Eep.
Her brothers had similarly frosty expressions on their faces this time, and she quickly turned away from them. Out of sight, out of mind, and now was so not the time to be distracted.
Fleur waited until the noise from the crowd completely died, and she gave it another extra second before finally blowing a kiss in Julian's direction.
As everyone cheered and laughed, it was then she said huskily, "Be sure to bid high, Mr. Alexeyev."
The crowd went wild at her words, and they went even wilder when Julian immediately opened the round with a bid of $20,000. It was the highest opening bid for the night, and she thanked him with another air kiss before slowly twirling around, just so Julian would be reminded of what exactly he was going to miss if he let ever her go.
Which he wouldn't...right?
Fleur turned to face the crowd again, and it was then she heard a Japanese businessman from the back of the room yell, "Sanman doru!"
The MC gasped. "That's thirty thousand dollars!"
The crowd laughed at Fleur's visibly stunned expression while those seated in Julian's table laughed at him because of the way jealousy was written all over their friend's face.
Oh, thank God, Freddie thought in relief. It had been seriously awkward earlier between the two, but she had obviously worried for nothing. These two were obviously in love with each other, and while neither seemed aware that the feeling was mutual...
Things should eventually work out on its own, Freddie decided complacently. For now, she was just happy enough to sit back and relax while enjoying the show that was Julian Alexeyev Goes to Hell, Part 2.
"Oooh yeah, that's how you work that slit..."
Fleur, at the MC's prompting, had flashed her leg out for the entire crowd to ogle, and up went Julian's bid card once again.
"$100,000."
The crowd gasped while his friends snickered, but Julian didn't give a damn. No fucking way was he going to let Fleur give any other man any kind of night—-
"$150,000."
The crowd was in shock, but Julian fucking wasn't. It was DeRose, of course, and the fucking asshole was even smiling at Fleur like he actually believed he had a fucking chance.
"$300,000."
Fleur nearly tripped over her own feet at hearing Julian's next bid. This was totally getting out of hand!
"$400,000."
Fleur threw Philippe a look of horror. What in the world was he doing?
Julian, seeing Fleur glance at the Frenchman's way, felt his mood swing from grim to goddamn murderous in a nanosecond.
"$1,000,000."
Fleur, seeing Bobby grinning widely from the wings, scowled at the other woman. Do something, she mouthed, or I'm totally going to walk out, and no one's going to win anything.
Just as Bobby considered pretending to be blind, she saw Philippe DeRose's bid card flash back up.
"$1,500,000."
Julian didn't waste another second to counterbid this. "$2,000,000."
Fleur was now in a panic. Do something, she mouthed frantically at Bobby, but the other woman already seemed lost in her daydreams.
And indeed that was the case, with Bobby already fantasizing about how many other orphans her non-profit could help if she could just get away with pretending to be blind—-what was Leandro doing here?
Bobby gaped as her Greek billionaire husband walked past her to take the mic from the MC.
"Congratulations, Mr. Alexeyev. $2,000,000 is the maximum bid for tonight's auction, and with that, Ms. de Konigh's most unforgettable night is yours to claim."
There was a mixture of good-natured boos and cheers from the crowd as Leandro walked off stage, but he didn't give a damn. What he did care about, however, was the beautiful redhead currently glaring at him.
"There's no such thing as a maximum bid—-"
"There is now," Leandro said silkily.
"You promised you would never interfere—-"
"Speaking of promises," Leandro interrupted, "I also received a text from Alexeyev saying he'd send you another million-dollar check and will continue to do so for the next five years if I put an end to the bidding."
"Oh."
Leandro laughed at the lightning-quick change of his wife's mood with Bobby now smiling up at him like a Titian-haired angel.
"Am I forgiven, mégaira?"
Bobby answered by curving her arms around her husband's neck, and as the couple kissed behind the curtains, another couple also had their passion on full display with Julian having been called up to the stage by the MC, and Fleur having thrown herself in his arms the moment he reached her.
Fleur had expected Julian to act a little more circumspect since he now knew her family was here, and it was because of this that she was completely astonished when Julian nudged her lips open before driving his tongue into her mouth for everyone to see.
When he finally lifted his head, Fleur wide-eyed and breathless. "Wow."
He laughed. "I'll take that as a compliment."
She nodded happily. "It is."
The MC engaged them in a few minutes of small talk before letting them go, and Fleur was bemused when Julian led her down the stage and headed for the opposite direction of where their table was. "Where are we—-"