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CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
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2026-01-10 23:23:51
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THE BIDDING ROOM CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE
LUCIENThe house never truly slept, but it changed its breathing after Elena left. Lucien felt it in the cadence of reports, in the way guards paused a fraction longer before speaking, in the silent recalibration of systems that had learned like he had that certainty was no longer absolute. Elena had been a reminder of an old world.Evelyn was something else entirely.He stood alone in the command room, staring at a live schematic of the estate. Points of light moved along the perimeter, each one loyal, trained, lethal. It should have comforted him. Instead, his thoughts kept drifting to the east wing, to the quiet strength in Evelyn’s voice when she had refused to be diminished.A king could defend territory.What unsettled him was how instinctively he wanted to defend her—not as an asset, not as a symbol, but as a person whose absence would fracture him.Maribel entered without sound. “We’ve confirmed Elena’s movements. She didn’t go far.”Lucien didn’t look up. “She never does.”“S
THE BIDDING ROOM CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR
LucienElena’s heels faded down the corridor, but the echo of her presence stayed behind like a pressure change in the air. Lucien felt it settle into his bones, the old reflexes stirring — anticipation, calculation, the instinct to close ranks and burn bridges before they could be crossed.He forced himself to breathe.Evelyn was still there. That mattered.He turned to her, measuring the damage Elena had intended to leave behind. He saw tension, yes, but not doubt. That surprised him. It shouldn’t have. Evelyn had been forged by uncertainty; doubt didn’t scare her. Manipulation did.“She came to unsettle you,” he said, not as explanation but acknowledgment.Evelyn’s eyes searched his face. “She came to reclaim you.”Lucien nodded once. “She believes possession is permanent if it was ever mutual.”“And was it?” Evelyn asked quietly.The question cut cleanly. Lucien didn’t deflect. “Once,” he said. “We were sharp together. Efficient. We mistook that for intimacy.”He watched the truth
THE BIDDING ROOM CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
Elena Moretti did not announce herself because she never had to.The estate felt her before anyone saw her, security recalibrating, guards stiffening with a confusion they couldn’t explain. Lucien felt it too, a disturbance that had nothing to do with threat levels and everything to do with memory.By the time he reached the receiving hall, she was already there.She stood exactly where she knew he would look first, framed by the tall windows, sunlight catching in her dark hair like it used to when she stood beside him on balconies overlooking cities they’d broken together. She hadn’t aged—she’d sharpened. Beauty honed into precision. Power worn like silk.“Elena,” Lucien said.She turned slowly, a smile curving her mouth that was all familiarity and possession. “You still say my name like it belongs to you.”“It doesn’t,” he replied.She laughed softly, stepping closer, eyes roaming his face as if she were reacquainting herself with something she’d never accepted losing. “You look go
THE BIDDING ROOM CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
Lucien didn’t remove his hand from her shoulder right away.The contact was subtle, meant to steady, meant to reassure — but it did something else entirely. Evelyn felt it travel through her, grounding and igniting all at once. The house seemed to recognize the shift too, systems recalibrating as if responding to an unspoken command.“Come with me,” Lucien said quietly.They didn’t go deeper into the estate. They moved upward, into a part of the house that wasn’t designed for war rooms or strategy — wide windows, high ceilings, spaces meant to remind a man why he was fighting at all. A place Lucien rarely used.The door closed behind them. This time, no alarms interrupted.Lucien turned to her, the edge of command softened but not gone. “What happened in that corridor shouldn’t have been possible.”Evelyn crossed her arms, more for control than comfort. “Yet it was.”“You felt him before you saw him,” Lucien said. “Didn’t you?”“Yes.” She hesitated. “And that’s what scares me.”Lucien
THE BIDDING ROOM CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
The east wing was quiet in a way that felt intentional. There were no guards at the doors and no footsteps echoing beyond the walls.Just the low hum of the house, systems breathing beneath stone and steel. Evelyn stood at the window of Lucien’s room, the city spread beneath her like a living thing — lights pulsing, secrets moving unseen. She should have felt exposed here. Instead, she felt claimed by the silence.Behind her, the door closed, softly in a way that suggested not waking up or disturbing who was in the room. She didn’t turn right away. She knew who it was already. She felt him before she saw him — the shift in the air, the way the room tightened around his presence. Lucien didn’t rush her. He never rushed anything that mattered.“You’re awake,” he said.“I wasn’t planning on sleeping,” she replied.A pause.“Neither was I.”That was when she turned. Lucien stood a few feet away from her, jacket discarded, sleeves rolled back, the sharp edge of command stripped down to
THE BIDDING ROOM CHAPTER THIRTY
Silence followed, but not the kind that meant safety.It was the waiting kind. Lucien felt it in the way the house held its breath, in the subtle delay before systems responded, in the tension humming beneath the marble floors. The enemy had withdrawn, yes, but predators didn’t flee unless they were circling.He guided Evelyn away from the console, his hand firm at her back. She leaned into the touch without thinking, her body finally acknowledging the toll. The power she’d unleashed still crackled beneath her skin, a low burn that hadn’t decided whether it would consume her or sustain her.“We need air,” he said quietly. “And distance.”Matteo was already moving, barking orders into his comm, blood drying dark on his sleeve. “The south corridor is clear. For now.”Lucien nodded. “For now is enough.”They moved fast, not running, but purposeful. The vault sealed behind them with a finality that felt like a promise and a threat all at once. As they ascended, Evelyn’s thoughts began to
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