Amber
He exhaled harshly, fists tightening on his lap.
“The starting bid was a million dollars.”
My breath caught like a hook in my throat.
A million. Dollars.
For a person.
With a soul.
My heart turned to ice, and for a second, I couldn’t move — couldn’t even blink. The image that bloomed in my mind felt too real, too sharp: Hadrian — bare, exposed, shackled like a wild beast, wrists bruised from chains that had no business being on anyone. Standing on a stage under blinding lights, with nothing to cover him but humiliation and fear. A room full of rich monsters licking their lips and throwing money to own him. To ruin him. To do with him whatever they pleased.
I didn’t even realize I was shaking until my hands curled into fists in my lap. My skin crawled. My stomach twisted so vi
