“Twenty thousand!” A voice from the back called.
Ember’s eyes widened and she glanced down at Zander who was laughing hard. What was he laughing at? That someone would pay that much for her company or because he could do so much better. Ember was a bit confused by his behavior and she desperately wanted to know what he was up to.
“Thirty thousand? Do we have thirty thousand dollars?” Vienna asked.
Ember gasped. No one had received more than a twenty thousand dollar bid all night. Were these rich guys really willing to pay that much money for women when they could get any woman they wanted practically for free? She just did not get the psychology of it, the mindset. It seemed ridiculous, but she was smart enough not to look a gift horse in the mouth. No reason to question the gifts we are given in this life.
“Thirty thousand!” A man in the back shouted.
“We have thirty thousand! Thirty thousand going once… going twice…” Vienna began closing the deal.
“One hundred thousand dollars!”
It was like someone had taken a giant vacuum and sucked all of the air out of the room. Everyone was looking at each other in total shock and awe. Someone had just bid a hundred thousand dollars for her. She couldn’t believe it, but she had heard it with her own ears.
The crowd began to cheer now and applaud this person who was willing to make that insane leap in price on this bid.
“Wow, that is amazing everyone! This is officially the highest bid we’ve ever had in the Club Privaat auction!”
Ember remembered how to breathe and began to focus on what was happening. After a moment the shock started to wear off that someone was actually bidding one hundred thousand dollars and Ember finally realized who had called out that bid.
It was Zander.
8
Zander
Zander had bid one hundred thousand dollars for her. That was insane, wasn’t it? Was he just in the habit of throwing his money away or did he actually feel the same connection for her that she felt for him, that sweet spark of total attraction?
The crowd was erupting now into huge cheers as Vienna announced that this was in fact the highest bid in the history of the club so far. It was four times higher than the previous highest bid. Ember was having trouble getting all of this straight in her head. How was she this special? Was she this special? Or did Zander just like to waste money any way he could just because he could?
“Sold to Mr. Zander Michaels! Everyone give him a round of applause!” Vienna shouted into the microphone. She sounded on the verge of collapsing under the total glee she was experiencing.
Ember looked over at Violet who was staring at her with an expression of both shock and what appeared to be anger. Was it anger? Was she jealous of Ember? It suddenly dawned on Ember that Violet might have made up what she had said about Zander. She wanted him for herself, as did all of the other women. It was becoming pretty obvious to her.
But still there was something gnawing in the back of her mind about it all. There was something about Zander she did not fully trust. It wasn’t about what Violet had said either; it was just a feeling she had deep in her guts. Something was telling her to be careful and to tread lightly. But the other part of her was so excited she could not see straight. She was actually going out with Zander Michaels and she had also just made twenty thousand dollars. All for just standing up on this stage. It boggled her mind. That was more than half a year’s salary at her day job. What in the world was going on?
“Well, ladies and gentleman. We’ve had quite a night here, one that will go down in our history books but the night is still young. The ladies will be right out for those of you who won the bids of your choice and you can begin your evening. We do this auction every night of the week, so please come back tomorrow night for more lovely ladies and be ready to bid, bid, bid!”
Vienna practically dropped the microphone as she hustled off stage right behind the last girls, almost tripping over them. Ember was by this time sitting on a couch and having herself a beer she grabbed from the bucket they had in the back for the girls. She had to calm herself down.
She’d expected the other girls to begin congratulating her but the tone was one of coldness. The other girls were all terribly jealous of her; it was obvious and funny when she really thought about it. But they had no reason to be. She had just done the same thing that the rest of them had. It just so happened the right guy was there that night and he was very attracted to her. She couldn’t help that and she wasn’t about to apologize for it.
“That was amazing!” Vienna said rushing up to Ember and wrapping her up in her arms. Ember almost spilled her drink, the hug taking her by surprise. She really didn’t expect that from Vienna of all people.
“Thanks!” Ember said.
She caught Violet’s cold, icy stare and erupted into a giggle. The girl was being stupid and childish; it was funny. If the other girls wanted to pout and moan because the new girl had just stolen their thunder then that was their fault.
“Wow, you are going to go far in this game, girl!” Vienna said as she started to walk away towards the bar.
“Guess someone has a new pet,” Veronica said as she passed. Veronica had received a fifteen thousand dollar bid tonight, nothing to sneeze at. But wow, the jealousy and the catty nature of the girls was starting to come out in full force.
Ember smiled and ignored it all. She did not need their approval. She had not come here to make friends; she had come here to make money.
And now it looked as if she might have met the man of her dreams.
Life was funnier than hell sometimes.
9
Zander
“Wow, it looks like you are the star of the evening,” Harrison said sitting down beside Zander with an entire bottle of Jack Daniels. He sat two glasses down on the table and poured them both three quarters of the way full of whiskey.
