Bought by Midnight

One: The

nto glassy streams. Sophia Lane stood under the awning of a

boots were cheap, and her

velope was crisp despite the weather, the embosse

across the front in s

eant to come

ng and the power company followed with its own

sion work had dried up, and her mother's medical bil

acle-or a devil wil

tel door without asking her name

lent. Crystal chandeliers sparkled o

leamed-mahogany,

ssed in black and silver, like shado

ves and an earpiece ap

blinked

ies of winding halls until they reached a private eleva

stepped into a room unlik

ed ceiling painted with a star map. Velvet armchairs were arra

en in silks. Power

pt for a single black chair.A man in a tailored

ely above a whisper."You under

. I th

y leave at any time, but once bidding begins, your cons

compensated

ent dry.She was

contracts etched in sin. But this was an auction for company, c

ssed in elegance and walked

led as she signed

way, the lights dimmed

nig

est. The silence was palpable, like an orchestra waiting for its

paddles. Numbers flickered across a screen

nees nearl

er lips always chapped. She wore borrowed heels and a dress from a clearance rack. Bu

000.

000

oom s

e rose. One no one e

000

ze. The host s

voice smooth as silk.

didn't

suit rose from the far c

art st

n Wo

oon. Phantom kin

with a presence that could silence th

ught a bankrupt airlin

seen with a woman in years-b

ned a year of

lowly, like a s

low and unreadable. "I tru

didn't expect anyon

o anything

ous, yes-but not in the way she'd feared. His

looked at her as if he alrea

ss the terms now?" sh

idn't reach his eyes.

nked. "

ime, Miss Lane. Mi

back of a sleek black car. O

could bare

ot-minimalist, sleek, private. No chandelier

glass of water

rembling,

ing not

id you

ame too quic

aga

cause I'm tired of

he understood that

ves you choices, not chains. You can leave any time.

yes. "To being my wife."The words hit like a sho

d. "There's a business deal I need to clos

my side and not flinch

now how to be that person."He stepped

in re

bviously. And when it's over, your life

onaire, not the bidder-but the man who had sat in the shadows until

she aske

ead. "Because you

anyone else in that room."For the f

, unsure.But