The Highest Bidder

❊ Cʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ Sɪxᴛʏ﹣Tᴡᴏ ❊

I laid in bed the next morning, the sheets being the only thing covering my naked body. I stared at the ring on my left hand, wanting to punch him for buying something so expensive. But I couldn't deny that it was beautiful.

The band was gold with diamonds circling it, creating six interlocking infinity symbols all coming together to circle a glistening diamond. He had said that it was a promise to stay with me forever. He also said that if I complained about the price, he'd make sure to buy me things just to tick me off.

So I didn't complain. I showed him how thankful I was for five straight hours.

Enzo rolled over and slung his arm over my waist, pulling me close to him. "What are you thinking?"

It was a trick question, I knew that. If I said that the ring was too much, he'd do just as he threatened.

"I love you," I said.

I felt him smile lazily against my shoulder. "No regrets yet?"

I laughed. "No regrets, Enzo."

"Go take a shower," he murmured. "Don't need the rest of the house knowing what we did."

I blushed and rolled out of bed, barely missing his hand flying out to spank me. I stuck my tongue out at him and half walked, half ran, to the bathroom to shower.

In the end, I didn't think about Maverick at all while Enzo and I had sex. I didn't think about the rape or the month of torture. He made sure of that. Whenever I started to go to that dark place, he murmured how much he loved me and that he'd always be able to protect me, which never failed to bring me back.

I showered quickly, using Enzo's soap to clean off the tell-tale smell of what we had done. I doubted it would matter whether or not I showered. Sophia would see it on my face when I saw her.

After my shower, I changed into clothes that miraculously appeared on the sink. I wondered how he did that without me noticing.

The dress was black, reaching down to mid-thigh. I blushed when I saw the love bites over my collarbone and one that obviously disappeared beneath my dress.

Sophia was going to have a heart attack.

I exited the bathroom and Enzo grinned when he saw the marks he left on my skin. "Have any on your thighs?"

I pursed my lips. "Maybe."

He stood from the bed, completely naked, and I stared at him. Every inch of him was perfect and I wondered how something so terrible became the best thing to ever happen to me.

"I'm going to shower." He leaned down and kissed my lips gently before spanking me.

I jumped forward and spun on my heel to glare at him, but he was already in the bathroom. The shower turned on and I walked to the bed, glanced down at it, then decided not to sit on it. I smelled like sex for a reason, and if that reason was anywhere on that bed, I didn't want to sit in it.

I sat down in a chair and waited silently for Enzo to get out of the shower, my eyes on the ring around my finger. It really was beautiful. The diamonds seemed to catch every little source of light.

I was still staring down at it when he exited the bathroom. "If I keep catching you staring at it, I'm going to think you're regretting saying yes to me."

I stood and smiled. "I don't regret it."

He reached out a hand and I walked over, taking it in mine. Ready to face the music, we left his room and headed downstairs.

Sophia, Thomas, and Ron were all standing inside the dining room, talking amongst one another. The smell of eggs and bacon was in the air, making my mouth water. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until that moment.

Sophia's eyes seemed to zero in on the love bites. A wolfish grin spread across her face. "I see you two had fun last night."

Ron laughed. "I heard they had fun last night. It was pretty entertaining."

I turned into Enzo and hid my reddening face in his chest as he laughed. His arm slinked around my shoulder and he pulled me closer to him.

The snickers ceased abruptly.

"Oh, my God." Sophia breathed. "Eva."

I turned my face to look at her. All three of them were looking down at my ring hand.

She looked up, her eyes wide and her mouth open in awe.

Thomas smiled. "I'm glad you said yes, Eva. He needs someone to keep him on his feet."

Ron pumped his fist in the air, whooping and singing something about getting hitched. I never thought I'd see the man I offered cream to getting excited about Enzo and me getting engaged. But ever since he helped Enzo save me, he seemed to show up everywhere, acting like the male version of Sophia.

Sophia pulled me away from Enzo to hug me. It was a crushing hug that cut off my air circulation, but I didn't complain. Her happiness didn't amount to the happiness that I felt within myself.

I turned my face to look at Enzo, who was already smiling down at me. The look in his eyes was one of pure adoration. I didn't know how I missed it for so long. He looked at me like that all the time and he had for quite some time. I just didn't know what that look was. I wasn't used to it.

"I love you," I mouthed, a smile forming on my own lips.

"I love you too," He mouthed back with a wink.

I didn't know if Enzo and I would last forever. I learned the hard way that nothing good ever seems to last for me. But I could hope and pray that we would be together for the rest of our lives. Hope that he would continue to love me, long after I became old and my beauty faded. But if not, I knew one thing: I would survive. Because that's what I've learned to do in the time I spent with Enzo Bianchi.

I am a fighter. And I would fight until the end.

-_-_-_-_-_-

A/N: Okay, loves, it's finally all back up. Now I get to work on the epilogue. Since you've come this far, I would like to ask what you'd like to see in the epilogue. Would you like to see what happens with Maverick? Or do you just want to solely see Eva and Enzo's relationship in the future?

Let me know, and I'll start working on that ^_^

Thank you for reading The Highest Bidder!