The Auction House Deal: Bought by A Billionaire

By the time Tara left, I was feeling better.

She was right. As much as I tried to tell myself how I wanted to feel, it didn’t make those feelings of anxiety go away. I had backed myself into a corner with denial and worry. The only way out of it was to face it.

I was thankful to have the guards and Tara to help me face entering back into the world. I had been right all along in saying I couldn’t live my life on pause because of one man. There was no telling when or if he was going to be caught, and I had a charity to run!

Going back to my craft room, I sent off a couple more emails before I looked at my phone. There was one person I really needed to talk to before we launched.

Picking up the phone, I took in a deep breath and then raised it to my ear. "Hello?"

"Hey Kristen," I breathed. "Do you have some time to talk?"

"Sure, I got a few. What’s up?" she replied.

"Well, I have some good news. We did fantastic at the gala. Enough to launch really soon. I was hoping that you could come by tomorrow and talk things over with me and start to prep for our grand opening? There’s a lot to go through and catch up on."

"Sure," she agreed. I could have sworn I heard a smile in her tone. That warmed my heart. "I would love to."

"Great. I’m going to try my best to get everything lined up for then. Would you mind coming by sometime after lunch time tomorrow?"

"Sounds like a plan. I’ll see you then, okay?" Kristen stated.

I smiled and nodded before I realized we were only on the phone and she couldn’t see me. "Yeah, I’ll see you then."

We hung up, and I took in a deep breath.

Good. I was so grateful to have her on my team and willing to help with everything. There was still a great deal of worry I had for her. She seemed to be gone so much and never seemed to tell us what it was she was doing.

Then again, I supposed that Kristen’s life wasn’t exactly any of our business. Still, I would be lying if I said that seeing her around the charity in a full-time role wouldn’t give me some peace of mind. I cared about her and wanted to know firsthand she was safe and cared for. Was that so bad?

I so hoped that the charity and the salary she would make would be enough to give her a life that she had always wanted but never quite had. Independence, honest money of her own, and doing what she so longed to do - make a difference for the women that had been in a similar situation to her.

Things were lining up, even if the situation that they were lining up in wasn’t ideal. Ideal would be having all of the danger and drama behind us.

Part of me wondered if it was in the charity’s best interest to launch while all of it was still going on. Would I be putting other people in danger too? My stomach flipped at the thought, but I calmed myself.

There was no telling if that person would ever come back around. I couldn’t keep women waiting for help because of the worry that some weirdo was going to make a scene.

Once I gathered myself and came to terms with all that was taking place, I focused once again on my work. I went onto freelancing sites to find graphic designers and marketing experts to make some advertisements that would go live just a couple days before our opening.

Thankfully, that took up most of my afternoon. By the time I was done, it was nearing dinner.

Closing my laptop, I stood and stretched. Letting out a yawn, I walked outside to find Roman emerging from his study at the same time.

I grinned wickedly. "Fancy meeting you here."

He turned and smirked at me. "Well, it isn’t every day I see a lady as fine as yourself walking about the halls where I work."

"Oh really?" I stated, putting my hands on my hips. "Cause I’m pretty sure you’ve been working from home most of the time lately."

"Yeah," he began, stalking toward me. He hooked an arm about my waist and pulled me into him. "But I think it’s very, very rare we bump into one another like this."

His voice was practically a purr, and it was enough to get me excited. I tried my best to dampen such thoughts and tuck them away. There was no time to get frisky right then, but I couldn’t help but play into it a little bit. "Maybe we should make it more of a habit."

"Maybe we should," he smirked.

After sharing a playful little smile, we leaned in and shared a long, passionate kiss.

I pulled back and sighed. "Let’s eat first there, tiger. I’m starving. I forgot to eat lunch today."

He tutted at me. "Only a minute’s journey away from our pandora’s box of a kitchen, plus a butler, and you forget to eat. What ever am I going to do with you?"

"Lock me up and throw away the key," I teased. I chuckled and shook my head. "I’ve had a very eventful day, I’ll have you know."

He threw his arms around my shoulder and guided me down the hallway. "Oh? Do tell."

"Tara and I had a bit of a breakthrough today," I started out with. He looked down at me with an arched brow. "She made me realize that it is time to start going back to the office. Maybe not all at once or anything, but little by little. Get comfortable being out in public again. Get a feel for the waters after everything that happened."

"I’m glad to hear that," he stated, his voice warm and sincere. "I know it must be tough on you. Know I’m here to help in any way I can."

"Thank you," I smiled. "I know there’s no telling if things are going to be okay, but there’s only one way to find out. And that’s to live life, you know?"

He nodded and gave my shoulders a squeeze. "Is there anything else that went on today?"

I nodded. "I hired my assistant today. She’ll start Monday. And I talked to Kristen. She’s going to come over tomorrow to help strategize the launch and recruit women in need to use the center."

"That’s perfect," he breathed. He gave me a smile that looked as easy as a flowing river. "Everything is going to fall into place. Even if the timing is odd and not ideal... It’s going to fall into place. This time next year, you’ll be looking back with fondness and accomplishment."

"I sure hope you’re right," I stated with that shy smile of mine. "I know our life isn’t going to be easy for a while, but I want the charity to be what’s meant to, you know? A sanctuary. I think, had the attempted kidnapping happened anywhere else, it might not have hit me so hard. But the fact I’m trying to cultivate this place of safety for these women and someone violated that before it even opened..." I frowned at the thought. "Just feels wrong and I guess has me more on edge than I should."

He gave me another squeeze. "I don’t think anyone would judge you for that. It’s perfectly understandable. We are going to make that building as safe as possible, though. We’ll give it its own security team, and you’ll take at least three bodyguards with you at all times. It’s going to be uncomfortable and weird, but it’ll be safe, and that’s what matters."

"You’re absolutely right," I nodded. "It’s going to be. I feel a bit silly that it took me this long to understand that."

He shook his head. "I think we are all just now getting back into a place to be ready to get back into a routine. I think Ed and Marcus coming back into the picture gives us all some peace of mind."

"I think you’re right about that. I hope they are able to wrap things up soon. As soon as possible, really."

He kissed my temple. "I think we all do."

With a soft smile, I let the conversation die there and started a new one. "What do you think is for dinner?"

"I told Geoffrey I was feeling seafood. That sound alright to you?" he asked.

"Sounds perfect," I nodded.

We moved together to the stairs, deciding to take the long way to the kitchen. There was no rush.

Things were falling into place, just as Roman said. I needed to learn once again to go with the flow, and I was going to make it my mission to do so.

The smell of lemon, butter, and seafood wafted in our direction. My stomach growled and my mouth watered. I was so ready to turn my brain off and enjoy the night.