AllFreeNovel
Share Us
‘You must need money very badly,’ he said abruptly. ‘If you were willing to sell yourself to me.’
‘Oh...I...um...yes.’ She folded her hands nervously in her lap.
‘To pay back all your medical debt?’
‘Um...partly.’ She folded her hands again. ‘Does that really matter?’
It didn’t, but he was curious. Because whatever the reason, it was important enough to her that she’d do something so obviously out of character as to wander into his lair.
You could use that.
Yes, he could. And he had no compunction about doing so, not when the lives of people taken by human traffickers were on the line.
Ignoring the question, he asked instead, ‘Why did you think I would choose you? Why did you think I would even pay you?’
‘That’s what the gossip magazines said and that you never sent a lover away empty-handed.’
‘It didn’t occur to you that they might lie?’
‘Of course.’ Her nervously shifting hands stilled and she looked at him. ‘But I thought it was worth trying.’ Something glowed in her eyes. Something he recognised: determination.
He liked that. He’d done a few things himself that were long shots, but he’d tried anyway, because he was determined. Because even though he’d found no trace of his sister in all the long years he’d been searching for her, he still wanted justice. To take down those responsible for her abduction.
Did this woman have a mission too? Perhaps he’d find out.
‘Indeed,’ he murmured. ‘And what would you have done if I didn’t pay you?’
Her expression became very serious. ‘I would have appealed to your better side.’
Humour that he didn’t have to force for once wound through him, and he smiled, because really, she was such an innocent. ‘You’re assuming I have a better side.’
‘Everyone has a better side, Mr Xenakis,’ she said in the same serious tone, her gaze holding his, dark and velvety and soft.
And he found himself wondering if she really believed that. If she could see past all the filth he’d buried himself in. See past the despair the years of false hope had given him. If she could see who he’d used to be before the mission had consumed his life, before he’d lost Ismena...
Then again, when hadn’t his mission consumed his life? Everything he’d done, every decision he’d made since he was fifteen years old, had been entirely about finding his sister.
Who even was he without it? Perhaps she knew, perhaps she could see. Perhaps this plain woman, this nobody, could tell him...
No, you need to get back on track. Forget about what you need, this is about justice for Ismena.
That was true. In which case he had plans for Miss Glory Albright.
She was a plain woman with an ordinary life, not a celebrity, not famous and very definitely not rich. And she could be exactly who he needed.
Yet, when he spoke, it wasn’t the proposition he’d intended that came out of his mouth, but something else instead. ‘Do you really believe that?’ he heard himself ask, his voice gone a little rough. ‘Do you really think everyone has a better side?’
She didn’t hesitate. ‘Of course. Some people’s are more hidden than others, but everyone has one.’ Her sharp little face suddenly softened, her mouth getting full and lush, and she smiled. ‘For example, yours is quite hidden, I think. But it’s there. It’s definitely there.’
He didn’t believe her, but he liked that she so obviously did.
She’s not for you, fool.
Oh, he knew that, not that he wanted her, of course. At least, not in that way. But he could definitely use her and he would.
Castor leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, hands clasped between them. ‘That’s good,’ he said. ‘Because I have a proposition for you.’
CHAPTER THREE
