Both him and Skittles wanted nothing to do with death teasing in the corners.

“A million,” Eleanor whispered. “Is that the going rate for a whore?”

Slater flinched. “A whore? I’m not buying you as a whore. No way.”

He went to touch her, but I shoved him back with a fist in his solar plexus.

It took a moment for him to cough and wheeze, sucking in oxygen to continue. “I want you as a wife.” He flatly ignored me, even after my punch, his gaze imploring her, making my head swim with violence.

Goddammit, I couldn’t do this.

Calvin wrapped a fist around my arm, keeping me in place when I advanced on him. I could strike him. I could pin my wrath on Calvin and then on Slater—I had more than enough to go around, but Eleanor bypassed me, going to stand in front of Slater.

I swallowed a groan, drinking in the sight of her back.

Her long, long hair kissed her ass, falling seamlessly into the jewels of her gown. Flowers decorated randomly, begging me to pluck them out and push her onto all fours.

“A wife?” Shock echoed in Eleanor’s question. “You’re buying me, not as a whore, but a wife?”

Slater nodded. “I’ll marry you when we get home. No pre-nup. No restrictions. My wealth is yours. I’ll give a million to this asshole, but the rest will be yours.” He spread his hands in surrender. “Your only rule would be that you’d have to stay with me. Forever. You’d be mine…just as I’d be yours. But you can never divorce me. Never go back to your family. Never tell anyone the truth of our beginning.”

Eleanor stiffened, her hair twitching down her back. “Don’t you think purchasing a wife is the wrong way to begin a romance? Find someone who you don’t have to pay for.”

“I’ve found you, and I’ll do whatever I have to do to claim you.”

Eleanor nodded slowly, then turned to face me.

I shook Calvin off but didn’t move. I quaked on the spot and crossed my arms, doing my best to seem as if I had myself under control.

“How much did you pay for me, Mr. Sinclair?”

Sinclair.

Not Sully.

I snarled inside, fighting so much, battling a part of my nature that was murderous and mayhem, rather than human. “I don’t discuss figures with—”

“More than a million?” she interrupted. “Less than a million?”

How could I tell her the truth?

That the traffickers I used sold her to me for a rock bottom price. I would never admit that her soul was valued to those disgusting men—me included—at five hundred thousand.

A bargain.

An insult.

Half of what Slater was willing to offer.

I would never admit that.

Ever.

But I was also never letting her go.

Already, she’d almost paid back her initial cost. The profit margin from selling her to Slater would’ve padded my bank account.

Last night, I’d tried to convince myself that was the only reason I was selling her.

But I couldn’t swallow my own lie.

The only reason I’d agreed to this atrocity was to buy back my own sanity. And a million was far too cheap. She was worth so, so much more. She was utterly fucking priceless and it made me sick to my guts that we were two men discussing her ‘bride’ price in front of her.

This didn’t concern her.

I shouldn’t have summoned her.

I should’ve done the deal and never even said goodbye.

Now, I had to either kill this asshole or lash him to my helicopter. Either way, she wasn’t fucking leaving.

Stalking to my exit that led to a corridor and another lounge, I snapped my fingers. “Slater, Calvin. Let’s discuss this. Alone.”

“Alone?” Eleanor’s eyebrows shot up. “Why summon me if you’re just going to—”

“Enough. Stay there.” I pointed at the floor as if she’d lock herself to the spot.

Calvin gave me a wary look as he followed me toward the door. Slater didn’t move.

I would make him move—in every painful way possible—but at the last second, he gave Eleanor a twisted smile and followed me.

The moment I was away from Eleanor, I sucked in a breath. The first breath in minutes, the first untainted oxygen, free from her magic.

My heart restarted into a normal beat, my mind dropped its red haze of violence. I returned to myself, fractured and furious. I still wanted to kill Slater, but I could stay in my suit rather than wanting to turn into a wolf and shredding him to pieces.

How had she affected me so much? Why did my entire body feel bruised?

Calvin pulled me away from Slater, farther into the other room. “What the fuck happened in there, Sinclair?”

I glared. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You know exactly what I mean. You practically pounced on her the second she arrived.”

“Are you gonna lie to my face and say you didn’t get hard when she appeared?” Each word came out gnawed by my clenched teeth. “Did you not see how fucking stunning she is?”

He winced but nodded. “I can appreciate a beautiful woman. And…she is beautiful. I’ll give her that.”

“And that’s why I’m keeping her. She’s too beautiful and too sought after to get rid of. Guests pay above and—”

“Stop.” Calvin clucked his tongue, cursing under his breath. “For fuck’s sake, that isn’t why you want to keep her.”

“Yes, it fucking is.”

“No, it fucking isn’t.” His temper clashed against mine. “You changed in there, man. You were ready to kill that guy just because he looked at Jinx like any other guest looks at their goddess. It fucked you off that he wants her—wants her for always, instead of just one night.”

Perhaps I’d have to dig two graves today.

I spoke with black-edged control. “You are once again overstepping your boundaries—”

“Look.” He swiped a hand over his face, struggling to figure out what he could and could not say to me in my current fury. “The way I see it, you have two choices. And don’t hurt me for pointing them out.”

I looked over my shoulder where Slater still stood in the corridor, away from Eleanor and away from hearing distance. Slowly, I crossed my arms and nodded. “Fine. What are my two choices?”

“You sell her—”

I growled.

He held up a hand. “You sell her, and you regret it for a few days…a week. You have blue balls, and you go and fuck a goddess who will willingly spread her legs for you. Jinx goes to a place that ensures she’s out of your life. Your world continues the way it should—the way you fought for it to be. Things don’t get fucked up.”

I squeezed my arms tighter, trembling with the urge to shut him up. He spoke rationally; he made sense. That was what scared me about hearing his second point.

I already knew what he’d say.

I already fucking agreed with him.

“Or…” Calvin sighed, looking pissed but also regretful, already tasting the change that would happen if I kept Eleanor instead of removing her from my world. “Or you keep her. You fall in love with her—if you’re not already. You fuck her. You adore her. You realise that she’s exactly like all the animals you’ve liberated in the past. That she’s caged here, trapped against her will, and you…you let her go. You let her go, and she either ends up in a worst situation or—”