WHAT THE FUCK!!! 

In a panic, I scan the room, but besides Jace, I don’t see my ex monster in law. Ugh, but she’s here at the event somewhere. Not giving a single shit about the items for auction anymore, I damn near run to Jace and hide my face in his jacket. He instantly envelops me in a tight hug, patting my pack gently to soothe me, but does that ever actually soothe anyone?

 “What happened, Rory? I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong,” he says in the most soothing tone as if talking to a child. “On the auction paper,” I start but am interrupted by a loud gasp, and I know hiding is no longer an option. My eyes clench tightly, and my back goes ramrod straight when Jace confirms what I wish I were imagining. “What the fuck are you doing here, Jamie?” Ya, I’d like to know that too. 

“Your father and I are on the city board. You didn’t really think you’d throw a party for Judge Andrew's new youth center without us being on the guest list, did you?” Jamie snaps with her normal hateful towards anyone but Eric, attitude. From under his suit jacket, I can feel Jace's entire abdomen go rigid, and the hands that were all over me in the limousine are now clenching in tight fists at his sides. 

“Don’t play coy, Jamie. If you know the center is under Blake's name, surely you saw my name on the invitation as well and know I am the one funding this entire project,” Jace says smoothly without losing his cool. Completely changing the subject, Jamie steps closer and whispers,” Why haven’t you called your father since your brother went missing? It’s been three weeks, Jace!” I don’t know why she’s whispering. The entire town knows her son is missing, and because of all the news reports, they all know he was an abusive piece of shit. When Jace ignores her question, she gets close enough for me to smell the vodka on her breath and see spit droplets spraying out of her mouth when she says, “And what about you, Rory? You haven’t called either, and rumor has it you were living in the bastard's blood home before I reported Eric missing.” She laughs a full belly laugh, then before turning to exit, finishes with. “You’re still nothing but a trailer trash slut.”  

When Jace reaches into his jacket pocket, I know Jamie has less than a minute to get out of here before her brains are decorating all the bids.  and to stop him from pulling out his pistol. I’m not doing it for her. The enabling cunt deserves to die. I’m doing it for my husband and any future we may have together. It won’t look good on the foundation if he kills his stepmother at the auction supporting it. Over my shoulder, I bark, “Get out of here, Jamie, before you say anything else to piss him off.” I hold onto him tightly until his tense, bulging muscles relax, indicating she’s gone. 

“No one calls you that but me,” Jace growls as I relinquish my hold, and he’s right. I always knew Jamie didn’t like me, but her calling me a slut was a gut punch. It’s demeaning and doesn’t feel right coming from anyone other than Jace. To lighten the mood, I grab him by the hand, and he easily lets me drag him back to the third table of auctions. “She and your father bid five thousand dollars for this, but I think it would be the perfect way for us to celebrate our nuptials.” This is the first time I’ve spoken positively to Jace about our marriage, and I think it throws him off guard. I’m about to say fuck it and not bid for anything, but as I am about to turn around, he stops me and says, “I told you, anything Rory. Bid 10k. I’ve seen their bank statements. They can barely afford the five thousand. You know what, never mind, take the whole card. I’ll tell Blake I’m buying it, and we can get the fuck out of here. What do you say?” I’d say fuck yes, but I know I can’t, and we have to stay.  “I’ll take the card, but we should stay. I haven’t gotten to show off my dress or dance yet,” he growls, then smacks my ass. I was only teasing about showing the dress off, but he grabs my hand loosely by the tips of my fingers, spins me around in a circle, and says, “Shall we dance then?”

Still holding my hand, but a bit tighter now, he escorts me back down the stage stairs and to the dance floor that's now full of swaying bodies. It seems time stops just for our entrance, and everyone's eyes are on us. I wouldn’t know any of them from Adam, so I can't tell if they’re watching me with judging eyes or praising me for the upgrade. Either way, fuck em. I wasn’t abused for all that time, to not deserve a happily ever after with someone else. 

At the front of the dining area, Nyx and Malachi are sitting at a long rectangular table, unlike the others. Instead of a gold tablecloth, this one has a black one, and down the center are vases with dozens of long stem white roses, where the others have small floating candles as centerpieces. They each have a beer in their hand and a glass of amber liquid in front of them, but they aren’t enjoying themselves like everyone else. One of them is surveying the room while the other has a constant eye on Jace and I. 

