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CHAPTER NINETEEN

Author: Echoes of Gold
last update Last Updated: 2026-01-03 23:07:03

“You need to sleep. You need rest, the painkillers should be kicking in very soon” she said, still shaking.

“I will, soon, I just want to look at you. Stay beside me, don’t leave.” he says as his eyes begin to close.

Evelyn looks at him, worried, she smiles as her hand goes to his hair. She starts to subconsciously touch his head. She lays beside him as she watches him sleep.

***********

Lucien’s eyes open and the memory of everything comes back to him. The pain is still there but not as much. He turns and feels someone beside him. Kali, her breath is on him, she is so close. He turns and smiles, as he watches her. He notices her cloth, she had changed into a silk nightgown, her hair smelled of petals and strawberries. He had never liked strawberries but right now, it was his favourite scent in the world. He reaches to touch her hair and her eyes open slowly.

“You’re awake?” She says drowsily.

“Yes, I was enjoying the view in front of me”.

“I am glad, how do you feel?”

“I could
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  • THE BIDDING ROOM   CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

    Morning arrived without softness.Evelyn woke before the light fully broke, her body already alert, her thoughts sharpened by the knowledge that this was no longer a waiting game. The house hummed differently—quieter, tighter, like a held breath. She dressed slowly, deliberately, choosing composure over comfort. When she looked in the mirror, she didn’t see a captive.She saw someone being assessed.The door opened at precisely eight.Lucien stood there, immaculate, composed, unreadable. He took her in with a single glance—not possessive, not approving—measuring readiness the way one measured steel.“Are you prepared?” he asked.She nodded. “For what you’re not telling me.”A flicker of something crossed his eyes. “Good.”They walked side by side through corridors she had once hurried down, eyes lowered. Now she lifted her chin. The staff paused, just long enough to notice the change. Guards straightened. Whispers didn’t follow her—they anticipated.They entered the main hall together

  • THE BIDDING ROOM   CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

    Lucien didn’t answer her right away. He moved instead, slow, deliberate — crossing the room until he stood in front of her., not crowded and he wasn’t retreating. Just close enough that the choice between distance and contact felt razor-thin. “You don’t understand what that means,” he said. Evelyn lifted her chin. “Then explain it to me.” His gaze searched her face, as if looking for a crack where fear might still live. He didn’t find one. What he found unsettled him far more. “When I stop trying to keep you clean,” he said quietly, “you stop being collateral. You become a participant.” Her pulse jumped — not away from him, but toward him. “I already am.” Lucien’s mouth curved, not a smile, not quite — but something dangerously close. “That’s the problem.” He turned away, pacing once, twice. The room seemed to contract with every step, as if it were listening too. “They want spectacle,” he continued. “A public fracture. Something that proves I can be made to choose emotion ov

  • THE BIDDING ROOM   CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

    The night became a silent sniper after that, but not a violent one. Like something inevitable was about to happen. Lucien did not leave her room immediately. He stood there, close enough now that the space between them felt intentional rather than restrained. Evelyn became acutely aware of every small thing—the slow rise of his chest, the faint scar along his jaw, the way his attention settled on her as if she were a problem he could not solve without breaking something essential.“Forty-eight hours,” she said again, quieter this time. “You’re already planning what you won’t tell me.”“Yes.”“And you think I’ll accept that.”“I think,” he replied, “that you’ll understand why I do it.”She shook her head. “Understanding isn’t obedience.”“No,” he agreed. “It’s worse. It’s consent.”The word lingered.Evelyn stepped closer, not challenging, not defiant, but just curiously. She had learned the shape of danger well enough to recognize when it paused to look back at her.“You keep waitin

  • THE BIDDING ROOM   CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

    Night settled over the estate like a held breath. Evelyn stood at the edge of the hidden passage, palm pressed to the cool stone, listening to the house live around her — guards shifting, doors murmuring open and shut, the distant hum of people beneath the floors. Lucien’s world never slept. It waited. She closed the panel softly and returned to her bed, mind racing. The passage wasn’t an escape route. Not really. It was too narrow, too watched. But it was proof — proof that Lucien built contingency into everything. Proof that survival here depended on knowing when to move and when to remain perfectly still. A shadow passed her door. Footsteps paused. She didn’t pretend to sleep this time. “Lucien,” she said quietly. The door opened. He stood there, expression carved from restraint, gaze sweeping the room before settling on her. “You should be resting.” “I’ve rested enough,” she replied. “We need to talk.” A beat. Then he entered and closed the door behind him, the click of the

  • THE BIDDING ROOM   CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

    Back in the warehouse, time stretched cruelly. Evelyn’s arms ached. Her mouth was dry. The man returned with a bottle of water, pressing it to her lips just long enough to mock her thirst.“You should drink,” he said. “You’ll need your strength.”“For what?”“For when he arrives.”A chill slid down her spine. “You won’t kill me before then.”“No,” he agreed. “But pain is… persuasive.”She closed her eyes, forcing herself inward, to the quiet place she’d built brick by brick over years of surviving. Don’t give them fear, she told herself. Fear is a gift.What she didn’t expect, what shook her control — was the thought of Matteo.If he was alive. If he knew she was here. If this was why he had disappeared. I came looking for you, she thought fiercely. Don’t let it be for nothing.The first shot was not fired inside the warehouse.It came from the roof. Then another, and another.The lights flickered. Shouts echoed. Chaos rippled outward like a wave.The man in front of her stood abruptl

  • THE BIDDING ROOM   CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

    Lucien knew something was wrong the moment the house went quiet in the wrong way. It wasn’t panic that alerted him. It was absence. Evelyn’s absence.Her room was untouched. Her guards unconscious, restrained with professional precision. No alarms triggered.That was the insult.Lucien stood in the center of the security room, perfectly still, as the truth settled into his bones. She had gone looking for Matteo. Someone had been waiting, it was a trap.Damien swore under his breath. “This wasn’t random. They wanted her to leave the house.”Lucien’s voice was calm — too calm. “They knew I’d pull away.”“Yes.”“They counted on it.”Lucien closed his eyes once.He saw her standing in his room, hands steady as she saved his life. Saw the way she’d looked at him afterward, not pleading, not fearful just searching. He had withdrawn to protect her. Instead, he had made her reachable.“Lock the city down,” Lucien said softly.Damien hesitated. “Sir, that will…”“Start a war,” Lucien finish

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