Auctions

“Where are we?” Gianna asked.

Ezra parked outside another glistening building made for the rich and famous. It wasn’t as lavish as the hotel he took her to the other day but it was beautiful. The old black stone two-story building was enchanting with the lights tucked in the grass and the driveway.

“At an auction,” Ezra replied.

“An auction? Why would you buy anything from an auction?”

Ezra smirked and opened the driver’s door. He had dismissed his driver for the day and drove Gianna himself.

“This is a different auction, sweetheart, let’s go.”

Gianna lingered close to him. The home was enchanting but it was mysterious and almost dark.

“Don’t worry,” Ezra whispered, snaking his arm around her petite waist.

Gia bit her bottom lip. She was out of her element the second she walked into the dark living room furnished with rich expensive wood she felt a spotlight on her. The women in the room were youthful and gorgeous. They even smelled like wealth but most of all they looked like they belonged and they carried themselves as if they were entitled to all the money in the world. It was a confidence Gianna could only dream about.

The men sat next to the women were sharks and when some heads looked up it was as if Gia was a drop of blood in the centre of the ocean. Every shark swarm to the spot of the blood.

Ezra found a seat at the front of the room near the podium. The seats had reserve tags set. Shortly after a man in a fancy dark blue suit and round glasses stood in front of the podium cleared his throat and declared the start of the auction.

For the first time, Gianna noticed the two stands covered by a black sheet.

How had she missed that? She asked herself. She was too busy trying not to faint. She gripped Ezra’s arm for support. She didn’t care that he would find her behaviour sketchy because Natalie was confident.

“Our first piece is a portrait from the famous German artist. We’ll start the bidding at five thousand dollars.”

Gianna bit her lip to keep the gasp in. Five thousand dollars for a picture? The portrait was an outline of a woman with her hands over her head that was missing and a black brushed stroked background.

Gianna glanced at Ezra. He didn’t budge on this one. The other bids were portraits too and the highest sold was a fifteen thousand landscape of an old rickety house painted by a man three hundred years ago.

“The next set is a gorgeous jewellery collection,” the auctioneer said.

The black sheets were removed from the glass boxes to reveal a pair of dangling earrings with black diamonds and a necklace with a gold chain and a pink diamond in the shape of a heart and the last piece was a silver bracelet with a mixture of white and black diamonds.

Ezra leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Which one do you like?”

“I…uh… they’re all really nice.”

“Come on, Natalie, you must have your eye on one.”

Gianna’s heart beat faster. This was going too far! He couldn’t spend thousands of dollars on her. Ezra ran his hand down her thigh and squeezed her knee when she didn’t respond. He didn’t press her as the bidding began on the bracelet.

It was sold for thirty thousand and Ezra hadn’t raised his pad.

“Oh gosh,” Gianna breathed out as the auctioneer moved to the piece with a pink diamond.

“The bidding starts at fifteen thousand,” the auctioneer said.

“Twenty-five thousand,” Ezra said.

Gianna nearly fell off her chair. Another man behind them upped the bid to thirty. Ezra wouldn’t be outshined and offered forty thousand. Gianna reminded herself he was buying the diamond piece for Natalie and not her. The bidding stopped at fifty thousand. Ezra had won.

“I can’t believe you did that,” Gianna whispered.

He squeezed her hand. “Why?”

“It’s… a lot of money.”

“If you’re going to be my wife you should get used to expensive jewellery. I think you should be already.”

“Uhm, I am my pieces just don’t cost as much.”

“How much?”

“Uh… ten thousand,” Gianna laughed nervously. She had no idea how much Natalie’s jewellery cost.

Ezra bobbed his head from side to side. “Hmm, cheap.”

Gianna’s jaw dropped.

Ezra grinned and stroked her cheek. “I’m joking. Let’s go get your necklace.”

***

The pink diamond rested nicely on her cheek but she constantly reminded herself that she would have to leave it in Natalie’s room for when she got back.

“How about we go back to my house,” Ezra suggested.

Gianna looked up from the sparkling piece. “What for?”

Ezra laughed. “So we can make up.”

“I didn’t realize we were fighting.”

“Well, you blew me off the other day and I accused your family of being bad employers. I think we need to patch things up.”

***

All the voices in her head told her to run from any scenario demanding her to take her clothes off in front of a sober Ezra, but she found herself walking through his penthouse anyway.

Ezra slipped out of his jacket and lay it on the couch.

“Juice?” Ezra offered.

“Because you think I’m an alcoholic?”

Ezra chuckled, cupped her cheeks and pressed his lips against hers. “Scotch then?”

Gianna bit her lip because that was stronger than anything she’d ever tried.

“I think I’m good.”

“I’ll be back then.”

Ezra left her to get settled on the couch. The penthouse was lit by a dim fireplace. A large glass wall overlooking the city stood to the left of the living room. Seconds later Ezra returned with a brown liquid with a large block of ice in a glass.

He rested his hand on her exposed thigh.

“You have a beautiful home,” Gianna said.

“It’s not the place we’ll live in when we’re married.”

“Why not? It’s beautiful.”

Ezra sipped his drink. “Because this isn’t the place for kids to be running around.”

Gianna’s heart lurched forward. He wanted kids right away.

“I don’t want to talk much, Natalie.”

“What do you want then, Ezra?”

With his eyes firmly planted on her, he said, “You.”

He moved closer, sliding his hand up her thigh and caressing his fingertips along her bikini line.

“E-Ezra,” Gianna moaned.

His right hand ran over her shoulder and pressed her back into him.

He found her underwear and tugged gently. Alarm bells rang and nerves blared. Her heart beat so fast he could feel it.

“Nervous? This isn’t something we haven’t done before,” he caressed her cheek with his lips.

The makeup was heavy but it was transfer proof which was good for her.

“I’m not nervous.”

His hand moved to grip her neck.

The birthmark on her neck came to mind. There was nothing she could do though because Ezra stroked his fingers outside her underwear drawing a soft cry from her lips. Ezra kissed the base of her neck and he slipped under the fabric and rubbed her quickly swelling bud.

“Come here,” Ezra growled.

He yanked her thong down her legs to give himself better access to her. He found her soaked entrance and let out a growl of hunger. Gianna’s body glowed with pleasure and buzzed with anticipation but Ezra was slow. She moved her body closer to his fingers, begging him to penetrate and put her out of her misery.

“Okay, sweetheart,” Ezra said, sinking his teeth into her neck.

A cry of pleasure and pain mixed when Ezra pushed a finger into her. He stroked gently bringing her to places of immense pleasure. He added another finger and thrusted faster. Her body fit perfectly against his. She allowed her mind to forget she was an imposter. She shut off her conscious.

She moaned the name of another woman’s fiancé her heart felt dark but her body felt alive.

“Natalie,” Ezra growled.

“Ezra,” she cried as an orgasm arrived as a freight train.

She clung to him as composed herself.

“Oh my gosh,” she breathed out.

“You okay?” Ezra asked.

“Fine…” her phone buzzed in her phone.

She picked up her phone and it was a text from Sienna asking where she was. Two more kept rapidly making her nervous.

“Who is that Natalie?” Ezra asked.

Gianna looked up like a deer caught in headlights.

“Who is it, Natalie?” Ezra growled.