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He chuckles, but it’s not a friendly laugh. It’s more… menacing. “I don’t care about that, Charlie.”
“Oh.” I blink at him. “That’s good. Because I would be an asset to your practice. I’m diligent and have an excellent eye for detail, and I’m dedicated to ensuring a positive outcome for all of my clients.”
He leans forward. “Let me be frank, here. You need a job. I’m willing to give you one. Under certain conditions.”
I have a bad feeling about this, but what if I’m reading it wrong? What if I bolt out of here and lose the only chance I’ve had at finding a legitimate job because I acted prematurely?
“What conditions?”
He smirks at me. “Some… entertainment, so to speak.”
I lean away from him, my back pressing against the chair. My pulse is thundering in my ears. “What kind of entertainment?”
“Oh, come on, Charlie. Don’t be obtuse. You know what I mean.” His eyes darken, narrowing at me. “I’ll give you a job, and in return, you’ll perform certain… favors for me.”
Shit. It’s exactly what I thought.
Anger and despair slam into me in equal measures. So much fury that I’m being treated like this again. And the crushing disappointment that goes along with it.
I need to leave. “No thank you,” I say, gritting my jaw so I don’t burst into tears or scream at him. I start to get up from my seat, but he looms over me, forcing me back.
He looks at me incredulously, then bursts out laughing. “Are you kidding me?”
Forcing my voice steady, I meet his gaze. “No. I’m not. And I’m leaving.”
“Oh, that’s hilarious.” But his laughter cuts off abruptly, a shadow crossing his face. “You think you’re too good for me?”
My heart starts hammering, and I’m a second away from yelling for Rylan, but I don’t want to make a scene. I just want to get out of here. “No. It’s not that. It’s just not for me. So I’m leaving.”
He keeps coming toward me, and my uneasiness turns to full-fledged fear. “Leave me alone.”
His expression goes blank, and for a second, I think it worked. He’s going to back off.
Then he grabs me.
“Stop playing, Charlie,” he hisses, his formerly pleasant face darkly dangerous. And he slams his mouth down on mine.
His tongue jabs at me, wet and slithering.
One hand grabs my breast, pinching and twisting.
I’m scared and furious. So I bite him. Then I scream as loud as I can.
He snarls at me, “You bitch!” and smacks me across the face. Pain explodes in my cheek, sending flashes of color across my vision.
I scrabble away from him, knocking over the chair, tripping over it. I’m on my knees, cheek throbbing and knees burning, Mark reaching for me, cursing, and I scream for Rylan again.
Then the door flies open, and Rylan is there. As he sees me on the floor, his expression shifts from dangerous to incandescent with rage. His eyes go black and he leaps over me, snarling, slamming Mark against the desk.
“No one will believe you,” Mark yells from underneath Rylan. “You’re just a little slut. No one will believe you.”
My heart shrinks, turning to a tiny ball of ice.
He’s right. Even if I call the police on him, no one will believe me.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
RYLAN
