Men in suits and women in gowns move aside, revealing a couple that I never expected to see again. Certainly not here. Not on Malaking Kuta. It’s my brother, Curtis. The woman I’ve loved for years stands at his side, wearing a small but sparkling diamond. Her eyes meet mine, those gorgeous blue eyes that have haunted my dreams. The ones that show up when I’m stroking my cock alone in bed. That mouth that moans my name.
The woman I can never have. She’s on the island.
“Cameron,” she says, sounding as surprised as me. More.
I struggle to control my emotion, but it’s like trying to tame an ocean. Keep a calm head? No goddamn way can I do that now. Follow the dream? Briana is my dream. “What the fuck are you doing here?”
She shakes her head, as if still reeling from shock. “Curtis brought me.”
Mr. Knapp looks pleased with himself. “She’s going to be at auction tonight.”
“What the hell do you mean?” I snarl past the buzzing in my ears.
“We pride ourselves on the island to fulfill your deepest fantasy, Mr. Kidwell.”
She stares back at me, my deepest fantasy, my darkest dream. And she’s afraid.
CHAPTER THREE
Briana
Leaving Curtis and Mr. Knapp in our private cabin, I kicked off my sandals and made my way out onto the sandy white beach. As the sea breeze fluffed the skirt of my sundress, my toes sank into the soft sand, yet I didn’t feel the warmth. With the sun streaming down, I wrapped my arms around myself and lifted my face to the sky. No amount of tropical grandeur could make up for what was about to happen. Sun rays, no matter how intense, couldn’t bring heat to my chilled skin.
My hands trembled as they had since seeing Cameron Kidwell.
How was he here?
My mind scrambled with the realization that Curtis’s brother was not only here, but Mr. Knapp had invited him to the auction.
Closing my eyes, I replayed the conversation Curtis and I’d had before I agreed to this ridiculous escapade.
“Bri, I have it worked out. It’s a show.” Curtis gently pushed a stray lock of hair away from my face. “You’re beautiful. I’ve been talking to Booker Knapp. He has the answer for our financial woes.”
“I-I don’t know.”
His expression turned solemn. “You know what Andros Ivanov will do to me if I can’t make this payment.”
I shook my head and swallowed my response. I wanted to say it wasn’t our financial woe. I wanted to recommend Curtis speak to one of the Sparrow men from Chicago. I knew getting a direct line to the kingpin, Sterling Sparrow, wasn’t easy, but I had a connection, albeit distant. As a fashion buyer for a charming boutique in Sterling Heights, I had spent the last few years trying to acquire the license to sell an exclusive brand of women’s fashion, Sinful Threads. It so happened that my contact—Louisa Toney—was a good friend of the wife of the kingpin, Araneae Sparrow.
I wasn’t sure how it all worked, but it seemed better than Curtis’s proposal.
“Is that what you want,” he asked, “to identify my body?”
“You know it isn’t.”
“It’s one night. Like I said, it’s a show. The bids are taken electronically. It’s not like I’m the only man—”
“What the hell?”
“Bri, it’s one night, and if Booker can work out the particulars, it won’t really happen.”
“It? The transaction? Being bid upon and sold?” My voice was getting higher with each statement. “I’m not sleeping—”
“Of course you’re not. Yes, there’s an auction. You’ll stand before a group of people. The bids will come in and Knapp will keep it going until the price is what we need. Then, he’ll announce the winner. It’s staged. They do it all the time.”
“I don’t understand how you get the money if I don’t...end up...” I couldn’t make myself say the word—sold.
“The patrons of Malaking Kuta drop a lot of money to be there. Knapp will spread the word that he has a special auction. I’ll get the cut from what he makes. At the end of the night, you will be back with me in our cabin. We’ll make love to the sound of the waves, and the bidders will be none the wiser.”
“People go there to...?”
“Everything from business to debauchery. That doesn’t concern you. No one will know you.”
“Bri,” Curtis called from the large front porch. “Booker needs to go over a few items with you.”