Her Venice Affair (The Albury Affairs) (3 page)

“You better start participating actively if you want
to go to Venice.”

Riana’s brows furrowed in confusion. “But you said—”

Loraine silenced her with a wave of her hand. “Oh shut
it. I say a lot of things I don’t mean. Now do you want to go to Venice or
not?”

“Fifty thousand!” the woman next to Riana yelled.

Riana placed a hand over her ringing ear. “But I don’t
have the money.” She watched the hands shoot up all over the room and she felt
desperate. They were at eighty-five thousand already.
These women are horny vultures!

Loraine rolled her eyes. “I’m sure he doesn’t expect
you to pay for it. He said bid to win, he didn’t say anything about you paying
right?”

“No, he didn’t.”
But
he didn’t say he would pay either
, she thought.

“So what are you waiting for?”

“Ninety thousand!”

Then the hands stopped shooting up and the room went
silent. That was the final bid and no one was going to up it. She turned to the
source of the shout to get a look at the lucky girl with ninety thousand to
spend on
her
trip to Venice, but the
room was too crowded.

Loraine clucked her tongue. “Riana, it’s between you
and the slut in the hooker dress and Allan doesn’t look the least bit amused by
your silence.”

Riana turned to Allan and Loraine was right. She was
sure the others in the room couldn’t tell but his eyes showed how furious he
really was with her. She saw the fingers of the hand tucked under his arm move
up. He wanted her to bid higher.

“Isn’t that too much?”

Loraine knocked her elbow again and yelled, “One
hundred thousand!”

“Loraine!” Riana hissed, stepping away from her and
rubbing her elbow.

Loraine pulled her back. “Does he look hard for the
cash? Look around you Riana. Do any of them look hard for the cash? He probably
spends that much in one day buying a suit or flying his dinner in from Paris.
He’s a damn billionaire!”

“But it’s not my money to spend!”

Loraine shook her fist in Riana’s face, tightening her
grip on her arm until it hurt. “Riana, outbid that slut and go to Venice or I
swear I’ll break your perfect little nose!”

“One hundred and fifty thousand!” Riana yelled leaning
away from Loraine and her fist, taking the threat seriously. She liked her nose
as it was.

Then she spotted the slut in the hooker dress charging
toward them from behind Loraine. “We’ve got trouble!” she whispered.

“This is ridiculous! This waitress can’t afford that!”
She protested, settling a seething look on Riana.

Loraine stepped in between them, shielding Riana.
“Whether or not she can afford it is none of your business. Call out your bid
or forfeit now. Either way, she’s the one leaving with him.”

“Damn straight I am,” Riana announced happily,
bouncing on her toes.

Allan’s ex-girlfriend—stress on the
ex
—took Loraine in from the tip of her
shoes to the top of her head with a superior look, her lips curved in a sneer.
Then she turned to Riana, killing her victory instantly with her livid look.
“Two hundred thousand.”

Riana chocked on her own breath as a gasp echoed in
the room. She turned to Allan and he gave her a reassuring smile and a nod.
“Two hundred and twenty thousand,” she countered.

Then the slut’s lips spread in a sinister smile and
she turned to the stage. “Two hundred and fifty.”

Riana’s eyes popped. A quarter of a million dollars!
She couldn’t go higher than that. Allan wouldn’t possibly agree to it. She
turned back to Allan feeling defeated but his smile just grew wider. He nodded
his head to the side, signaling her to his hidden fingers.

Riana’s head cantered to the side to see.

Is he
holding up three fingers?
She dipped
her head further for a clearer view.
Four,
no five…five!

The same moment the slut cheered, “I win,” Riana
exclaimed loudly, “Five hundred thousand! Allan you can’t be—”

“Sold!” Allan yelled from the stage.

Before the auctioneer could utter a single word in
protest, Allan leaped off the stage and charged toward her.

* * * *

“Half a million dollars! Really, Allan, if you don’t
want to go with her just say no.”

 
Allan grabbed
her hand and dragged her away without a word in response, but that didn’t stop
Riana from rambling on. She had to run to keep up with his long strides.

 
“Do you have
any idea how much half a million dollars is? That’s too much! Let her pay. They
can’t possibly force you to go if you don’t want to. What, is there a clause
that says you’ll go to jail if you don’t agree to this?”

Allan brought them to a quick halt then turned to
Riana with his brows creased. “You babble a lot. You just go on and on and on
without a single break to breathe. Do you know that?”

Of course she knew that! The most Riana ever spoke was
when she rambled and this situation deserved a babble! “Five hundred thousand
dollars, Allan. That’s crazy!”

“My sentiments exactly!” the slut said breathlessly.
Riana wasn’t the only one running to keep up with Allan.

Allan muttered something incoherent under his breath
then pulled Riana back into a chase after him. They finally stopped at a desk
and he quickly stuck his hand in the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out
his checkbook.

“Allan, she can’t possibly afford you!”

Riana shook her head and shrugged nonchalantly. “I’m
not paying for him. He’s paying for himself…or is it for me? I guess it’s for
me since he’s the one who invited me to—”

“Riana,” Allan spoke softly cutting her off.

“
Hmmm
?”

“You are rambling again.”

“Oh. Sorry,” she whispered. He chuckled, shook his
head and turned back to the lady at the desk.

The slut pulled at his sleeve jacket. “Allan, this is
not how things are done. You can’t pay for yourself!”

Allan stared at her assaulting hand and she quickly
dropped it before he responded, “She’ll pay me back.”

“I will?” Riana squeaked. She knew this would happen.
Now where the hell was she going to get half a million from? She stomped her foot.
This was all Loraine’s fault!