“Would you like a glass of champagne before we hit the dance floor, little slut? I’m typically not a dancing type of guy, but with a couple of shots, I'll do it for you.” Jace says, stopping at the bar and flagging down the person staffing it. “There are more people here than I expected. I’ll take a glass of champagne and a shot of whatever you plan on getting,” I respond. 

Jace’s gaze lowers to my chest and lingers there briefly before raking down the rest of my body. When he’s done eye fucking me, he retrieves a fifty dollar bill from his wallet and slides it across the bar to the bartender.  “Can I get two shots of your finest whiskey and a glass of your finest dry champagne for my wife?” It's an open bar, so the guy pockets the tip, pours our shots, and leaves us alone to enjoy the liquor while he retrieves the rest of our order. 

Jace raises his glass in front of me, so I copy before he leans to the side and says, “Here’s to us, Rory,” after our glasses clank together, we take back the shots. My shoulders curl, and shivers raise tiny hairs across my body from the gasoline-esque substance. Fuck I don’t know how people drink this shit. 

Once it doesn’t feel like the liquid is going to come back up, I straighten my back like the fucking lady I am, only to find Jace already has another round and my champagne. “ You’re crazy if you think I'm doing that again, I’ll stick with this,” I say, wrapping my fingers around the stem, and shaking my hips to the music. He knows where I’m going, and I’m sure he will be right behind me before the tips of my shoes even hit the dance floor tiles. 

Fireball by Pitbull has the whole party on their feet. People are belting out the lyrics like they’re the ones performing it, and at the center of the room, there is a group of about twenty people deep mimicking a viral dance on social media. I’ve seen it done so many times I could probably join them, but being out tonight, surrounded by this many people, is adventurous enough for me. 

Stopping in a less crowded area, I grind my ass back against the front of Jace's slacks, not expecting much from him but maybe a little swaying. He shocks me, though, when he brings my arms above my head by the wrists. He's waving them around like we’re at a concert and singing the final words to the chorus. Ha., so much for not wanting to dance.  

The DJ switches the strobe lighting off to a solid red as the song changes, creating a more romantic atmosphere. Without releasing his touch, Jace comes around to face me and pulls our bodies together. With no rhythm, we are swaying back and forth to the instrumental beginning of Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran, slowly moving closer to the larger groups of people. We even pass Nyx and Malachi, who’ve left their drinks and have my lawyer's daughter sandwiched between them. Ugh, I'm not going to ruin this moment by trying to figure out how that happened, so I close my eyes and let Jace take me away.

“One day soon, we’re going to dance like this with all of our friends and family surrounding us at our wedding reception,” Jace says into my crown, and all I can do is squeeze tighter around his waist. UGH. Why does he have to be such a sweet asshole?  “Look at me, Rory, don’t hide.”  When I don’t release my grip, he gently pinches my chin with two fingers and forces me to stare into his green eyes. “It’s ok to want this, Rory. I’m going to show you what it’s like to be truly loved by someone.” if I look at him any longer, I’ll probably burst out in tears, so I pull away and nod into his chest. 

When the song ends, the room's overhead lighting brightens, and someone wearing a purple satin mermaid gown with huge diamond cresting details at the hip strolls across the stage. I’m too enamored by the dress to pay attention to who the woman is wearing it, but once she introduces herself, my ears perk up. “On behalf of everyone at Opulence Towers and my husband, I’d like to thank everyone for contributing to a cause that means so much to all of us. If you’d all like to grab a drink and head back to your seats, the auction will be starting shortly.”  

We’ve been here for almost two hours, and I’ve yet to meet the fucking judge who dismissed my order of protection, but as my eyes follow his wife exiting the stage, she goes right to him. The smug bastard is all smiles, embracing his wife in a tight hug and leading her to their table. Lucky me. It must be the host's table because it's the same fucking one the guys were sitting at earlier. Our fucking table. I’m going to need another shot after all. 

“Grab us all another round. Rory looks like she’s seen a ghost, and I’m sure we can all use one before this shit show begins,” Jace directs at Nyx, pulling me in the direction of our seats. Malachi stays with us, coming around the table and sitting to my left. Jace is on my right, with Blake Andrews next to him. 

