After the Don Bought Me for Five Dollars, He Went Mad With Regret

At an underground auction, Bianca Ferraro, the fiancee of Don Lucian Castellano, bought a single night of my services for five dollars. Everyone sneered that I was the cheapest woman in the world. Bianca just pointed at me, laughing so hard she shook. "Back then I pinned a traitor's label on her, and as punishment I sold her straight to her creditors." "As I recall, she went for a few dozen dollars." She swirled her glass, her smile turning more vicious. "Five years on, worn out and used up, of course she's lost her value." The guests on the yacht roared with laughter. Only the yacht's owner, Lucian Castellano, crushed the glass in his hand to powder with a sharp crack. Blood ran down his knuckles, but he seemed to feel no pain. He only stared at me. And I, in the bunny outfit Bianca had thrown at me, poured wine for the rich and powerful and angled for their tips as if nothing was wrong. The next second, he shot to his feet and seized my wrist. But before he could speak, I coldly pushed his hand away. "Don Castellano." "You have a fiancee. Do you want my services too?" Chapter 1 After the underground auction began, the host announced each lot with mounting excitement. "Congratulations, Mr. Castellano, on winning this South African blue diamond necklace for thirty million, a gift for Miss Ferraro." "Congratulations, Mr. Castellano, on winning this nineteenth-century queen's tiara for fifty million, a gift for Miss Ferraro." Backstage, one of the staff couldn't help herself. "Who is this Mr. Castellano? He's throwing money around like crazy!" "You don't know? That's Lucian Castellano! The Don of the biggest Mafia family in Sicily!" He's here just to pick out gifts for his fiancee. She's one lucky woman. "I heard he used to keep a mistress for years, but she betrayed the family and got cast out. She's probably kicking herself now." They chattered away happily, forgetting the work in front of them. I was the only one still at it. "Aria, you're amazing. You don't even need to look at the catalog to remember every single lot." I just smiled and didn't explain. My boss was strict with me. No mistakes allowed. So I'd gotten it all down cold before coming. I switched on the recorder and listened back to the host from the previous session. Only after checking the amounts several times did I write everything into my ledger and seal each lot. Just then someone said the manager wanted me. I frowned, but I went anyway. Before I went, I left the recorder running where it was so I wouldn't miss anything. The manager was waiting for me backstage. Before I could get a word out, he suddenly shoved me straight onto the auction stage. I crashed to the floor, my knee splitting open, and the spotlight swung onto me. Right then, the host's voice rang out. "This next lot is a little special. Not an object, but the most beautiful woman in Sicily." "Starting bid, one dollar." In that instant I felt like I'd been struck by lightning. I lifted my head in a daze and met the startled eyes below the stage. A few men were already reaching for their paddles. One muttered under his breath. "This is the most beautiful woman in Sicily? Not bad-looking, but couldn't they at least put her in a decent dress before selling her? Still, for one dollar, you can't go wrong." Everyone was smirking. Everyone except Lucian. He sat dead center, cold severity radiating off him. Nothing like the man who used to shyly produce a gift box from behind his back. And nestled against his side was the former intelligence officer of the Castellano family, now his fiancee. She showed no surprise at all to see me standing there. Instead her lips curled into a smirk, her eyes full of malice. In that moment I knew this was all her doing, pulling the strings behind the scenes. Lucian watched me coldly. In his gaze there was scrutiny, disgust, hatred, and thick, heavy contempt. The bidding started fast. Before the host could even speak, Bianca called out from beside him. "I bid one dollar." The room went silent. Everyone quietly lowered their paddles. They all knew crossing her meant crossing Lucian. "Aria, back when you betrayed the family, I had you sold off. I never imagined you'd still be alive and well." "In that case, I'll just buy you back one more time." Understanding rippled through the crowd, and they began whispering. "So she's the traitor from back then. I didn't even recognize her in that getup." "The Don treated her so well, gave her endless riches, and she went and sold out the family anyway. She walked him right into the enemy's trap. He nearly died." "If the Donna hadn't caught the leak in time, the Castellanos might have been wiped out." "Tsk, she had it coming. A woman like that, forget paying, I wouldn't take her even for free." I listened to their grating words, my chest heaving. Because I'd come today only to do the job my boss assigned me, not to stand there being priced and judged. With that thought, I ignored every stare and turned to leave. But Bianca called after me. "The