Riana looked back at Allan just in time to catch his
eyes move over her like he was undressing her. When she finally met his eyes,
the lust in them made her take a step back. The pit of her belly burned when
she finally realized what kind of payment he meant.

He held her gaze and said, “Yes, Riana, you will,”
with the most sensual voice she’d ever heard, and then he took a pen from the
lady at the desk and leaned down.

Riana swallowed hard, and let out a shaky breath she
hadn’t realized she was holding. What the hell had she gotten herself into?

“Mr. Jones, tell Mr. Sinclair he can’t pay for
himself!” The slut screeched like a banshee.

 
Mr. Jones, the
organizer of the event, was sitting behind the desk and looked too old to be
dealing with her temper tantrums and Riana wished there was a way she could
spare him the drama.

“Miss Davenport, what seems to be the matter?” he
asked with a tired voice.

Riana stepped back to avoid the slut’s hand as it shot
up to point an accusing finger at her. “This…
thing
can’t afford to pay for Mr. Sinclair. She very well knew that
but she still joined the bid. In fact, she isn’t even a guest but a waitress.
She shouldn’t have been participating!”

“And you can?” Allan threw over his shoulder.

“Can what?”

“Can you afford me?”

The slut went silent, staring at Allan with a seething
look but he was completely unfazed. He stared at her like he was staring at a
spoiled child throwing a tantrum.

He turned back to the desk. “Didn’t think so.”

Riana took another step back. She wanted to give them
some space—not too much space, but just enough to deal with their issues—and
hopefully Allan could reduce her screeching by a few octaves as well.

Allan’s hand stilled over the check and his gaze
quickly shot up to her. His expression was blank except for his right brow,
which slowly rose. She wasn’t sure if he was asking a question or reacting to
her stepping back. Riana took back the step and Allan turned his attention back
to the check.

So that’s
what that look meant. Noted
.

His
ex
-girlfriend
stepped forward and placed her hand on his arm. Riana knew she was being
ridiculous, but the sudden urge to rip it off filled her. She was feeling
territorial over a guy she just met. Loraine was right; there was something seriously
wrong with her.

“Allan, you can’t possibly be serious. This trip is
for us.”

Riana held back a laugh. The banshee was gone and the
seductress was in the house.

Allan straightened, tucking his checkbook back into
his jacket pocket after tearing off a page and handing it to the lady on the
desk. He gently pulled her hand off his arm and dropped it. Then he smiled a
smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Don’t forget Michael.”

Michael.
That must be the guy she was having sex with in the manager’s office
.

His
ex stepped
back as if
she’d been slapped. “He’s irrelevant!” she said hotly.

Irrelevant?
Riana was shocked. Twenty minutes ago she was very
accommodating to him. Now he was irrelevant?

Allan tilted his head slightly to the side, his brow
rising in wonder. “Oh really? Does he feel the same way? Only a few minutes ago
you were bent over—”

“Enough!” she yelled cutting him off. She took a
visible deep breath, shutting her eyes for a moment before she spoke again. “I
thought you didn’t care. And would I be wrong in concluding you too are having
an affair with this…
waitress
?” She
hissed through clenched teeth and Riana thought she sounded like a snake.

“If it will make you feel better, you can take her
upstairs to our suite for a few hours, then we’ll be even. We’ll go home and
discuss our trip to Venice.”

Riana wasn’t sure what offended her more. The fact
that the slut just called her a whore or that she still thought she was going
on
her
trip to Venice. She decided to
address the first because the Venice trip was a sure thing.

“I am not a whore!”

The slut sneered. “Of course not,” she responded
sarcastically.

Before Riana could give her retort, Loraine stepped
in. “It’s true. The girl has never had sex,” she said in such a nonchalant way,
biting into an appetizer and adding, “This is really good.” Riana had no way to
hold back the laughter that bubbled out.

“Lucky me,” Allan mumbled, killing Riana’s laugh.

He probably didn’t mean to say it out loud—the sultry
look he was giving her suggested his mind was far off and she was definitely
naked wherever he was—but she heard him. Loud and clear, and the confession did
weird things to her body.

The slut looked around, suddenly conscious of the
attention they were drawing. “Allan, could we please go up to our suite and
discuss this in private?”

Allan remained quiet, perusing the gathering crowd of
people who were trying to be discrete about their eavesdropping. For a moment,
Riana thought he was going to say yes just to save face. She had to be
realistic. Allan and the slut were important people in the society and Riana
wasn’t.

“No.” His response had such finality in it, leaving no
room for argument. Riana held herself still to keep from dancing with joy.

“Riana.” Allan held out his hand to her. “Let’s go.”

Riana stared at his hand, then his face. They were
really going to do this. Run off to Venice and do God knows what together.

“I don’t have a passport,” she said it so low she
wasn’t sure he heard her.

Allan’s lips spread in a wide heart stopping grin.
“Not to worry. I’ll handle that.” He beckoned her with his fingers to take his
hand.

Was she really going to Venice with him?

 
Why the hell
not?

 
For once she
deserved to act crazy and let her hair down. Here was her opportunity to stop
living vicariously through Loraine and actually live! She laughed giddily and
raised her hand to place it in his.

Before she could, the slut slapped her hand away
placing hers in his instead.

Allan turned sharply to her, his eyes narrowing to
dangerous slits, his lips pressed in a thin line. If he were a wolf, Riana was
sure he would have snarled or growled and then rip her hand off, judging by his
flaring nose.

He dropped her hand and roughly pulled Riana toward
him. She bumped into his side, her hands holding onto his waist for balance. He
placed his hand on her waist and pulled her into him, effectively tucking her
under his arm. And for the first time in such a long time, she felt protected
in an embrace.