Page 13 of Dark Surrender

They are, but I’m not in the mood to argue semantics. It doesn’t matter anyway.

Tucking my arms across my chest, I lean my hip against the dresser. “Isn’t she younger than you?” I ask, veering the subject to a place that’s sure to piss her off.

“They’re almost always younger than me, Max. You know this.”

“And that doesn’t bother you?”

“No.” Pen huffs, hugging the towels a little tighter to her chest. “They’re always nice to me, and if they weren’t, Daddy would break up with them sooner than he does.”

I can see that. Given how much they’re attached at the hip. She’s a daddy’s girl, through and through, which is why I’d never speak badly about her father in her presence. She can’t be trusted to keep it between us, and I know where I stand. I’m the husband, and even that’s a stretch.

“And the other associates coming…” I hedge.

“They’re bringing their girlfriends, too.”

Pressing my lips together, I nod, not liking the sound of this. “Mm. So, they’re coming for sex. Are we supposed to participate in their orgies?” Meeting Pen’s gaze, I wait for her to lay it out.

Out comes one of her annoyed sighs. “Max.”

“What?” I snap. “Don’t act like men like them don’t bring their arm candy along to show off, then share it with their buddies. That’s how this goes. What I’m askin’ you, which I should’ve asked before we got here, isn’t fuckin’ crazy, Pen. I don’t wanna spend the whole goddamn weekend seein’ a bunch of old dicks and wrinkly ball sacks fuckin’ girls young enough to be their granddaughters.”

Pen meets my ire with just as much heat. “You’re in your forties, Maxim. Don’t you think that’s a bit hypocritical, given the age of your assistant?”

The words, “go fuck yourself, bitch,” tingle on the tip of my tongue, but I rein them in. “No,” I grumble instead and clench my fists until my hands hurt. “I didn’t hire her, and I have no intention of parading her around… unless…”

Hold up.

“Penelope… Did you…”

She’d better not have.

Raising her head high and straightening her back, Penelope speaks to me like I’m a fucking moron. “Did. I. What?”

“Is that why you invited her?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Penelope, don’t play that bullshit with me. It doesn’t work.”

“She’s pretty.”

“And?”

“She’ll make you look good.”

“What the fuck does that even mean?”

“You know what it means, Max.”

I can’t believe this bitch.

“So, I’m fucking her. That’s the plan. Not some blowjob to take the edge off, but to actually fuck her.” I wasn’t down with her coming in the first place, knowing what she was here for, but this…

Christ.

“Yes. You are here to participate. I can’t be a part of that.”

“But I can?” I snarl.