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“Yes,” Mr. Elliott agreed with obvious annoyance.
“Then there’s a chance that person saw you approach us this evening. Which is not in and of itself unusual. But if I cancel the contract, it’s going to alert them that something is wrong. Which you do not want.”
“And why is that?”
“Because then you risk them moving the entire operation, making it more difficult to locate them. As I said, I have the resources to ferret this person out for you. And right now, I have a money trail to follow. If they catch wind of your investigation, however, and shut everything down…”
“We lose the one good lead we have,” Mr. Elliott said with a sigh.
“Exactly.”
“So what exactly do you propose? Because allowing Charlotte to go through with the contract isn’t an option.”
“You pay me what I paid for the lovely Charlotte, and we call it even. I will put my best men on the trail of your auctioneer and send you whatever information we are able to find.”
“In exchange for…?”
Master O grinned, and Lottie was hit with the sudden realization that the tiger was even more lethal than she’d given him credit for. “A favor. The next time I bring a girl to your club, you approve her membership, no questions asked.”
“No. I can’t do that. I won’t risk the other members by skipping the vetting process.”
“I’m not asking you to. I am simply asking you to not interfere, regardless of how you may feel about the woman I choose.”
A muscle jumped in Mr. Elliott’s jaw, as if he were holding himself back from saying something he might regret. “As long as she is of legal age and can pass the background checks and vetting process, I won’t interfere again.”
“Excellent. It’s settled, then. You’ll pay me the four hundred thousand and change, and I’ll mark the transaction as complete. Charlotte will get her money and you’ll have your auctioneer in hand by the end of the week.”
Relief flooded Lottie’s system and she drained her glass before pushing to her feet. “Sounds like you boys have it all figured out. It was a pleasure doing business with you.”
“Not so fast, little girl.” Mr. Elliott snagged her arm as she tried to walk past him. Dark eyes locked with hers, and her stomach jumped at the determination in his gaze. “You have a contract to fulfill.”
* * *
BRADEN
Watching Charlotte’s pupils go wide with that little hint of fear in the ever-changing gray of her eyes sent a thrill through him he hadn’t felt in a long while. “You want me to… with you?” Her voice rose to a squeak at the end of her question.
“Absolutely not. But you have a debt to pay off, and tonight you’re going to start paying it off by going over my knee for a long lesson about putting yourself in unnecessary danger.”
“Don’t forget the lying,” Killian added cheerfully.
“Ah, yes. I think a few minutes in the corner with a bar of soap in your mouth will cure any desire you have to lie to your new co-workers in the future.”
“My co-workers?”
“Yes. You’ll be working here, at the club’s starting wage of eighteen dollars an hour, until your debt has been paid off.”
“Ugh.” Her lip pulled up in a sneer. “I’d rather just let you fuck me.”
“Oh, little girl.” Pulling her close, he gave into the urges that had been riding him ever since he’d seen those pictures of her on the auctions site and gripped her face in his hand, forcing her head back. “You say that because you think it would be the easy way out. But I am not an easy man, Charlotte. If I demanded that you fulfilled the original terms of your contract, you would not be allowed out of my bed until I’d left my mark on every inch of your body. I would hurt you, not just because you’ve been a very naughty girl, but because I enjoy hurting pretty little things like you.”
Her breath hitched and every instinct he had was spurring him on, telling him to take and conquer. “You wouldn’t,” she whispered.
“I absolutely would, little girl. You may have known me nearly all your life, but I can promise you know nothing about the man I truly am.”
“Christ, Braden. Ease up a bit there. You’re even starting to scare me.”
Killian’s flippant remark jerked Braden out of the desire-induced fog that had seemed to invade his brain and back to the present. Releasing his hold on Charlotte, Braden stepped back and adjusted his suit jacket so his hands had something to do that he wouldn’t regret in the morning. “Right. Well, if we want this to look legitimate, Killian can’t leave alone. I suggest the three of us leave together, give whoever is running this bullshit show the impression we’ll be spending the night together. We’ll split off around the corner, Killian can go home, and I’ll take Charlotte back to my house to deal with her… discipline.”