“Well, that’s very generous of you,” Zander said. “I don’t remember a time when you ever gave away anything for free, especially booze.”
“Have you forgotten already? You just paid this club twenty grand,” Harrison said.
“That is true,” Zander replied. “Truthfully I would have paid more.”
“Wow, this girl means that much to you? I mean, I saw you chatting her up earlier, but wow… you aren’t going soft on me, are you? I mean I came to you about investing in the club but if you’ve developed a conscience or something I’m not sure we can do business together.”
“Oh, my conscience is clean. It may in fact be missing,” Zander said. “But I do have to admit there is something amazing about this girl that really grabs me in that special way.”
“Yeah, I know that way. The kind that will turn your body into a human pretzel trying to impress her in bed.”
“I don’t mean that,” Zander said. “And I don’t ever try to impress anybody. I don’t have to. I’m impressive as is.”
“And I thought I was an arrogant jerk,” Harrison joked.
“You are.”
Harrison gave a fake glass and finished gulping the whiskey.
“Wow, you drink like a college kid on his twenty-first birthday who just heard that tossing shots back is all the rage.”
“I prefer to think I drink like a man. You got to toss it back,” Harrison said.
“Nah, I drink like a gentleman. You are holding in your hands a fine bottle of top shelf whiskey. It may not be as expensive as others but it is in a league of its own for sure,” Zander began. It was time to teach this fool a lesson about fine liquor. He held his cup in his hands, watching the amber liquid move back and forth. “You see you want to warm up the glass with the whiskey, to make sure that all there is no separation between the oils on the glass and the whiskey itself; that can muddle the flavor. Now, you take a good sip and you don’t swallow right away. No, you got to hold it in your mouth, feel that sweet burn moving up your nose and down the back of your throat too. Then after several seconds you swallow
it. That is how you drink whiskey, my friend.”
Harrison was staring at him like he was a fungus. “You are out of your mind. I don’t know what drugs you are on, but it ain’t just whiskey.”
Zander laughed. “You know I’ve been thinking that I might invest in your little operation after all.”
“Outstanding. See, I knew you would come to see the light.”
“But,” Zander started.
“Here it comes; I figured there was a catch. There always is with you.”
“I want sixty percent,” Zander said. “I guarantee I can devote the time this place needs to make it something monstrous. I’ve been looking for something new and exciting to sink my teeth into and I think this might just be it.”
“Wow, amazing how you can change your tune after an amazing girl puts the whammy on you, isn’t it?”
“No one is putting the whammy on me. I am not whammied,” Zander joked.
“Oh, I am not so sure about that,” Harrison said. “But sixty percent… wow that is really cutting into my turf, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, that is the idea,” Zander said.
“Normally when people screw me they buy me dinner first,” Harrison said.
“Yeah, that isn’t my style.”
Harrison looked at him for a moment. He recognized that evil look, that gleam of arrogance that was pretty much Harrison’s staple.
“Ok, done. You twisted my arm into submission; congrats,” Harrison said holding out his hand.
Zander shook it. He was glad to make this deal. He was definitely seeing the potential of a place like this. For Harrison, it was just a goof, something he did one day because he was bored and he liked to have multiple back up plans. And it also gave him a legitimate business for his money laundering he was most assuredly into. Zander wasn’t sure exactly what illegal operations Harrison was a part of that required his money to be laundered but he’d heard rumors and seen the signs that pointed to some not so legal transgressions.
“Pleasure doing business with you,” Zander said as he finished his drink. “If you will excuse me, I do have a lady waiting.”
“Go get her champ!” Harrison said as he poured another glass of whiskey.
Zander made his way across the crowded floor of the club over to where the girls are waiting to be claimed by their dates and another lovely woman is finalizing payments with a line of guys, all eager to start a fun evening.
As he stands in line he can’t believe that he paid so much for Ember. When he heard the other guys bidding he was amused. It was a fun game to see how they would bin low and then he would bid high, but as the game continued they started to get into some serious cash. He wasn’t aware that most of these men had quite that much money to just play around with, but then again most of them were “paper rich”, meaning they were rich only on paper. They were all in debt to their eyebrows and most of them were just one bad business deal away from the poorhouse pretty much all the time. They lived on the illusion and promise of money; not real cash.
But when a few guys started to bid into the twenty thousand range Zander got a little nervous. He’d seen the look in Ember’s eyes practically pleading with him to make a bid and get her off that stage. He knew that she wanted him, just as he wanted her. The connection they’d made with each other was unprecedented. He’d never experienced anything like it before. It was uncanny, strange, exciting, and most of all… fun. He felt like he was fourteen again standing on some girl’s porch ready to take her to his first school dance. His mind played through all of the scenarios of how badly things could turn out, most of the ideas involved her father shooting him in the face if Zander touched his daughter in any way.
