Chapter 17

Julia:

"Five thousand two hundred!"

I glanced at the woman across the room. She looked over at me and smirked; she did not know how to give up, but neither did I. Rome said it did not matter how much I bid as long as he didn't have to spend twenty-four hours with the other women in here.

I felt flattered until he mentioned that I lived with him, and he had no other choice but to see me every day. I wondered what his deal was.

Returning her smirk, I looked at Rome, who just stood on the stage looking more miserable than I'd seen him before. Yes, he was rich and handsome, but why would I want to bid on him when he was just going to be rude to me for the hours we had to spend together.

"One million dollars!"

I ignored the gasps and gave Rome a wink and a cheeky smile when he looked at me.

"One million dollars going once!" The room was silent. I looked at the woman who seemed to have been in a competition with me just seconds ago; she looked defeated.

"One million dollars going twice... and the pretty lady in red gets to have the lovely Rome Livingston all to herself for twenty-four hours," said the host.

"Damn, Junebug. I never knew you were into my brother that much. One million dollars," Josh teased.

I shrugged. "It's not my money, and it's for a good cause. You're the guy that a gorgeous interior designer almost fought another woman for then ended up bidding seven hundred thousand on. "

He looked over at Ally, sitting two tables away, and smiled; in return, she rolled her eyes and looked the other way. They were an odd pair. It was very obvious that they liked each other, but Ally chose to be stubborn about her feelings and be mean to him for some reason. I was hoping that something changed after they spent those hours together. I bet Ally was already thinking of what she would do, considering that the women were in charge of choosing what they would do.

My attention was now directed to Rome as he sat at our table. He seemed even grumpier now.

"You know a 'thank you, Julia; you are truly amazing' would have been okay with me."

His dark eyes met mine for a second or two before he looked away.

"I think he wanted Mahalia to bid the highest," Josh whispered loudly enough for Rome to hear.

"You mean that woman across the room?" I asked while staring at her.

Josh nodded. "He had a thing for her."

"Oh, I had no idea."

"Would you both shut the fuck up? The last thing I want to do is be in the same room as that crazy manipulating gold-digging bitch."

I fake gasped. "Such rude words coming from such a handsome face."

Josh chuckled. "He's right, though. She was his obsessive secretary; he even had to take out a restraining order against her."

"Then why is she here bidding on you?" I asked Rome.

"It expired two months ago," he answered.

"I think you should get another one," I said while looking at the woman. She was gorgeous with long red hair that framed her flawless face. She wore a long blue gown that hugged her curves.

The way she carried herself showed that she was high-class; she looked like the best of the best, which made me wonder about the things Rome and Josh just said.

"Why, are you afraid that someone will snatch your eye candy away?" Josh teased.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Don't give Rome the wrong idea. I know a thing or two about crazy obsessive people."

I waited until everyone was gone before packing up my things and heading for the exit. I was working today at the studio Rome rented for me to train the workers. I wasn't doing it on my own, though, because I did not know a lot about working in a hotel; I was just teaching them specifically about Livingston hotel and the rules and regulations of the organization.

I closed the door behind me and took my phone out to see when I called the taxi service. It was five minutes ago; therefore, my taxi should be here in the next seven to ten minutes.

"Well look at who we have here. At first, I didn't recognize you, Julies. Did you change your hair to try and fit in with the rich people?"

I swallowed and looked up at the person coming towards me. Xavier and his two friends walked towards me.

"What do you want?" I asked.

His left foot was in a cast, and he walked with a crutch.

"I would say you, Julies, but it seems as if you replaced me with a new man."

"We weren't in a relationship, Xavier. You made sure you ruined that."

He tilted his head from side to side as if he were finding a comfortable position for his pea-sized brain.

He smirked and nodded at the two men. "Well, baby girl, I am going to give you a message for him."

Rome:

I sat in the living room doing some work on my laptop. I couldn't go into work today since Julia and I should be spending the day together. She was supposed to be back four hours ago.

My phone started to vibrate on the center table. It was a strange number, but being an entrepreneur, I often got calls from strange numbers, so I decided to answer.

"Rome Livingston."

The person on the other line didn't say anything for a while, and just when I was about to hang up on whoever it was, Kylashay spoke.

"Hi, is Julia there? She's not answering my calls, and we were supposed to have lunch together today. I even tried calling Emmie, but she's not answering."

I was about to tell her that I haven't seen her when I heard the front door opening followed by a loud noise.

I went to see what the commotion was. My eyes widened when I saw Emmie struggling to keep a bloody Julia on her feet.

"Mr. Livingston, what was that noise? Is everything alright?"

"Kylashay..." Emmie shook her head no. "Julia isn't feeling well. She has a slight headache. I'll have her call you as soon as she feels better."

"But I—" I hung up on her and rushed over to Julia. Picking her up, I headed for the stairs with Emmie following behind me.

I looked down at the woman in my arms. Blood stained her bottom lip, and there was a wound on her head. She was groaning in pain, and her hazel eyes were opening and closing as if she were trying to stay conscious.

"What happened? Why didn't you take her to the hospital?"

"She didn't want me to take her there. She seemed scared," Emmie said, entering the room with me.

Placing her on the bed, I retrieved my phone from my pocket and found Dr. Montgomery's number.

"How fast can you get here?" I asked as soon as he answered.

"Hello, Mr. Livingston. I'm with a patient right now, but I'll be there in about…twenty minutes."

"You have fifteen," I said before ending the call.

I looked at Emmie who sat on the bed brushing Julia's hair from her face. "I'm so sorry, Julia," she whispered with a remorseful look.

"What happened to her?" I asked for the second time.

"Don't fucking ignore me!"

Julia was injured and could barely stay awake, yet she refused to answer my questions.

"Don't, Emmie," Julia whispers.

Emmie looked at me, her eyes filled with tears. She blinked them away. "She doesn't want me to say anything, so just drop it."

I was furious. What does she mean just drop it?

"Julia, quit being stubborn and tell me what happened."

She kept her eyes closed and didn't reply.

"Julia," Emmie called, shaking her hand.

I walked over and sat on the other side of the bed. "Julia."

"Please, Rome. It will only get worse if I say anything," she whispered.

"Just talk to me, Julia."

A small and painful-looking smile made its way on her face. "It's cute that you're worried about me, but I'm fine."

Her words pissed me off. "Don't fuck with me, Julia!"

"Don't fuck with me, Julia," she mimics. I was about to scold her when my phone started vibrating.

"I'm outside, sir," Dr. Montgomery said on the other line.

Ending the call, I went downstairs to open the door for him.