Chapter 73

I was practically sitting on the very edge of my seat as the room became swept up in the most intense round of bidding yet. My nails were biting viciously into my thighs as Lorenzo continued to place his higher bid on the necklace.

It was a tight match, but ultimately all of his other opponents dropped out of the competition.

“Going once...Going twice...Sold! Congratulations, Alpha Lorenzo Sinclair, on your bid on ‘The Ballet Necklace’ for five million dollars!”

The room erupted in a storm of clamps and wild cheers. I, on the other hand, was left stunned beyond words. All of a sudden, as if right on cue, all the lights turned on and a stern voice came out over the loudspeakers.

“Alpha Lorenzo and Miss Wright please report to the main hall. Immediately.”

The muscles in my stomach churned. Lorenzo grabbed my hand and gave me a knowing look. It was time.

I’d given a silent prayer that everything would go according to plan.

[Third Person’s POV]

Both Eleanor and Lorenzo calmly made their way down from their private viewing booth to head back to the main hall. They graciously weaved their way around the clusters of people who were beginning to file out of the auditorium.

The closer they got to the head office, the more they were able to hear the intense shouting that was coming from inside.

“What the fuck is that necklace doing out of storage?! It’s not meant to be put up for bidding.” There was no mistaking that it was the Blue Moon Alpha whose shouts were echoing off the walls.

“Well, clearly it got bunched in with the rest of tonight’s catalog,” Cruz responded passively.

There was a clear sneer in the other man’s voice as he spoke. “We can’t hand over that necklace.”

Lorenzo squeezed Eleanor’s hand and pushed his way into the office. He kept his shoulders square and leveled his eyes on Cruz’s brother.

“Well, you’d better,” he said sternly. “Because I already won the bid. The necklace is now mine by right. So, unless you plan to somehow buy it back from me, I suggest you hand it over. Otherwise, I will happily take this matter to court.”

The Alpha of Blue Moon glared at Lorenzo with seething hatred. “I’ve had just about enough of you getting in my way,” he snarled.

Lorenzo appeared unbothered by the other man’s spiteful tone. “Oh, don’t worry. I’m sure there will come a day where neither one of us will have to deal with one another again.”

He turned to look past the other alpha to glance at Cruz.

“The necklace,” he demanded casually.

“That necklace is an heirloom that has belonged to the Blue Moon pack for countless generations,” Cruz’s brother spat. “I’m not about to let it fall into the dirty hands of Black Moon, least of all someone like you!”

Eleanor’s stomach flipped. From where she was standing near the door, she was able to tell that due to the Alpha’s excessive shouting and trilling voice, many of the other patrons were beginning to turn their heads toward them.

‘Wow,’ she thought with startled amusement. ‘Cruz was right about his brother’s rigorous temper.’

The longer he went on shouting his head off, the more people started to turn their attention to the front office. Most of them looked like some of the reporters she had seen earlier. Instead of grabbing for their cameras, they reached for their phones and other recording devices to hold up, hoping to catch more of the conversation.

Eleanor forced herself to ignore the growing swarm of people outside and turned her attention back to what was happening in the room. Unfortunately, the feeling in her nerves hadn’t subsided much.

While Lorenzo and the Blue Moon Alpha were still having it out with one another, it gave Cruz an ample enough amount of time to freely ogle her as he pleased. Just knowing that his eyes were semi-permanently fixed on her chest made her skin crawl.

Cruz cleared his throat, in a fake attempt to ease the tension in the room. “Brother, I don’t think it would be a wise decision to speak too crudely to the Alpha of Black Moon. His donation to the auction house was by far the highest tonight—”

“Shut up!” his brother snapped back. “As if I care who he even is! It’s your fault the necklace was put up in the first place. Buy it back from him. Now.”

Lorenzo folded his arms across his broad chest. “Well, I’m not entirely interested in making you an offer for it back,” he stated.

“I’m not letting you walk out of here with that necklace, Sinclair!”

Lorenzo shrugged his shoulders and made the audacious move to smile.

“Well, that’s okay,” he said tauntingly. “I'll happily accept it to be gift-wrapped and sent to the house instead.”

Eleanor fought back a giggle that threatened to slip past her lips. They could all tell that Cruz’s brother was mere seconds away from losing whatever patience he had left. His flared an angry shade of red and his eyes glowed with indignation.

“Perhaps you’re not understanding me,” he glowered. “That necklace is never going to belong to you.”

“By law, the necklace is in my possession now. So unless you plan on handing over ten million dollars, I suggest you mind your own damn business so that my mate and I can be on our way,” Lorenzo said stiffly.

Ten million dollars?!

The mere thought nearly made Eleanor’s knees buckle from under her. There was no way anyone in their right mind would agree to such a wild—

“So be it,” he growled. The Blue Moon Alpha turned to sneer at his brother. “Make the goddamn payment!”

Cruz hid a smile as he lowered his head while he made out the check. It brought him great pleasure in knowing that this would be the very last order he’d ever take from his brother.