Prologue

The air reeked of money.

Not the kind piled in clean vaults, but the kind soaked in blood and drenched with sin. Under the shiny chandeliers of the underground hall, men who ruled empires and burned cities sat shoulder to shoulder, their glasses of wine untouched, their eyes already hungry for the evening’s spoil.

Tonight was no different. Tonight, they came to hunt.

On the stage were a line of objects, big to small statues. A sword said to have belonged to a king. Diamonds so large they looked unreal, each of them waiting for its turn under the hammer with the words, ”Going…gone!” The crowd watched as the auctioneer’s voice rang out, fierce and loud, the price climbing with every nod of a head, every lift of a hand. One by one, treasures disappeared into the possession of men who hardly blinked at the numbers.

“Lot Thirty-Two,” the auctioneer called, adjusting his cuffs as two assistants carried out a painting draped in red velvet. “A masterpiece from the lost collection of….”

The crowd leaned forward as numbers flew. A bidding war erupted until, with a snap of the hammer, the painting was gone. Another fortune exchanged. Another luxury secured.

But there was a current running beneath the room tonight…a buzzing anticipation that no gem or artifact could satisfy. Whispers had passed like smoke through the crowd before the doors had even opened. Something rare, Something never seen before.

And when the velvet curtain at the side of the stage trembled, the room went silent in an instant.

The auctioneer smiled, the kind of smile that promised secrets and riddles. He raised his voice, drawing every gaze to him.

“Gentlemen, you have been most generous this evening. But what comes next… is beyond value. What I present is not a relic. Not an heirloom. Not even art. What I present…” His pause was on purpose, as people craned their necks to see. “...is alive.”

A lot of murmur swept the room, some shocked, others intrigued, all fascinated.

The lights dimmed, leaving only a single harsh spotlight glaring down on the stage. The curtain drew back.

And I stepped into the light.

Chains coiled around my wrists, delicate enough to pass as jewelry but heavy enough to remind me what they were. A silk slip clung to my frame, chosen not for modesty but for spectacle. My feet were bare, the floor cold beneath them as I walked forward, urged on by the hands at my back.

The silence hit me harder than the lights. Hundreds of eyes cut into me, hungry, evaluating, dismissing, coveting. I stood on display like an animal, though even animals were sold with more dignity.

The auctioneer spread his arms as though he was revealing a gift. “Lot Forty. The rarest purchase this house has ever offered. A woman. Not just a woman but beauty untouched, spirit unbroken. One of a kind. Tonight, gentlemen, you bid not for gold or stone, but for possession.”

The words crashed over me, colder than any chain. Possession he said. As though I had no name, no past, no blood running hot in my veins.

Whispers bubbled through the crowd. Some scoffed, others leaned forward, eyes shiny.

“A human?” one voice murmured, half-laughing, half-awed.

“This is madness.”

“Or brilliance. Do you see her? She’s exquisite.”

“How much will it start at?”

The auctioneer let the murmur build before slicing it clean with his voice. “We begin the bidding at five million.”

It was as if a spell broke. Hands shot up.

“Five million.”

“Six.”

“Seven.”

The numbers climbed like fire, fast and consuming. Ten million. Twelve. Fourteen. My heart pounded as the figures grew, a sick rhythm matching the pulse in my temples. Each number was a nail in the coffin of the girl I had been.

I forced myself to stand tall, chin lifted, though my stomach churned. If I bent, if I broke, I’d give them the satisfaction of knowing I was afraid.

“Twenty million.”

Gasps scattered the room as the air thickened. For a heartbeat, I thought it would stop there, that surely no man would pay more for a human than he would for an empire.

But the hands kept rising.

“Twenty-two.”

“Twenty-five.”

Sweat soaked my palms, though the chains allowed no rescue. My breath came shallow, every second dragging. I scanned the audience, searching for one not filled with greed, but found none. They didn’t see me. They saw a prize.

“Thirty million.”

The auctioneer’s grin widened. “Gentlemen, you do not disappoint. But surely, she is worth more. Look at her. Grace, fire, youth. Untouched.” he smirked, the crowd knowing what he meant by untouched “Who will claim her?”

The voices tangled, bidding over each other, numbers rising past reason.

“Forty million!”

Silence fell. The number hung in the air. Forty million. More than most kingdoms could muster.

The auctioneer’s eyes glowed. He raised his hammer. “Forty million, once…”

And then it came.

Low and Smooth. A voice that didn’t need to rise above the others because it carried weight in its calm.

“Eighty million.”

The words silenced the hall as if the air itself had been sucked away. Heads turned, men craned their necks. The spotlight hadn’t moved, but suddenly, all attention shifted toward the shadowed corner of the room.

He sat there, half in darkness, untouched by the golden light. A man carved from power itself…black suit, sharp lines, his posture was loose yet commanding. He didn’t raise a hand, didn’t move at all, except for the slight tilt of his head as though he was bored with the game he had just ended.

Valerio Moretti.

Every man knew the name. The mafia lord who leveled families, cities, empires. He didn’t bid. He declared. And once he spoke, the game was no longer a game.

The auctioneer smiled too wide. No one dared to follow.

The spotlight still burned on me, but the night already belonged to him.

His name was whispered through the hall in quiet recognition. A man known not for his fortune, but for what he did with it. Ruthless, untouchable, dangerous.

The auctioneer’s composure stuttered for only a second before he continued. “Eighty million has been bid. Do I hear….”

But the room was silent. No man dared raise his hand against that voice.

I swallowed, my throat dry, my pulse hammering. His gaze lifted, and for the first time, I felt it hit me. Across the stage, across the chains and light, his eyes met mine.

Cold, Sharp and Searching.

As though he hadn’t just bought me. As though he had been waiting.

The hammer fell.

“Sold.”

The word cracked through the silence, sealing the moment.

And just like that, I belonged to Valerio Moretti.