Page 43 of Outfoxed

One of the younger men, who might have bordered on being handsome if he bothered to smile instead of scowl all the time, sighed and took the card. “I will take care of this for you, Mr. Moretti.”

“We’ll be waiting.” Sandro pushed back the sleeve of his pristine shirt to check his watch. “I have a rather important meeting in Asylum in two hours, so if this could be handled by then, I would be appreciative, otherwise I’ll have to notify Mr. Mansfield why I’m late for my appointment.”

The entire lot of them stiffened, and I resisted the urge to sniff for smoke, as only fire or destruction of some form tended to get an entire group of people to move like they meant it.

I wanted to know exactly how Sandro knew the mastermind behind Asylum and why a bounty hunter had a meeting with him.

Who, exactly, was Sandro Flores Moretti?

Once the one left to do Sandro’s bidding, he said, “I need a blank copy of the private uncontested courtesan agreement, the current pricing regulations for the agreement, and any forms required to process the filing fees. Once I have that, I’ll need a private office to discuss the matter with Miss Tamrin.”

The old men tripped over themselves to do as Sandro told them, and he waited until they disappeared down the hall and around a corner before he rolled his eyes. “Useless political scumsuckers.”

“Those were politicians?”

“Not even. They’re hopefuls wanting to garner endorsements with Mansfield. They’re allowed to be in Asylum, but they have no true power with any of the ministers or influencers.”

“And you do?”

“Yes.”

“But you’re a bounty hunter.”

“On the side. Consider it an entertaining hobby. Your contract brought me into the Alley, but my position elsewhere, and my magic, makes me welcome among the powerful in most places. My mother is a force of nature, and only fools cross her. I’m not yet sure what I’m going to do about that bounty, but once I have your signature on an uncontested courtesan agreement, I’ll be able to crash any parties in the East and have a full claim on you. The only problem is if your sale is finalized in the East before I can crash the party should another bounty hunter get his or her hands on you. I’m looking into how I can counter that bounty altogether. The primary contact, unfortunately, is anonymous.”

“You don’t even know who is hiring you?”

“I don’t have a clue. We don’t usually care who is hiring us when there’s that much money on the line. Top-tier bounty hunters, such as myself, might even be paid bonuses if you sell well.”

“I do not find this at all amusing.”

“And you shouldn’t. It would be rather odd if you liked the idea of being sold off.”

“Yet you’re participating in it.”

“Well, I didn’t think you’d just say yes if I suggested you marry me at my whim.”

I stared at him. “Are you saying uncontested courtesans are how useless people force somebody to marry them because their personalities are so shitty they can’t convince someone to fall in love with them properly?”

Sandro bowed his head and sighed. “Essentially, I am.”

“And parents are so convinced their children are so shitty as people they buy husbands and wives for them that might not be useless to help take over the family so the whole thing doesn’t fall apart?”

“I will pay you a great deal of money to tell that to my mother,” Sandro admitted. “But yes, essentially.”

“And the uncontested courtesans are supposed to be happy with being high-priced babysitters of useless rich people?”

“You have teeth, and I see you enjoy biting.”

What sort of world did Sandro live in when he wasn’t playing at being a hot as hell bounty hunter out for my head? “Were you expecting anything else from someone who has lived in the outskirts of Tulsa for years?”

“When you phrase it that way, I absolutely should not have expected anything else.”

“Are you always this much of an idiot or has the Alley finally gotten to you?”

He snorted. “Let’s go with a mix of both.”

“Well, I can’t fault you for going the uncontested courtesan route despite how disgusting that system is. The odds of me randomly agreeing to marry some stranger of a bounty hunter who is out for my living head is pretty close to zero.”