auction isn't over and the lot is already trying to run? Is this the best your auction house can do?" In an instant, several guards blocked the exit, making it plain I wasn't going anywhere. I let out a slow breath and turned back to fix a cold stare on Bianca. My eyes brimmed with hatred and scorn, and Bianca instantly crumpled against Lucian's chest as if wounded. "Lucian, is she trying to kill me with that look?" Lucian turned his head toward me. The next second, he raised the paddle in his hand. "I'll raise. Two dollars." Chapter 2 I knew he was humiliating me. In the old days, he never gave me a gift worth less than a million dollars. Even a handkerchief had to be the finest. Now he was using this to remind me of the price of betraying him. I stood under the spotlight, looking at the man I'd once loved most, and at that glaring number in his hand. Bianca turned to the crowd. "What, no one's raising the bid? Do you think she isn't worth it?" "Don't worry, everyone. She's disloyal, sure, but it's only for one night. Use her and toss her." At her words, the men who'd been itching to bid raised their paddles at once. "Three dollars!" "Four dollars!" "Four dollars and five cents!" At that, Bianca burst out laughing. "Mr. Harlow, you're being awfully cheap." The man called Mr. Harlow looked at me with disdain. "Everyone's bidding this low. If I went higher, I'd just be overpaying." Bianca laughed. "Then how about you let me have her? My budget for her is only five dollars." "Though I've no interest in women. Once I win her, I'll just pick some man here and hand her over." Everyone caught her meaning and tactfully set down their paddles. At that I couldn't take it anymore. I shoved hard past the guards blocking the door. My sudden move startled them, and before they recovered I kicked open the manager's door. He paled at the sight of me storming in. "How did you get off the stage!" Before he'd finished, I yanked the contract out of the drawer and slammed it on the desk. "I agreed to work as an authenticator, not to go up on the auction block! This breaks every rule you have!" With that I turned to leave. Just then, behind me, came the sound of shattering porcelain. The next lot had been smashed to pieces, just like that. "If you dare walk out today, I'll tell that boss of yours you broke it." "If I'm not mistaken, you're only a little short of buying your freedom. Are you sure you want to stir up trouble like this?" "Remember the last accident at the docks? It wasn't your fault, but the boss still broke three of your ribs, didn't he?" In that moment my fingernails dug deep into my palms. I wanted to tear the man in front of me apart. "Now. Get back up on that stage." "Miss Ferraro just texted. She isn't done playing yet." I hesitated, then let out a long breath, forced the tears back, and turned to walk back to the stage. The moment I stepped up, a ripple of scornful laughter rose from below. I ignored it and spoke quietly. "Since Miss Ferraro's budget only goes so far, five dollars it is." "Feel free to pick whichever man you like." Lucian's eyes darkened in an instant. Bianca saw his reaction clearly. Something vicious flickered in her eyes, and she turned to me with a smile. "The listing only says one night's use. It never said that night was limited to one man." She turned to face the whole room. "The Don bought me so many gifts today, so let me be generous for once." "Tonight I'm throwing a party. Every one of you here is welcome to come." She lifted her hand and pointed at me. "As for her." "Whoever wants her to pour drinks, dance, kneel and serve, or do anything else..." "Be my guest." The whole room broke into jeering cheers, and someone raised a glass to her. "Miss Ferraro, that's ruthless. With you in the Castellano family, who would ever dare turn traitor again?" I listened in silence. The host gave the final call, going once, going twice, and brought the gavel down. "Congratulations to Mr. Lucian Castellano, who has won one night's use of Miss Aria Bennett for five dollars." Hearing it, all my anger and grievance curdled into a thick sense of absurdity. I never imagined that one day our names would appear side by side in a sentence like that. I still remembered five years ago, tangled together in bed night after night, him crying out my name and me crying out his. Back then we were each other's most beloved. At the memory, my eyes reddened despite myself. I looked up again and met Lucian's gaze. His eyes were dark, disgust still hanging heavy in them. The next second he spoke. "A cheap little lot, and you still won't get lost?" Get lost. Those words again. I remembered five years ago too, when he'd decided I was a traitor and had me sold. Back then I didn't believe it. Didn't believe he could be that heartless. So I knelt in the pouring rain, begging to see him just once, asking only that he admit the decision to my face. Then I would leave. But in the end he never came out. He only had a guard bring back one reply. Get lost. It seemed five years had done nothing to soften his hatred. I