Chapter 9
629words
The biggest annual "Dark Night Auction" of Sicily was held on the high seas.
This was a place to fence stolen goods and a stage for the families to display their power.
I attended as the representative of the Corleone family.
To my surprise, I saw Marco there.
I heard he had sold the last set of jewelry left by his late mother and taken out loans from sharks to scrape together some cash.
He was wearing a rented tuxedo, his face sallow and eyes sunken, looking like a ghost. But his eyes were bright, staring dead at the auction stage.
Because tonight's grand finale lot was a blue diamond necklace named "Tears of the Deep."
Five years ago, I saw this necklace in a magazine and casually mentioned, "It's beautiful."
I didn't expect him to remember.
It seemed he wanted to go all in, winning this necklace to beg for my forgiveness.
The auction began.
I wasn't interested in the early lots. Until the "Tears of the Deep" was brought out.
Starting price: five million dollars.
"Five and a half million!"
Marco was the first to raise his paddle. He shouted at the top of his lungs, then deliberately looked back at me in the second-floor box, his eyes full of self-righteous style and romance.
I swirled the wine glass in my hand, feeling bored.
Just then, a slender, bony hand reached out from behind me and held my hand.
The man's palm was hot, with a thin layer of calluses from using guns.
He held my hand, guided the paddle, and raised it gently.
"Twenty million."
A lazy, low male voice rang in my ear.
The crowd went wild.
Marco snapped his head up, staring dead at the man behind me.
"Leonardo Rothschild. Miss Corleone, we met in that fire five years ago."
The famous "Tyrant" of the European financial Mafia in recent years. Looking at those deep blue eyes, deep memories were triggered. Back then, relying on my agility, I saved several people trapped in the fire, and one noble boy had those exact deep blue eyes.
Marco's face turned purple. He gritted his teeth, his hand shaking, and raised his paddle again.
"Twenty... twenty-one million!"
That was his limit. The loan shark money and the jewelry money added up to exactly that much.
Leonardo didn't even bat an eye, didn't even give Marco a direct look.
He turned his head, his nose brushing against my earlobe, and casually called out a number.
"Fifty million."
Bang!
The gavel fell.
Marco collapsed into his chair as if his spine had been pulled out. He lost, completely and utterly.
After the auction, the staff respectfully delivered the necklace to the box.
Marco rushed to the door like a madman but was blocked by bodyguards.
He shouted inside:
"Elena! I'm the only one who genuinely wanted to give you a gift! This guy is just using money to humiliate you! Does he know what love is?"
"I sold my mother's heirlooms to scrape that money together! Why won't you look at me?"
Leonardo took the necklace and played with it in his hand.
He didn't even look at Marco. Instead, he beckoned the Doberman sleeping at my feet.
Click.
He casually clasped the rare necklace worth fifty million dollars around the dog's neck.
The blue diamonds sparkled against the black fur.
The room fell into dead silence.
Marco's eyes widened, mouth open, unable to make a sound.
"Mr. Antonio, the thing you bankrupted yourself trying to win back... in my eyes, is only fit to be a collar for Elena's dog."
"Also, don't talk to me about love."
Leonardo wrapped his arm around my waist, looking at Marco to stake his claim.
"You think you're worthy?"
