Read Online Veretti’s Dark Vengeance by Lucy Gordon - Free Book Online Page B

shall we auction first?’
‘Mine,’ Salvatore said at once. He gave Helena a mischievous look. ‘Let my rival see the price my eagle will realise, and tremble.’
She joined in the laughter, but she was feeling uneasy. Salvatore’s magnificent eagle outshone her horse and everyone knew it. He would have no trouble defeating her.
One part of her said she’d fallen into a trap and he would make a fool of her, yet the other part refused to believe it. Some mysterious instinct told her that this man might be cruel, he was undoubtedly ruthless, but he would not be petty.
He saw her looking at him. ‘Trust me,’ he said, as though he’d read her thoughts perfectly.
The bidding began and mounted fast: quite rightly, Helena thought, but her heart sank as she saw the inevitable moment approaching. She gulped when she heard the final price, forty thousand euro.
Then it was time for the glass horse, and she soon realised that her fears were unfounded. The value of the pieces was almost irrelevant. The crowd was having fun backing them against each other, and as the bids rose and rose they began cheering her on.
But then things slowed down and came to a halt at thirty-five thousand. A groan went up, but it was broken by a voice crying,
‘Fifty thousand euro.’
The cheer grew louder. The bid had come from Salvatore.
‘Fifty-five,’ came a voice from the crowd.
‘Sixty.’ Salvatore topped it at once.
‘Hey, wait,’ Franco said urgently. ‘We had a deal that you weren’t going to do this.’
‘No, the deal was that we wouldn’t bid for our own pieces,’ Salvatore reminded him. ‘There’s nothing to stop me bidding against myself.’
‘But you can’t do that.’
‘Yes he can,’ Helena said through laughter. ‘He can do anything he wants.’
‘I’m glad you realise that,’ Salvatore said softly.
‘Seventy,’ called a voice.
‘Eighty,’ Salvatore said at once.
‘Ninety.’
‘A hundred!’
‘Going, going, gone-for a hundred thousand euros.’
There was frantic applause, but Helena was troubled.
‘This isn’t funny any more,’ she said.
‘You won. You should be delighted.’
‘What about all those people who took bets with you? They’re looking very disgruntled and who can blame them? Why should they pay you when you won by very dubious means?’
‘Thus confirming your opinion of me, which should please you.’
‘Salvatore, you cheated. You can’t take their money.’
‘You just said I could do anything I want.’
‘It was a joke then, it isn’t now.’
‘Helena, let me assure you that your pity is misplaced. Every single person who laid those bets is extremely rich. Paying up will be nothing to them.’
‘But that’s not the point. Please, Salvatore, let them off.’
He regarded her steadily with a look on his face that she couldn’t read. Then he said, slowly and deliberately, ‘I don’t let people off. Hell will freeze over first.’
‘Salvatore-’
‘They challenged me, and if they didn’t bother to check the terms first, that’s their look-out. I fight to win, and if necessary I fight dirty. I thought you already knew that.’
She stepped back from him in dismay. Until then the evening had been pleasant. He’d charmed her, showing her a side of himself that contrasted with everything that had gone before. It had been confusing but even that had been enjoyable.
Now she saw how naïve she’d been to think there was another side to him. He’d given a chilly demonstration of deviousness that was also a warning to her, and there was a wry look on his face, his lips twisted in what might have been derision as he saw that she understood.
‘You bastard,’ she murmured. ‘You sly, devious, cold-blooded-’
‘Save it. I don’t have the time to listen.’
To her horror he walked away towards the table and turned, holding up his hands for quiet.
‘Some of you are feeling pretty aggrieved at the way I won our bet. You’re wondering if I’m going to say it was all a joke, and you