didn't linger. I walked quietly back to the wings and took out the registration ledger. I wrote my own name in it, then quietly noted the price beside it. Five dollars. After that, no one had much interest in any of the lots. Maybe the best show of the night was already over. That went double for Lucian's name. It hardly appeared again. Chapter 3 When I got back to the wings, Bianca's bodyguard was just coming out of the manager's office. The manager sat in his office, gleefully counting cash. When he saw me, he couldn't resist a comment. "Aria, turns out you're worth something after all. Don't worry, I'll have more work for you here." My face was dark, but I didn't want to waste another word on him. I turned and went to the restroom. The woman in the mirror still had her makeup intact, but her face was cold, drained of all warmth. I hadn't always been like this. I used to laugh easily, and Lucian loved to watch me laugh. Back then he always said that when I smiled, the gunfire and the bodies all felt far away, if only for that instant. At the memory I gave a self-mocking smile, then pulled a creased, folded slip of paper from my bag. It was covered in cramped rows of debts, and no matter how I scraped and saved, ten thousand dollars was still far out of reach. Yet this sum I was killing myself for wasn't even worth a single bottle of their wine. After the auction, the party was held on a yacht nearby. It was supposedly Bianca's spur-of-the-moment idea, yet the yacht was fully stocked, missing only one thing: waitstaff. The message was clear. Tonight I was the only server on this boat, and the only plaything. Bianca opened a bottle of champagne herself, foam spilling over the lip. "Come." "The first glass tonight, to my future husband." The people around her raised their glasses at once. "May the Castellano family's business grow ever bigger, its shipping routes reach ever farther, and may the Don and Miss Ferraro wed soon, a union of two powers." It was a pretty toast, and Bianca was pleased to hear it. "Rest assured, with me here, the Castellanos will never slip, and there will never be another traitor!" At that, Lucian frowned, a flicker of displeasure in his eyes, but he said nothing. Bianca was flashy, but she usually knew where the line was. Saying something like that, she'd probably just had too much to drink. Just then she turned to me, her eyes full of a victor's arrogance. "Aria, come here." I walked over, and Bianca pressed the bottle into my hands. "Pour for Lucian and me, then give us a toast." She paused, her smile deepening. "'May true love win in the end.' That one." The hand Lucian held his cigarette in went still, almost imperceptibly. I looked at Bianca. She'd had plenty to drink, the flush of it clear on her face. In that moment a thought surfaced. I lowered my eyes and kept my voice light. "I can do that. But Miss Ferraro, you'll have to give me ten thousand dollars." Chapter 4 At my words, Lucian frowned too, clearly displeased. But before he could speak, Bianca had already burst out laughing. "Ten thousand? Aria, who do you take me for!" I smiled, satisfied, took the bottle, filled Bianca's glass first, then stepped in front of Lucian. His glass sat on the table, his fingertips resting against it. He never looked up. "Don Castellano. Miss Ferraro." I lowered my eyes, my voice as calm as if I were reciting some meaningless line. "To the two of you. May your true love win in the end." "Never to part." Lucian didn't drink. He poured the wine straight onto the floor. "A traitor's blessing. It makes me sick." But Bianca laughed, clearly delighted by the words, and threw a card straight in my face. "Take it. The PIN is my birthday." She took another big gulp of wine and melted against Lucian's chest, her voice thick with barely hidden boasting. "Lucian set them himself, you know. Every card, every PIN, they're all my birthday." I paid her no mind. The money was mine now. If she wanted to keep flaunting their love, let her. But suddenly she pointed a trembling finger at me, her voice dropping. "Except... except..." Lucian's brows snapped together. He took the glass from her hand at once and set it on the table, his voice low. "Enough. Don't say another word." With so many people present, she'd nearly let a family secret slip because she was drunk. I watched him tense up and sneered to myself. Because I knew the one exception. And Lucian himself had once handed me the only keycard that opened it. Bianca blinked, then nestled into his arms, wheedling. "You're being so mean. I'm just happy. So many people wishing us well today, why can't I say it?" Her eyes had gone red from the drink, and her voice carried a note of hurt. "Lucian, do you know how much it took just to get to this day?" "Do you know how much it cost me to stand at your side?" Helplessness was written all over Lucian's face. But just then Bianca lifted her head, glaring at me with sudden venom, her voice rising. "You all want to know something?" "When Lucian first brought her home, I honestly didn't think much of