Chapter 2 2

He Actually Auctioned Me

My own father auctioned me like furniture. A painting.

I sat in my sitting room, staring at the news, my father auctioning me off to the highest bidder.

He used me for business. For money. For ego.

Everyone else was wise enough to auction a non-living thing. But him? He auctioned me.

And I knew that look he gave me last night. I was nothing but a woman who should be confined in a house.

The phone began to ring, and I was still staring at it. The tenth time he was calling in the span of an hour. I was an hour late. So?

I crushed the cigarette in my hand and walked to my room.

Dressed in white jeans and a red long sleeve shirt, I tucked my gun into my waistband before sliding my badge into my pocket. I didn't give a damn if I was meant to meet the man who would supposedly be my husband. Who knows? I might need to kill him before the wedding or even better, today.

Thirty minutes later, I pulled up in front of the house, my hair flowing down my back, my lips painted like the next Jessica Rabbit.

My father was always a man of culture and corruption. I was the exact opposite.

The door was pushed open, and I was faced with a room full of made men and two bodyguards probably sworn to secrecy. All eyes were glued to me, while mine locked onto my father's with a slight smile.

I was interrupting something.

"It's really interesting how the law and lawless meet. How are you all, amigos?"

I took a seat on an empty chair. Just then, a man who could age like fine wine in the future walked in and I immediately knew it was him.

How inconvenient.

"You must be my husband-to-be?" I looked at him. He raised an eyebrow with a very disapproving frown. Good to know we've already established our grounds.

"Isabela," my father warned, and I ignored the chill that gave me.

I'm not in the basement anymore.

"Tell me, Papa, is he truly the one you auctioned me to? I knew you didn't like me, but seriously?"

I gave him a look. "...Him?" I pointed my thumb at the man, reducing him to nothing.

"Mind your language..."

"Hush, Alvaro," he said, cutting my father off. Even I was surprised. No one ever hushed my father.

"You're late." He looked at me, and I could feel the tension in the air, saw how the other made men tensed.

"I had more important things to do."

"My time is precious."

"I don't care."

He raised an eyebrow, then looked past me. Someone behind me moved, and everyone but Papa left the room.

"Miss Jimenez, you are going to be Mrs. Delgado in two hours, and I do not tolerate my time being wasted. You will do as I say, give birth to my children, raise them like a good mother, and you will remain indoors."

He looked at me for a second longer, and I burst into laughter.

"That is the funniest thing I've ever heard in my life."

I wiped away invisible tears. "My fool of a father might not have mentioned it, but I am nothing like my sister. If you want obedient, prim and proper, I suggest you make a proposal like a man, not buy me off an auction like a leash holder. I am no slave. I don't care what agreement you have with him. I'm marrying you because the law says so..."

I sat up and pulled a paper from the table.

I yanked Papa's pen from his pocket while he stood in shock, wrote down my details, shoved it into his pocket, and tapped it lightly.

His jaw flexed with anger, but he kept his hand shoved in his pocket.

"That's my address. The dress and everything I need should be sent. I'll see you in five hours. Just because it's a contract doesn't mean you'll rush my wedding."

I walked toward the door and shut it in his face.

I heard my father talking, sounded like he was begging for forgiveness, but I'd had enough. I would not tolerate such disrespect, regardless of the fact that he was a made man.

I was walking down the stairs when my legs suddenly froze. My whole body was yanked from the steps and slammed against the wall.

His face remained neutral, but I could see the shimmer of rage in his eyes as he pinned me there.

"Let go of me," I said quietly, but he kept glaring.

"You'll remain in my custody until we get married and move into our house." He let go of my neck.

"I have work to do."

"Do away with it."

"You don't tell me what to do, Javier Delgado. You might order my father, but I'm not your slave! I'm going to work!"

I shoved him off and kept walking.

A hand grabbed me again and without thinking, I pulled my gun and shot his foot. Guns were drawn in my direction, but my eyes were still on him.

"Next time, I'll make sure to cut off those arms. I don't care who you are to the world, you're no one to me. Just a man with a narrow mind. I'll marry you. Don't be in a rush." I walked away.

His gaze burned holes into my back, but I didn't turn.

I pulled the door open and looked back at him once before getting into the car and driving away.

My phone rang in my pocket. I picked it up.

"We found nothing based on the case, except the dead man's wife is nowhere to be seen," Kamal's voice echoed through the speaker.

"Search for everything you can on Javier Delgado. Let Jenny handle the case."

I hung up and noticed a convoy tailing me.

That bastard sent someone to follow me?

Well, it's a good thing I'm ready to blow off some steam.

Imagine the scandalous headlines:

'Javier Delgado's Wife Found Having the Time of Her Life With His Bodyguard Hours Before the Wedding.'