Chapter 7 Andromeda Meets Perseus

• Narrator.
• While Ruyman was trying to recover from the blunder he had made, at that very moment, in box six, a frustrated Jack Foster took out his anger on one of the screens in his box, shattering it into a thousand pieces.
• "It had to be mine, it was perfect, those challenging eyes, that aura of bravery. How I would have loved to break him, and break her too, until she became a broken toy," he had to calm down when several of Marchetti's men entered the room. He knew that his boss was not just anyone, he was much more powerful than him, and making an enemy out of him would create many problems for the cowardly millionaire, who was not willing to face them. He handed his platinum card to the waiter to pay for the broken screen, and with his head bowed, he left the room.
• But before getting into the car, he asked the parking attendant, after giving him a generous tip, if he knew who had rented box three. The attendant hurriedly took the generous bills and whispered:
• "Mr. Lamond, Mr. Mark Lamond, and his companions, but I don't know them, it's the first time they attend these events."
• Jack furrowed his brow, he would have to find a substitute to satisfy his frustration, someone who wouldn't be missed. He got into the car and said to his driver:
• "Let's go where you know, Oswald, today luck wasn't on our side."
• "Yes, Mr. Foster, no problem," his driver replied.
• At that very moment, in the club's offices, Humberto Marchetti lamented losing to the spoiled heir of the Bencomo family. From box seven, Humberto had been bidding for the merchandise called Andromeda, but he lost to box three.
• Normally, before giving out the badges that allowed entry to the venue, as a security measure, he would study all the guests who requested to attend. In the case of Ruyman Bencomo and Rayco Vieira, their request had been an invitation from a regular client, Mark Lamond.
• His checks were correct, both CEOs belonged to wealthy European families and were even owners of the part they managed from their family inheritance. Rayco was one of the most renowned restorers and millionaires on several continents, and Ruyman was even wealthier than his friend. His companies covered many states in the United States and parts of Asia. He had hotels, nightclubs, restaurants, even a golf course and a club in Florida, so the eight million he paid for Emilia was peanuts for him.
• Never had a woman been so profitable for him. He had paid off his debt and even made almost eighty"five percent more in profits compared to the initial investment. So why wasn't he happy about everything he had gained? Why was the only thing he desired to confront that challenging man, return the money, and keep that tigress with yellow eyes for himself? Why did the idea of that man touching her drive him crazy? And lastly, why did he bid for her, knowing that he would lose more money? All these questions kept swirling in his mind."
• In a fit of rage, he grabbed the phone and called the box office manager to find out if the payment for box three had been made.
• "Correctly, in addition to insisting on paying for the bottle of Macallan Premium, and everything that was consumed during the event in that box," the anger over the CEO of the C.P.A. Group, Ruyman Bencomo's arrogant action, further disrupted the calm and controlled personality of the Marchetti family's boss.
• "Return the ten thousand dollars he gave as a guarantee and all"inclusive expenses for that box," Humberto said, barely containing his fury at the arrogance of the damn Spaniard."
• Just at that moment, his second"in"command entered the office.
• "Sir, all auction payments have been confirmed, and the delivery room is ready for customers to collect their merchandise," a sense of defeat and loss, along with a feeling of dissatisfaction, took hold of him.
• And for the first time, he said something that even surprised his subordinate and right"hand man, realizing that his boss was about to do something he had never done before."
• "I will attend the delivery of the merchandise in box three, and please prepare twelve million dollars in an executive briefcase," the boss said, heading to pour himself a drink. He needed some alcohol to calm his instincts and return to being the serious, cold, and unalterable businessman that everyone knew, thus maintaining appearances in the business world, hiding the roots of his true dealings.
• Emi.
• Since I entered the room again, after being disgustingly sold like a piece of livestock, the anger towards myself, towards those who had sold me, towards my mother and brother, and even towards the man who had bought me, was evident. Although, in the case of the latter, as the girls had shared with me, he did not know that the women for whom they had bid had not been sold freely.
• According to the other "merchandise" of the cursed Marchetti family, a name that from now on would be associated with the pigs who sold me, maledetto means cursed in Italian.
• According to these naive girls, many of the blind and corrupt billionaires who attended these events, selling sex slaves, because that's all this was, thought that they were being sold freely. In other words, the Marchetti family was actually a damn matchmaking agency for the rich and wealthy, with trial periods included.
• "Can anyone be more stupid not to see the illegality behind all this?" I thought.
• If it weren't for the fact that I wasn't in the mood to laugh at the moment, I would have burst out laughing at the grotesque situation in which these greedy women lived. Many of them didn't care about living as commodities for buying and selling, rather than being free and making their own decisions. I felt disgusted as I watched them run around excitedly, having been sold. Many of them speculated among themselves while touching up their makeup. Who had they been lucky enough to be paired with? Were they young or old? Would they become married and wealthy women this time? I couldn't help it, and as always when I'm pushed to the limit, my Italian roots came to light, causing my tongue to spew poisoned daggers, ready to kill.
• " "Stupid rich bastards and even worse, the damn greedy gold diggers," I kept repeating to myself out loud, unaware that at that moment Humberto Marchetti, his second in command, and two more of his men entered the room, causing a deathly silence among the rowdy women present."