it." "Men, after all, especially a man of his power and standing. Having a few women around, isn't that perfectly normal?" "I thought she was a plaything at most." As she spoke, her smile turned colder by degrees. "But who'd have guessed she'd stay three years! Three whole years!" "Everyone knows Lucian hates anyone touching what's his." "But she could!" "They all say the Don will stop at nothing for the family's interests. Yet the intelligence I nearly died to bring back, he threw aside without a second look." "All because... all because acting on it might have hurt that woman he was keeping!" The more she said, the more worked up she got, until her whole face was red. The laughter on the deck had died away completely, but Bianca seemed not to notice at all. She just stared at me, the hatred in her eyes deepening, every trace of her composure long gone. "That was when I knew this bitch couldn't stay. She had too much of a hold on the Don." She reached up and touched the blue diamond necklace at her throat, her voice airy. "Only someone ruthless enough can be the Don's wife." "Not some useless woman who's nothing but a pretty face." "So I just pulled a few little strings and pinned a traitor's name on her." "You all know how much the Mafia despises that. And sure enough, under pressure from the capos, she had no choice but to go." "But I'm a careful woman. To leave no loose ends, I simply sold her off." "Back then she went for a bit more than she did today." She paused, seeming to fall into the memory, and started counting on her fingers. "Several dozen dollars." The whole place had gone utterly quiet. But Bianca seemed to have sunk completely into that memory, her voice growing more and more excited. "You don't know how pitifully she cried. She kept saying she couldn't believe Lucian would do that to her. She even knelt in the pouring rain, begging the guards to get the Don to come out and see her." "Hahahaha..." "How could I ever let that happen? I just had the guards pass along a single message." She paused, a vicious glee glittering in her eyes. "Get lost." Before Bianca could finish, a sharp crack of breaking glass cut her off. The wine glass in Lucian's hand shattered, crushed by his bare grip. Shards drove deep into his palm, blood mixing with wine and dripping between his fingers. But he seemed to feel no pain. He only stared at Bianca, his eyes reddening with something close to madness. "What did you say?" Bianca still hadn't grasped that something was wrong. Her voice was a drunken slur. "I said I was helping you, helping the Castellanos, clearing out... a threat..." "Shut up!" Lucian's hand shot out and closed around her throat, and the sudden lack of air jolted her half sober in an instant. She stared at him in terror, her voice beginning to shake. "L-Lucian, what's wrong with you?" "I just had too much to drink, I was only joking..." "Joking?" Lucian rose slowly to his feet and closed in on her, step by step. "You're telling me that five years ago she never stole from the Castellanos? Never betrayed me?" His voice sank lower and lower, until at the end it seemed forced up from deep in his chest. "It was you who branded her a traitor, and then sold her off without my consent!" On those last words his voice shook badly, and his grip tightened viciously. Bianca went deathly pale and slumped onto the couch. "It's not like that, Lucian, I..." But Lucian didn't look at her again. He whipped his head around toward me, standing not far off. I was toying with the card Bianca had just tossed me, a bright, cheerful smile on my face. As if this whole farce had nothing to do with me. The people who'd been mocking me moments ago now didn't dare make a sound, hardly even breathing. Lucian came toward me, step by step. "Aria." When he said my name, his voice trembled in a way that wasn't like him at all. "Back then... what really happened?" My hand stilled on the card. I looked down, let out a scoffing laugh, and didn't answer him. Lucian stepped forward and gripped my wrist, his fingers digging in hard enough to bruise. I laughed softly. "Don Castellano." "If you break my hand, remember to cover the medical bills." Lucian's eyes went redder in an instant. "Aria! Just talk to me!" The smile on my face faded completely in that moment. The wind on the deck was cold. I lifted my head and looked at the man who'd once left me waiting in the rain all night. "Talk to you?" "Lucian, I wanted to talk to you back then too. But did you ever give me a single chance?" Chapter 5 Lucian looked at me, and for the first time since we'd met again, real emotion broke across his face. It was as if he couldn't accept the truth. Because if it was true, then what were these five years of hatred worth? What did it mean that he'd propped Bianca up all this way, even decided to make her the Don's wife? It was as if he'd become the world's biggest fool. By then the yacht had docked, and the guests, taking the hint, all left, leaving just the three of us. I watched their retreating figures, then turned back to look coldly at Lucian