Four

Sasha’s POV.

I looked from my dad to the taller man he kept glancing at.

I had never seen this look on my dad’s face…like fear. 

The other man, on the contrary, looked normal, pleased even.

“Dad, is something wrong?”

“Uh…Sasha…” he started before the other man moved him aside with the back of his hand.

“I hate keeping people in the dark, so I’ll explain to you,” he told me.

His form eclipsed my dad’s as he stepped forward.

“Your dad was foolish enough to gamble all his money away. He desperately auctioned you to bounce back. Standing before you is Lorenzo De Luca, the Black Rose of the Sicilian Mafia. Your new owner,” he explained, his face devoid of emotion.

Auction? Mafia? Owner?

“Owner? What is that supposed to mean?”

“I bought you. Now I own you,” he proclaimed.

There was definitely a problem, but it couldn’t be this horrible nonsense I just heard.

Of course, he’s just messing with me.

I bent my head to the side, seeking my dad’s clarification. “Dad?”

The man turned to face my Dad, telling him something I couldn’t quite make out.

Then he bent forward so his face was closer to mine. 

“For your own sake, I’d advise you not to go with any escape plan he proposes. I’m good at making people beg for death.”

“I have business to handle. I’ll be back,” he added before walking briskly out of the bar.

“Dad, what exactly is going on?” I inquired, my voice lower.

He claimed the couch opposite mine, sighing as he shifted to the edge.

I swallowed, trying to slow my breathing down as if it might disturb me from hearing whatever explanation he had.

“Sasha,” he mentioned, sighing again. “I made a huge loss tonight, a colossal one.”

I was struggling to remain silent as he dragged his words.

“Before I knew it, I had lost the ownership of all my assets. The club in New York, my paintings, the house, even my cars.” That uncharacteristic sigh again. “So I…I had to quickly organize an auction just to get a fraction of my losses back.”

I felt sick with dread.

“What did you auction?” I questioned, my voice coming out small.

His eyes met mine for a second before they fell on the table between us.

“You.”

It suddenly became hard to breathe.

Jason walked towards us.

“He has taken his cut,” he informed my dad.

“Put it down,” my dad instructed.

Looking up to see if Jason understood any of this mess, I saw that he wore the frown he often did whenever he disagreed with my dad over something.

He’s not happy about this.

Did that make me feel a tad better?

Not at all.

His eyes met mine as he dropped the fat leather bag beside my dad’s feet.

He looked hurt, like he was the commodity my dad had just auctioned.

“Lorenzo was the last person I expected to…make a bid at all. He wasn’t even there at all when the auction started,” my dad explained.

Lorenzo or anybody else, the bottom line was that my own father sold me off like a piece of clothing. 

The only thing he was sorry for was who ended up buying me, not that he threw me away in exchange for the money in that damn bag.

A thought occurred to me.

“Is this about the argument we had on the way here? Did you decide to sell me off like your merchandise? Because I made you angry?” 

My dad could be unforgiving, but this was downright cold.

He looked up at me.

“No, no.” His uneasy expression was nowhere to be found. “I intended to have a form of arrangement with the ultimate buyer. I was going to agree with them to pay them back in installments. But Lorenzo happened to want you and nothing else.”

“Isn't that great?” I dropped, a sarcastic chuckle escaping my lips. “Since everyone is making decisions about me, here's mine. I'll make that man's life unbearably hard. He'll end up asking for a refund.”

“Sasha, get that idea out of your head. Lorenzo is in charge of the Cosa Nostra, the formidable mafia of Sicily. The guy is more dangerous than you can imagine,” he warned. “You're a good girl, Sasha. I'd advise you not to cause trouble for yourself.”

“You mean the trouble you orchestrated in the first place?” I taunted, folding my arms.

“I made a rash decision because I had no other option, and I apologize for it. Now, don't make a mountain out of a molehill,” he uttered, standing.

That was all it took for my anger to surface.

I jumped to my feet.

“A molehill! You call this crazy situation a molehill?! Someone I've never met in my life is claiming me, and it's no big deal?! Why didn't you auction yourself? Or your shoes?! Why does it have to be me?”

“Sasha…” he started before I cut him off.

“Why did you have to hold any auction in the first place? Couldn't you just leave and start from the ground up with a bank loan or something?!”

“Don't you dare raise your voice at me! I'm your father, and you have no right to question me!” he yelled.

Jason stepped closer to us. 

“Sir, everyone's looking,” he notified, his voice low.

“I see how sorry you are that you mistakenly put me in this situation,” I told my dad, who looked unfazed. “You never gave a shit about me, did you?”

“Williams!” 

I turned to see the owner of the voice approach us.

“It was nice doing business with you,” he gripped my dad's shoulder.

Then his grey eyes met mine.

“I'm going with my commodity.”

Is that me?

“Uh, today?” I squeaked.

“Right away.”