Page 51 of Bound in Promise

Of course he doesn’t. He wouldn’t.

Angelo always thinks he has the upper hand. He wants his money, wants every bit of value out of her he can get, and I wouldn’t put it past him to have some back-alley way to get control of her trust fund.

“Ah, yes, I can see that’s a low point to start. How about one-point-five?” His venomous hiss echoes through the room.

“One and half million,” someone calls out.

The bidding has started, and so has the countdown for my wife.

Victoria’s blue eyes land on me, full of worry and disgust. I try my best to keep my emotions in check, but this is serious. If she falls into the wrong hands… fuck knows what will happen to her.

I’ll be dead before the night is over if Angelo has any brains in his skull. And then there will be no one left with the capacity or desire to rescue Victoria.

“One point six,” another man counters.

“Two million.”

It keeps going. A slew of voices and numbers. I can’t distinguish them from each other as they all fade to the background while I stare at my wife, memorizing every little detail.

Her dark curls are a messy cloud around her face. That sassy button nose is flaring as she works to manage her breathing. Her eyes are the deep blue of a stormy ocean.

Victoria is doing her best to keep a straight face, a feat I’m failing to imitate. I’d count myself a lucky son of a bitch if Angelo killed me at this very moment, with her face being the last thing I see.

It would be more than I deserve.

I try to squeeze one hand through my zip ties, but the plastic digs into my flesh. These assholes cinched them as tight as they could and I’m losing feeling in my fingers.

“Three million.”

I swallow back the acid flooding my mouth and focus on freeing myself. The two men at my side don’t even bother to look at me, confident there’s nothing I can do.

Maybe that’s the real torture Angelo has planned for me—letting me try to escape while knowing I’ll never succeed.

Victoria slinks back from the table as the men call out their bids, shouting over each other. She makes her way towards me and my captors, but no one stops her approach.

Angelo can’t see anything but dollar signs as he tries to drive the price as high as he can. And his lackeys won’t dare to touch her without their boss’s permission.

Victoria stops directly in front of me and drops into a low squat, resting her hands on my knees to hold her balance. “I’ll be fine.”

No, princess. This isn’t a game.

I can’t say the words. I can’t risk making her doubt herself. If Victoria thinks she can pull a plan together, then I have to trust she’s capable of making it reality.

For Christ’s sake, she fucking shot Liam, someone she knew and trusted once upon a time.

Lord knows what she’ll do to someone she doesn’t have history with.

“First opportunity,” I mutter. “You remember?”

She bobs her head, not saying anything. Victoria just blinks back at me, her blue eyes softening to a lighter crystal shade. Seeing the effect I have on her, watching her draw comfort from me even when I’m bound and all but helpless, makes me want to tell her everything.

How much I care.

How much she means to me.

That I am in love with her.

But everything I want to say sounds like a goodbye, and I’m not at all ready to bid her farewell.