and Bianca. "Since the party's over, I don't suppose there's any need for me to keep serving." Bianca was fully sober now. She didn't dare say another word, and even stepped aside to let me pass. She wanted nothing more than for me to vanish on the spot. But Lucian clung to my wrist and wouldn't let go. "Aria, how have you lived these past years?!" At that, I looked out at the distant sea, as if sinking into memory. "The first year I was sold to a farm. Mostly hard labor." "The sun was blinding there. It burned my skin into blisters. And yet it was the happiest year I had." "Then I was sold to a businessman. He had a foul temper and would beat people at the drop of a hat." "He had many wives, all bought like me. Some died not long after he took them." "Then someone got me out. Though 'rescued' isn't quite right, since I still had to sign myself over in another contract." "The price wasn't much. About what one of your cufflinks costs. And yet I worked it off for three whole years..." At that I smiled and lifted my scar-covered hands, unable to keep from marveling. "I never knew I could learn so much. I could even out-haul the burliest men." ... "Enough." Lucian cut me off. His eyes were rimmed red now, and the hand gripping mine shook hard. "Aria, if you were suffering that much, why didn't you come to me?!" "You'd already gotten out! Why would you rather sell yourself again than come to me!" "If you'd just explained it to me once more, I would have..." "You would have what?" I scoffed. "Believed me? Or apologized for what you did?" "Lucian, five years is a long time. Long enough to forget a person." "And my work was busy and brutal. Every time I picked blueberries, my head was full of nothing but how to pick more, faster, how to keep from getting fired, from getting beaten or screamed at by the boss... As for you, maybe you only showed up in my nightmares." Lucian went white. His grip loosened a little, and I seized the chance to pull free. Only then did he see the vicious scar running across my wrist. In an instant his own knuckles cracked from how hard he clenched them. He turned to the silent Bianca with murder in his eyes. "What did you mean just now, that you branded her a traitor?" Bianca said at once, "I... I only..." For the longest time she couldn't force out a word. Then she broke into tears, clutching Lucian's arm and repeating the same words over and over. "I only did it for the good of the Castellanos... I really didn't mean any harm..." "A weak woman like her was never fit to be the Don's wife. I only did it for you!" "For me?!" Lucian was livid. He fired a shot. The bullet grazed Bianca's cheek, and she flinched, covering her head with both hands. "I gave the order to send her to the island, nothing more, and you took it on yourself to decide for me!" "Bianca, you really are an intelligence officer through and through. You know an awful lot." "You even dared to intercept my orders, swap out my men. Just how many people in the Castellano family are yours!" As if that wasn't enough, Lucian spun the cylinder again, itching to execute her on the spot. Bianca abandoned all dignity, practically crawling to him, begging him to spare her. Lucian ignored her and began telling me what had happened five years ago. At the time, an operation had failed, and he and the capos were scrambling to deal with the fallout. Just then, Bianca called to say she'd found the dock operation map in my bag. He'd wanted to come question me, but the capos insisted on coming along. In the end the evidence seemed solid, and since Bianca had originally been planted as an informant inside the enemy's ranks, her word carried a lot of weight. He'd believed me at the time, but the losses had been devastating, and to hold on to his position he gave the order to have me sold anyway. Then he had a trusted man arrange to place me on a private island, meaning to come see me once things settled. But then I vanished without a trace, and soon after, more and more intelligence began leaking out. The capos called a meeting and all assumed it was my revenge, that I should have been put to death from the start! At this point, Lucian lowered his eyes in self-reproach. "Every coincidence piled up at once, back then... so... I..." He seemed unable to go on. I looked at him and finished it for him. "So you hated me that much. Hated me enough to humiliate me with five dollars." "Aria..." Lucian instinctively reached to touch my hand, but I pulled away. Something wounded flickered in his eyes, but he softened his voice all the same. "I'm sorry... I really didn't know any of this..." "You've suffered all these years. Don't worry, I'll make it up to you, I swear." "I'll get to the bottom of everything. Every person who ever hurt you, I'll make them wish they were dead!" His gaze was firm as he said it, and I knew he'd do it. But what did it matter. Whether those people were punished or not, none of the scars I'd carried would ever fade. "Lucian, save it." "You can kill those people, but can you bring back the ones who are already dead?"