Between Commitment and Betrayal (Hardy Billionaire Brothers, #1)(90)

With a flute of champagne in her hand, she turned those deep blues on me. “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t compete with what he’ll go for.”

“You think he’ll go for that much?” What the hell was so special about him?

“He’s literally a walking dream, and he dances like one too.” She must have seen my jaw ticking because she tapped her finger to it before she licked those red lips and murmured in my ear, “In all honesty, I’d pay more for you.”

A woman yelled out six figures and her head whipped around, her jaw dropping wide open. Everly probably had never seen the lengths people would go to at a charity auction of this sort.

I expected no other surprise auctions to be announced, but Clara cleared her throat. “An anonymous request for the beautiful woman in deep blue who danced clean lines with Noah.” She glanced up from the note. “Evie, that must be you. They want a dance down in the garden under the starlight. What do you say?”

She gasped when she heard her name, and her gaze whipped to me.

I glanced around the room for the anonymous bidder, wanting to make sure I took note of who I would have to obliterate later. A private dance with her wasn’t on the table. I set my fork down and wiped my mouth before leaning close to her ear and saying, “Did you fucking agree to this?”

She bit that luscious lower lip and shook her waves of curls. “No, but I can’t say no.”

“You absolutely can and will.” My voice was low and held warning.

Yet, my wife studied my face, took a sip of her champagne, and then patted my thigh before she took a deep breath and met Clara’s gaze. “One dance in the garden.”

Noah chuckled and leaned in to say something to Dom. Izzy and Lilah whooped while both of their husbands snickered. My hearing, vision—everything—was muted to the outside world. I was singularly focused on Everly. Her back straight, with that wide opening where a man’s hand would hold her as they danced; her eyes sparkling, alive with defiance that someone gets to see under the moonlight.

She wasn’t giving me the privilege of taking care of her much anymore. The change shook my soul. I’d gotten comfortable having her tucked against me, where I could protect her, command her, make sure I was alleviating her worries.

And when I saw her smile wobble just a second as Po yelled out a bid, I knew the ridiculous charade wouldn’t last long. I leaned back and watched Po and Noah and a younger man still on the dance floor go back and forth.

When the bids hit six figures, she gasped, her gaze ping-ponging between the men. Even Dom threw in a bid but quit when I glared at him. Didn’t she see the effect she had on everyone? Men wanted to be around her, women wanted to be her, and I wanted her all to myself.

It’s when a man hesitates, though, that the serious men step up, sure and strong and audacious.

At nearly $500,000, Clara announced, “Going once, going twice—”

“One million.” I held up my paddle without so much as a stutter.

“What?” she blurted out and whipped around to shake her head at me. “No, what are you doing?”

“I’ll tell you down in the garden when I get my dance,” I said matter-of-factly. She didn’t seem to understand that I’d have paid fucking eight figures for her at that point. I was beyond controlling anything.

“Well, that’s if I don’t bid,” Wes grumbled as he walked by.

“You bid on my wife again, I’ll end not only your membership to HEAT but your career as well, Wes.” I said it casually. It wouldn’t take much work.

“How’s that?”

“You think I don’t know your coach, all your teammates, that everyone doesn’t enjoy their HEAT membership? That I can’t drag your name if I want to with the shit you’ve pulled in the past?” I stood from my seat, done with games. Done with people not understanding that Everly wasn’t simply a transaction to me. I grabbed his paddle and snapped it in half and set it on the table before I held out my hand for my wife to take.

She glanced around with a blush staining her cheeks as Clara nervously chuckled out, “Well, I guess sold to the possessive husband of the night.”

People clapped and laughed, but I wasn’t worried about their approval. I pulled my wife to the balcony’s doors and opened them to feel the night air on our skin. My brother had done a phenomenal job creating the stone balcony that overlooked a garden of beautiful foliage that could rival the Gardens of Versailles.

I didn’t stop to enjoy the view. I pulled her down the stone steps and across the lush green grass into the small hedge maze that had been created for guests to enjoy. It would ensure the privacy I needed now. Here was where I needed to make her understand one thing, here was where I needed Everly to see only me and no one else.

Away from them.

Away from the bullshit.

Away from a life I’d created but didn’t enjoy without her anymore.

“Why did you agree to that?” I said once we were deep in the hedges, the stars and the moonlight highlighting her features.

She stood there in that gown that practically glowed the same color as her eyes, the material hugging her curves and then fanning out below where the wind could blow it softly over her thighs, the slit much too high for a man like me, a man so obsessed with her I couldn’t see straight anymore.