The Highest Bidder

❊ Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ Eʟᴇᴠᴇɴ ❊

"Sorry for not being there for dinner," I said to Sophia after I cleaned up. She had met me outside my bedroom door to take me to dinner. The look on her face told me that she wanted to ask about what happened and where I disappeared to, but she didn't voice her question.

"It's no big deal." She shrugged. "Most of them left to go back to their homes after their meeting after lunch. You know, Enzo was freaking out about your disappearance. He was yelling at guards like a madman on crack, telling them that they better find you by the end of the day or he'd see them all fired."

I laughed. Rich people did all they could to throw their money around and when it came down to it, that's all that mattered. I was auctioned off for one hundred fifty-nine thousand dollars. Of course he wouldn't want to get rid of me so quickly.

I walked beside her as we made our way to the kitchen, my laughs immediately dying off at the sight of Enzo standing by the kitchen doors, his arms crossed over his broad chest and his eyes calculating as he watched us near. I did my best to keep my face straight and stoic as we neared him, my eyes never once leaving him. He was wearing dark pants and a long-sleeved shirt. It was different from his normal attire and I wondered if that's what he slept in. It was still too formal for my taste, but at least it wasn't a suit.

Sophia stopped before him, but she wasn't looking at him. She was watching me, trying to decipher my reaction to him waiting for us to appear. It was like she already knew he would be there.

What a little sneak.

"Enzo." I gave him a curt nod.

"Eva." He had a ghost of a smile on his face and another thought hit me. I had never seen him actually smile. A person usually smiles at least once a day, but he always looked like he had something heavy resting on his shoulders. Whatever it was that he did for work had to be weighing him down.

"Sophia?" He turned to her. "Do you mind bringing her food up to my office? She has yet to sign her paperwork."

"No need." I grabbed her arm to keep her from moving. "I won't be signing them."

She bit her lip, obviously unsure of what she was truly supposed to do. On one hand, he was her employer and was supposed to do what he said. On the other, she seemed to be battling her feelings towards me and what happened. She didn't want to hurt me or get on my bad side.

He leaned forward so that his face was level with mine. "You will be signing them whether you want to or not, Whelan. It's illegal for me to keep you here without employment verification."

I threw my free hand up, barely missing his face. Even though my hand was centimeters away from him, he didn't even flinch. His eyes only hardened and he tilted his head.

"It is illegal!" I laughed. "Everything going on here is illegal! The auction was illegal, purchasing someone is illegal, and holding them up in your home against their wishes is illegal. It's called kidnapping."

Sophia twisted out of my grip and scurried into the kitchen, leaving Enzo and I staring angrily into each other's eyes. The tension in the air between us was thick. My fingers twitched at my sides with the need to slap him for some godforsaken reason. It was like he couldn't see what he was trying to force me into. I played along with him for one day and he went from being an all right man to number one on my shit list.

His hand shot out and he grabbed my wrist before I knew what was going on. He then proceeded to pull me along after him to the stairs, even as I attempted to push him off of me. He barely stopped when I pulled back to try and halt him in his steps.

When we got to the stairs, I rooted myself at the bottom, my feet on either side of the stairway.

He sighed and wrapped his arm around my waist before lifting me up off the ground and throwing me over his shoulder. I laid there stunned, staring down at the ground floor as it got further and further away from us. He kept me there even after we got to the second floor and continued to hold me until he set me down in his office and locked the door.

I deflated and hung my head. "That was probably illegal, too."

"Sue me." He grabbed my wrist again and pulled me to a chair. He forced me to sit down and he stood before me, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes narrowed. That seemed to be his go-to look when it came to me. Always angry and calculating.

"I probably will." I sat back in the chair, crossing my own arms over my chest. "After this is all said and done or when I escape."

"Is that what you were trying to do earlier?"

My eyes widened in mock horror. "No, Enzo. Why would I ever want to escape you?"

I made sure that the sarcasm was evident in my tone, which only made his eyes narrow further. "There are worse things in life than having to work for me for a year."

"There are also better things in life than having to work for you for a year." I pointed out with a smirk. "But I'll humor you. What are your rules?"

He held out the stack of papers and I shook my head. He sighed. "There are a lot of rules, Eva."

"Bring it."

He looked completely unenthused. "You'll wake up at five o'clock every morning, if you haven't figured that out already by the alarm. You'll get ready and wear your uniform and be in the kitchen by ten til six where you'll get mine and my guests' plates ready for breakfast. I usually have, at least, two other people in the house at all times. You are to treat each and every single one of my guests with respect. That means no flipping them off."

I grinned. There was no way that I would follow that rule if they didn't deserve respect. But I wasn't going to say that.

"I'll leave a note after breakfast of your duties for the day. Lunch is always at twelve-thirty and dinner is always at six in the evening. If you aren't able to finish your duties by the end of the day, whatever is left is going to roll over to the next day. There will be days where there are significantly fewer things to do, so you'll be able to finish everything by the end of the week."

I leaned forward and steepled my fingers by my lips. "And if I don't do any of your chores?"

He only looked at me. "You are to be in bed by ten o'clock in the evening every night. You are to shower every single day either at the beginning or end of each day. You are to look presentable."

"And if I don't?"

He leaned forward too. "You will."

I sneered at him. "And if I decide I won't?"

When his smile appeared, I was completely taken aback. Dimples appeared as his mouth stretched and he flashed his perfectly straight, perfectly white teeth. It completely transformed his normally hard features, giving him a boyish look. To say I was shocked to see it was the understatement of the century.

"Trust me, Eva." He continued to grin down at me. "You will do as I say. Now sign the paperwork."