• As the room fell silent, my angry remark echoed throughout. It made the second"in"command and the two men accompanying him become serious and rigid, looking at me with suspicion. Meanwhile, the dark gaze of the cursed Marchetti fixed upon me, and in that moment, I knew he had understood every last word I had spoken in Italian. I wasn't surprised, I couldn't be. I had to prepare myself for what was about to come next.
• Furthermore, I expected nothing less from an Italian mafia member; it was only natural for him to speak his mother tongue. But what I didn't anticipate was that, along with them, other girls also understood me. Apparently, there were more than one who spoke Italian, and to add to the luck I had been having lately, they couldn't help but express their astonishment.
• "Did she just say, 'Stupid rich scumbags, and even worse, damn greedy gold diggers?'" one of them asked aloud, thinking that she wouldn't be heard or that she was speaking quietly. But in the silence of the room, her words were heard clearly.
• I closed my eyes to center myself and waited for the mafia member's response, but what I received left me completely bewildered. The cursed Marchetti burst into laughter, leaving all of us astonished, including his men who looked at him in surprise. He wasn't an ugly man, rather quite attractive. He must have been around thirty"five, with a muscular body and a dark complexion. But his gaze, with those coal"black eyes, sent shivers down your spine.
• Contrary to what we all expected, the very strange mafia member burst into laughter, while signaling to his men, turned around, and left the room still laughing uncontrollably.
• At that moment, the two men accompanying the second"in"command approached me. I expected them to grab me, drag me, or inject me with something like the previous time, and I prepared myself to fight back, although I knew that the damn Andromeda gown wouldn't help me with freedom of movement when it came to fighting.
• But just like everything that had been happening to me lately, nothing was as it seemed. The second"in"command and the men approached me, and after slightly bowing as a sign of respect, the right"hand man of the cursed Marchetti spoke."
• "Miss Monti, please accompany us to the delivery room. Mr. Marchetti will personally take you to the delivery room, where he will negotiate a deal that will be very beneficial for you." I looked at him without understanding, but I knew that, as I had told myself recently, I had to choose my battles wisely. I was already lost in the one I found myself in.
• I decided to follow them, while realizing that the rest of the women were looking at me with hatred and envy. I thought it was because of what they had heard me say a few seconds ago, but I was very wrong in my assumptions, although I would later find out.
• When we entered a huge room, surrounded by luxury furniture, among armchairs, bookshelves, oak tables with matching chairs, a bar, and an entire wall that was a large aquarium, but what really caught my attention were the two men who were already there waiting, these two men were standing next to the damned Marchetti, I didn't want to look at either of them in the end, I knew that one or both of them had bought me, but the anger and frustration accumulated over three days, I decided to look into the distance and appear as cold as ice.
• "Mr. Bencomo, this is as you already know Emilia Monti, also known as Andromeda. It is supposed that from today she will be yours..." " every word that the scoundrel Humberto said made me tremble at the meaning they had for a free person like me, so I took a deep breath and decided to look my supposed buyer in the face, to show him that I was not afraid."
• For the first time, I lifted my gaze and looked at the two men, in a second, I felt as if a blinding blue light hit me, cold but intense eyes entered my retina and reached my brain, leaving me paralyzed, the intensity of that man's gaze penetrated you, but not only those beautiful and mesmerizing blue eyes left me paralyzed, his whole being made you want to do one of these two things or both at the same time, the first was to turn around and run as far away as possible from that disturbing and unsettling man, the second was the one that scared me the most because I had never felt it before, it was to approach him and try to find out if that indescribable man's appearance, now affected by my brain, was real or an apparition that had been placed there to nullify my ability to think coherently.
• He didn't smile at me or say anything, rather he kept himself distant, cold, and serious, he didn't even maintain his gaze on me for longer than strictly necessary for a woman like me, surely self"assured and a fighter, to feel fear for a second, of what was happening to my body when I felt his gaze on me, and I did something I had never done in my life and would later reproach myself for, for a second I lowered my head, so that the accelerated beating of my heart and my interrupted breathing could calm down."
• But what made me raise my head was something else, what I heard Marchetti say:
• "I propose a deal here and now, I offer you twelve million for her, and I completely exempt you from any condition or proposal you signed when you won the bet." " the words of that mobster made me tremble, I looked at the idiot Marchetti with a mixed look of fury and fear, no way would I let the man who kidnapped me, ordered me to be drugged twice, while ordering them to touch my body to see if I was a virgin, who made me dress up as Andromeda, the goddess princess who was sacrificed by her father to save himself and his people, and tied to a rock with chains to be devoured by the monsters of Poseidon, a bit pathetic, but similar to what had truly happened to me these days. No, that man could not be my lover, I would rather die."
• The anxiety began to overwhelm me, thinking that I would end up in the hands of the pig Humberto Marchetti, any of those inside would be delighted, now I understood the hateful glances the others gave me, but for me, it was like a life sentence, I would never leave here, this world. The idea of going with the disturbing and attractive millionaire with golden hair and blue eyes suddenly became a necessity, but this no longer depended on me, for the first time it depended on someone else, who was not me, and honestly, I didn't like that.