitress in a short skirt walks by and slips me a drink. "Of course it's not. It's a horrible idea, and allowing him to get his hands on a Lynde is likely going to make things more complicated."
"What if he tries to give her back to them?"
Interesting.
Hector has a reason to suspect Robert of working with the Lyndes.
I wouldn't put it outside the realm of possibility given everything else my family's been doing behind my back.
"He's not going to get that far." I swirl the amber drink in the glass before downing it.
He nods. "Caught the Lyndes waiting outside to try and get her. A couple of men. Nobodies in the grand scheme of it all. Left them with their necks open in their cars. Had the cars towed straight to Aiden's property."
Laughing, I clap him on the shoulder. "Good man. Were there any others working with them?"
"A couple of women helping the girls get ready and a few security guards." Hector tucks his hands into his pockets, tensing as Robert starts to move toward us. "They've all been dispatched now."
"Good. Find out if there was anyone else involved. Kill who you have to."
With a nod, Hector disappears back into the crowd of people starting to make their way toward the office to pay. He blends in with them seamlessly, like he isn't one of the tallest people in the room.
Robert slips through the crowd, a determined smile on his face as he stops in front of me. "So, brother, how does it feel to have your little pet stolen out from under you?"
Awfully smug for someone who doesn't know what game he's actually playing.
I take another drink from a passing waitress and sip it. "So, brother, how does it feel to know you've fucked the family?"
His mouth presses into a thin line, his eyebrows pulling together.
Robert's hands curl into fists at his side. "You're the one fucking the family, and you know it. We should be pulling out of the war, but you keep putting us deeper into it, and you don't seem to give a damn about that at all."
People around us turn to listen, whispers starting.
I take a step toward Robert, clapping a hand on his shoulder, squeezing his pressure point tight. "You're going to want to watch what you're saying. The Lyndes aren't the only enemies we have, and I'm not going to stand here and let you make a fool out of me and everything I've done."
His gaze locks on mine, a silent challenge. And then, like the little bitch he's always been, he looks at the ground, backing down before there's a chance to get into a fight.
Shame. I could use a good fight. I could beat the shit out of him and hopefully get some of this tension out.
He might finally remember who the fuck I am and stop testing me at every turn.
Not too long ago, I would've killed him without question. I wouldn't have put up with this. Am I getting soft in my old age?
No. He still has a purpose. Once that's fulfilled, I'll figure out what to do with him.
"Summer is back in our hold," Robert says as my hand drops. "You were going to let the most valuable bargaining chip we have slip through your fingers."
"And you've just shown everyone here that you and I are at odds. That we're not working together. You showed them the cracks in the foundation. What do you think that's going to do for the family in the long run?" I finish my drink, putting the glass on a passing tray.
The muscle in his jaw ticks, a vein on his forehead popping out. "You don't know how any of this is going to end, but you were going to fuck us over."
"Think what you want to make yourself feel better about the damage you've just done."
Robert looks like he wants to hit me, his fist clenching a little tighter before relaxing.
More people are watching us; I can feel their gazes burning into me. Sooner or later, this is all going to come to a head, but now isn't the place. It's not the time either.
When I finally put him in his place, it's going to need to be a lesson he's never going to forget. He's going to need to be beaten down for the last time.
With a shake of his head, Robert takes a step back. "You're fucking this up for all of us, and you don't even see it."
He turns on his heel and goes off to collect his prize, pushing through the people surrounding us.
Hector appears before melting back into the crowd, following behind Robert without a word.
He's definitely getting a raise.
I didn't have to ask him to trail Robert, but Hector is good at anticipating his orders. He knows what the family needs, and he doesn't think twice about acting on it. He moves through life with ease, not hesitating, not questioning my orders.
He's a good soldier.
Ivan Popov offers me a beer. "Looks like that didn't go the way you wanted it to."
Music begins to play as the stage goes black, curtains being drawn across it.
Now is the time for making deals, striking new connections, speaking with men before they disappear with their prizes for the night.
This was supposed to be the time I was looking forward to.
I take the beer and shrug. "He's been difficult to handle."
Ivan leads the way to an empty table, taking a seat and motioning to the chair across from him. "Seems most of your family is, with the way they turn against you. Seems like you're having a hard time controlling your family."
I take a seat, cracking the top off the beer. "They're difficult and always have been, but it's better to find out they're traitors now than to be in the middle of a battle and have a knife in my back."
"Seems like you're weak for not killing them." Ivan smirks, his head tipping to the side, the red lights glinting off the top of his bald head.
And there it is. The whispers swirling around the city for a long time.
They think I'm weak. The fight with Robert certainly didn't help.
I put the beer to the side, needing my mind to be as sharp as possible when speaking with him.
Ivan has been an ally so far, but if there's a time when he might consider turning on me, it would be now.
I lean forward, arms folding on the table. "Killing them before we're at the endgame wouldn't benefit me. If I kill them before the right moment, then the Lyndes are going to have time to heal from the loss, and then they're going to use the grief to unite them and make them stronger than before."
Ivan rolls up his sleeves. "You believe so? Don't think I missed the fact that a Lynde girl was on the stage. Don't you think that's going to cause more of a problem as well?"
"Why would it?"
"Robert bought her. People are going to be pissed that you lured them in with the promise of revenge and then took it from beneath their noses."
"Don't you worry about that. Robert isn't going to go without punishment." I take a sip of the beer, glancing around the room.
Other people are still watching me, but most of them look like they've relaxed for now. They're sharing drinks and laughing, some men leaving and heading out with the women they bought.
Ivan sighs and shakes his head. "Your brother is making a fine mess of your business. The rest of your siblings and your cousin have hardly done you any favors either."
"I know. They will all get what's coming to them and more." I grin and lean back, shrugging one shoulder. "They're all going to realize they picked the wrong side in the war."
"For your sake, I hope you're right. People are going to be waiting for you to fuck up. People who are willing to work with the Lyndes would happily absorb your territory."
"You're not wrong about that, but in the end, the Lyndes are done in New York. This is my city."
Ivan smirks and shakes his head, the look in his eyes telling me that his skepticism lingers. He raises his drink. "To the family we would be better off without."
I tip my bottle against his gently.
Robert might have won the auction, but he's doing a fine job of fucking up everything I've worked for. What our family worked for. Years of legacy and power are going down the drain.
And I don't know what he stands to gain from it.
He's too weak to run the family if I were out of the way. He doesn't have the head for it either way.
But going behind my back and bargaining with the Lyndes to be spared if they kill me?
Well, that's something he'd do.
I take another sip of the beer before setting it to the side and getting up. "It's been a good evening, but I have other matters I have to attend to."
Ivan chuckles and shakes his head. "Good luck with that brother of yours."
"Luck has nothing to do with it."
Who needs luck when I'm going to dismantle his life for fucking up mine?
Who needs luck when I'm going to take away his little plaything like he's a spoiled child?
He's spent too long undermining me already. Too often, he thinks he has the room to argue.
And in the end, just like everything else, Summer is mine, whether he knows that or not.
It's time to teach Robert a lesson he's never going to forget.