Highest Bidder

“He told Liam that he is going to kill both him and his mother, Maddie.”

“You believe that?”

“I don’t know. I’m just so confused.”

“Even if that were true, it is none of your business. Right now, as we speak thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people are plotting the murder of someone. Are you going to become the champion for all of them?”

“Well, it is my business.”

“Perhaps it was a bluff, or perhaps he was just trying to smoke them out in some way. You can’t get involved, Freya, in any of this. If you want to find out more about your father, then do it on your own. Have nothing to do with the Lucans, starting from here onwards.”

I said nothing.

“Excuse me. Did you hear what I said?”

“Yeah. Let me think about it, okay?”

“Okay. You do know that it is Ella’s birthday tomorrow, right?”

Shit, I’d forgotten. “Yeah, yeah, of course. It’s on me. Let’s go somewhere nice and celebrate.”

“Yay. You’ll come over to mine.”

“Okay.”

“Goodnight then. Remember, you have your whole life ahead of you. Don’t let either of the Lucan brothers manipulate you into playing their twisted games.”

“Goodnight, Maddie. Thanks for being a real friend.”

Freya

Last year was the only year we had not gone out to celebrate Ella’s birthday. The tradition had been abandoned in light of my family’s tragedy.

When we were younger, it had involved the three of us sneaking out to cheap and discounted pub crawls, but this time around, I intended to sink some of my money on my two best friends. They had been with me through thick and thin and this would be one of the best ways of saying thank you. I decided I would take them to Black Fire. I didn’t usually like going there, the drinks were expensive, and it was usually filled with cocaine-snorting Middle-eastern playboys, but Ella loved it there, so that was where we were going.

We went out shopping courtesy of me, then we got ready in Maddie’s place and I hired a limo to take us to Soho. We drank champagne while they blew me kisses and threw comments about having their millionaire friend back. It was a members only club and since my father used to be a big spender there, Dom Perignon all night, all the staff knew me by name, so I called ahead and booked a table for us.

However, this would be my last splurge before I sat down and figured out our finances. Something I should have already done, but I’d been too distracted by Brent. And if I were honest, it was something I wasn’t looking forward to. Having money in the bank again felt so good and I had a feeling all of our debts were going to wipe out fifty to seventy percent of what I had. Depending on what was left, I planned on paying off as much of Maddie’s mortgage as I could and giving Ella some cash.

When we arrived at Black Fire, the bouncers allowed us to beat the queue and go right in. In no time, we were shown to our table close to the dancefloor. When my father used to come here, he would go straight to the VIP section, but I wasn’t planning on buying champagne all night, so I did not ask for a table there. We ordered our drinks and went to the dance floor. It was already heaving with people. They were playing an old eighties song that my father loved and suddenly, I felt sad again.

I tried to pretend to my mother, Maddie and Ella that everything was fine, but my heart was broken. Brent had made three calls and left nineteen messages for me, but I had not opened them yet, even though I was dying to. I wanted to give myself a bit of time to think of what I needed to do. Everything had happened so fast, I felt almost paralyzed. I just needed a bit of time and distance to see the woods for the trees. If I acted now, in the heat of the moment, I might make a very big mistake.

Even though my heart said otherwise, my head knew: Brent was not for me. No matter which way you cut it, he was wrong. Even if he had not cheated my father and smeared his name, he was still too addictive. When he was around, I couldn’t do anything. I hungered for him. Even now, huge chunks of my days were spent trying to get him out of my mind.

I finished my drink and yelled near Ella’s ear over the loud music, “Refill!”

She nodded.

I headed over to our table and sat down. Sipping my vodka and cranberry, I looked around and spotted quite a number of couples grinding against each other amongst the crowds, and my mind couldn’t help but wander again to Brent. If he were here now, what would it be like?

I realized I wanted to dance, but only with Brent Lucan. As I stroked the wedge of lime on the rim, I shut my eyes and wondered how it would feel to be completely in his arms in such a place. I never danced with guys in clubs because being groped by strangers was not particularly thrilling, so all I’d had was the dream that someday, I’d be able to have everything with the right man.

Right now, that lover had a name, but I was banned from even thinking of it.

“Hey!” Maddie screamed as she arrived. She was still dancing. She stopped dancing and looked at me. “You’re having fun, aren’t you?”

I gave a brilliant smile and lifted my glass. “Of course. Are you?”

She nodded vigorously, her neon pink eyeshadow sparkling on her eyelids. She ordered a refill of her cocktail and settled in beside me. We watched Ella let loose with complete strangers, yeah, they were Middle Eastern playboys, but for a moment, I envied how carefree she was. I was too reserved to let myself go like that. The only man who had made me behave like that was …