From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Audrey Carlan comes a new story in her Marriage Auction series…
I run the most elite auction in the world.
Candidates and bidders come from all over the globe hoping to change their lives.
And I deliver.
I’m in the business of bringing couples together in a mutually beneficial and legally binding marriage. The terms are three years for no less than a million dollars a year, not including my commission. Once a pair signs on the dotted line, the contract ensures there is no going back.
Most couples find over time they are a love match, but not all.
Before I took over The Marriage Auction, there wasn’t an extensive vetting process. Some candidates were subjected to horrors that haunt my every waking moment.
I vowed to change that. To stand up for those who deserve more and to release them from the wrongs inflicted upon them by circumstance and chance.
What my bidders and candidates don’t know is that I understand exactly what they are experiencing.
I wasn’t always known as Madam Alana.
Once upon a time, I too was purchased in The Marriage Auction… And this is my story.
“You are Alana Toussaint.My wife.My heart.My muse.I will accept no less.”
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Keep reading for a look inside Madam Alana!
“Alana.”
Christophe whispered my name like a prayer.
I shivered at his blatant admiration, a blush flushing my cheeks with heat. He made it very clear by the worshipful way he’d said my name and how his eyes never left mine that he liked what he saw in me. I suddenly wanted to be a different person. One who was worthy of such admiration. A woman he’d met a year ago in a little coffee shop and then courted until we’d finally taken that magical step. The way he looked at me, as if I hung the very moon, made it feel as though we’d known one another for eons.
He helped me keep my balance as I stepped onto the riser by his side. Christophe kept hold of my hand, not letting go for even a moment as the officiant started the ceremony.
I couldn’t pay attention to anything the officiant said, too focused on Christophe. I didn’t think I’d ever seen a more attractive man in my almost nineteen years. He was older than me, to be sure, but not by a lot. If I’d had to guess, I’d have put him in his mid-to-late twenties. Then again, who was that young and had an expendable five million dollars to throw at a woman he’d never even met? What was in this for him?
I kept sneaking glances, categorizing his features. He was tall, over six feet, but everyone seemed tall compared to my small stature. I barely came up to his shoulders, and my heels added a couple inches to my height. He wore a crisp, light-grey suit with a matching vest beneath. A white dress shirt was paired with a slate-blue tie with a sheen to it that caught the light.
Suddenly, he shifted his large frame, tugging my hand so I’d follow until we were facing one another.
“Do you, Christophe Toussaint, vow to love, honor, and cherish Alana all the days of your life?” the officiant asked.
Christophe stared directly into my eyes; a full breath passed as he communicated something with his gaze I didn’t know how to decipher.
“I do,” he answered with conviction.
“Do you, Alana Kim, vow to love, honor, and cherish Christophe all the days of your life?” The question was directed at me.
All the days of my life? That was not part of the deal, and I was leery to agree in the event that it somehow locked me into a new term or contract I hadn’t been prepared for.
“I-I, um…”
Christophe tilted his head, his expression becoming soft. “It’s okay. I know the terms of five years are clear in the contract,” he noted, easing my concern.
I licked my lips, and his nostrils flared as he took a sharp breath.
“I do,” I said.
“Now for the rings…”
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