But luckily, he touched all of their daughters in every possible way. And he’d only been shot at two or three times, a few fathers and one boyfriend. Ah, those were the days. He knew then that life was going to be all about taking risks, gambling. Those who were afraid ultimately stood on the sidelines and just watched everything. They were too afraid to get involved and they lived empty, half-lives. It was pretty silly and a total waste.
Zander had always just gone for it. It didn’t always work, but it worked enough of the time.
“Hey there, mister big spender!” The woman said congratulating him as he approached the table.
“Thank you so much,” he said as he signed the authorization for them to charge his card and finalize his bid. “Just put everything on my tab.”
“Ok, we will do that,” the lady said flirtatiously.
Zander hardly noticed as his eyes were diverted by the beauty walking towards him in the red dress. She had a sexy smile on her face that could end all of the worlds ails he felt right then.
“Wow, you are even more beautiful with every second,” he said not even caring that it totally sounded like some lame pick up line.
“Well, thank you,” Ember said leaning in close to him. She whispered, “You don’t look so bad yourself.”
Zander held out his arm and she took it, the two of them walking out the side door which led down a long somewhat empty hallway. Zander was amazed at how many entrances and exits this club really had. It was a bit like a labyrinth of sorts; he felt like he was trapped in a maze, but he was walking with a beautiful woman so things could have been much worse.
He saw a sign up ahead over top of a large double door that said EXIT.
Zander pulled out his phone quickly as they walked and ordered his driver to meet them at the side exit. He was not totally sure what side this was on, but there was a reason he paid his driver a hundred grand a year. Ben was simply the best driver around. He was funny, always upbeat, drove very smoothly, and was not against ignoring traffic laws when need be.
As they got closer to the exit Zander could feel Ember’s hand on his arm getting a bit tighter. She was still not so sure about all of this. It was understandable. Just because he was rich did not make him not a serial killer. He hoped to put her mind at ease though and show her that he was a really nice guy, when he wanted to be anyway.
“So, where are we going?” Ember asked, the nerves in her voice becoming more apparent.
Zander smiled. He thought her nervousness was somewhat endearing; it was just another thing she did that really drove him wild.
“Well, I have a few ideas. You are just gonna have to trust me when I say that we will have a lot of fun.”
“Oh, where have I heard that line before?” Ember teased.
“Nowhere. It is a Zander original.”
“Uh oh, now I think I am really in trouble. You are starting to lay down some cheese.”
“What? You don’t like cheese? Everyone likes cheese.”
“I only eat cheese on pizza and nachos,” Ember joked.
“Well, those are the best things in the world, right?” Zander replied.
A bouncer/doorman opened the door for them and said goodnight. Zander nodded as they walked out the door, down a few steps, and out another door to the streets where Ben was waiting for them with the limo.
“Wow, you ordered a limo?” Ember asked.
“No, I take this limo almost everywhere. Or at least when I don’t want drive, which turns out is a great majority of the time.”
“Madam,” Ben said opening the door for Ember.
“Thanks,” she said getting into the car.
“Thanks Ben. We are going to my penthouse,” he said.
“As you wish, sir,” Ben replied closing the door behind him.
10
Ember
Ember had actually never been inside of a limo before since she and some friends squabbled some money together to rent one on prom night. But it was nothing compared to this one. Zander’s limo was huge, it was like a miniature living room on wheels with a huge sun roof, a stacked mini bar, and seats that resembled leather sofas.
He slide in beside her and she scooted over just slightly. She liked being close to him, feeling his warmth against hers. It was comforting and it turned her on
more than just a little bit.
“Did you say penthouse?” Ember asked. “I would have thought you had a big mansion or something. I’m a bit disappointed,” Ember teased.
“Oh, I do have a mansion, but it’s a ways outside the city. Tonight, we are having fun right here in Manhattan.”
“That sounds interesting,” Ember said. “Are you taking me out on the town?”
“I actually thought we would stay in tonight,” Zander said. “I am a bit tired. It’s been a long, fun week at work.”
“I’m relieved, I have to say. I’m also beat,” Ember said. “I think mostly I wore myself out stressing about the auction. I was sweating so bad onstage that I thought for sure everyone could see.”
Zander laughed. “Nah, you were just fine,” he said. “With all of those bright lights no one could really see anything. Besides too many people were watching your smoking body in that dress. It should be registered as a deadly weapon. You are going around giving people heart attacks.”
Ember laughed. “You are too much. Don’t you know if you give a girl too many compliments it goes right to her head?”
“Well, that’s just fine with me,” Zander said.
He grabbed a couple small bottles of flavored vodka and handed one to Ember. “These are delicious,” he said.
Ember took a few drinks and smiled at the fruity flavor. “Wow it would be so easy to just chug these ways too fast. You aren’t trying to get me drunk, are you?”
Zander nodded. “Well, if you play your cards right that sort of thing could be arranged, if that is what you are into. But I prefer you sober, just not soberer than me.”
Gunner (The Bad Disciples MC Book 1) Page 20