My husband turns to speak to the judge, so I turn to people watch the other wealthy partygoers. From my seat, I have a view of all the tables, which means they can all see me. Quickly, my head drops to a white bidding paddle on the black tablecloth. I've been watched enough for a million lifetimes. I’m good. “What’s the matter? Are you people shy?” Malachi asks coldly. Why does he gotta call me out like that? Dickhead. “ I’ve never been around this many people, it's kind of… Intimidating.” I mutter, still facing down. “It’s only intimidating if you let it be. This is only a small percentage of the people you’ll endure being Mrs. Shaffer. Don’t let it break you on the first run.” 

   Why does this oaf of a man have to be right? I won’t be this meek, scared version of myself anymore. There’s no reason to hide. I’m free now. Well free’er. Taking a deep breath, and with all the confidence I can muster, I lift my head and relax my shoulders. In the crowd, I catch Nyx walking up with our drinks and point down to where I was staring. He catches my drift, delivering my drink first, and I knew there was a reason why I liked his silly ass. 

Despite the terrible burning taste, I down my shot before Nyx rounds the table to his seat and have Jace’s to my lips, ready to throw back, when Malachi says, “ Boss mans going to need another one, buddy, Rory here is choosing violence.” As he stomps away, grumbling something about wanting to have fun, too, Malachi and I bust out in a loud belly laughing fit.  Ya, everyone is definitely watching us now, but fuck em. 

A hand slides up my thigh through the thin material of my dress, stopping over my sex, then quiet enough that only I hear him, Jace says, “Would you like to share what’s so funny with the class, Little slut?” He’s probably not going to think it’s as funny as I do, so carelessly, I shake my head back and forth, loosening some of my curls from the bobby pins holding them in place. Jace removes his hand from my lap and uses a single finger to tuck the loose stands behind my ear. Why does he suddenly want to act like a gentleman instead of a brute, and why am I suddenly swooning?   

A shrill static noise echoes through the surround system, interrupting our moment. Blake's wife taps on the head of the microphone. When the ear piercing noise stops, she takes the mic off its stand and says, “ In honor of the new child care facility, we will be starting the auction with item #1003, a seven day, all exclusive trip to Bora Bora.” Without introduction Mrs. Adrews passes the microphone to an attractive man in a forest green tuxedo, and returns to our table. “Some of our gracious hosts were able to bid ahead of time, so Item #1003 is going to start at two thousand five hundred,” the mystery man says, and the auction is in full blast.

“Two thousand five hundred, do I have two thousand five hundred?”  With the tip of my finger, I draw figure eights on the handle of the paddle and wander my eyes around the room to see if anyone else is trying to bid. Jace leans in, kisses my neck, and says, “I’d love to swim naked with you in the ocean, little slut, bid.” Knowing he will enjoy the vacation as much as I would, I snatch the paddle off the table and aggressively throw my arm up. 

The auctioneer nods to me, then so fast you can barely understand him, he says, “Two thousand five hundred, do I have two thousand seven, two thousand seven hundred?” Being with Jace should secure this for me, but scanning the room again for any competition. I think I got it in the bag when he says, “going once, going twice,” but I catch Jamie’s best friend Annie Darling barely lifting her paddle, and the bitch looks directly at me and says, “ Three thousand.” 

More people throughout the room start bidding and making my palms sweat. This shit isn’t for the weak. My hands are shaking from the adrenaline when the auctioneer calls, “Eight thousand.” Fuck, we can probably book the same vacation for half the price, so I drop my paddle. Well, that was fun while it lasted.  

“Don’t give up now, Rory. Show them who they’re fucking with.” Jace encourages, with a tight hold around my thigh. When I hesitate for too long, Jace picks my hand with the paddle and yells, “Fifteen Thousand dollars.” The room goes silent at the significant increase in his bid, and I can feel all their eyes crawling over me. “Fifteen thousand, going once, going twice, SOLD.”    

I almost knock over my chair from jumping up in excitement, and when Jace stands with me, I hop into his arms. “ I’ve had enough excitement for today. Can we go home?” I ask. A date night for our wedding party and a vacation for the honeymoon. Eeek, this could be fun after all. 

Jace is still holding me, and when we start to walk away from our table, he says, “Despite how much I love hearing you call our house a home, I’ll be taking you somewhere, but that’s not it.”