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He shakes his head. “What did you expect?”
I loosen the robe, unclasp the bra, shrug out of it, and drop it on the table between us. It’s for show, like most things in this game. His eyes follow, as I knew they would. He may feel disdain where I’m concerned, but he is a man, after all. Plus, he never knows what else I might be hiding, or what else I might whip out unexpectedly. “I’ve landed the last three. I’ve done what you asked…and for what? For you to show up here and throw one mistake in my face?”
He stands abruptly and breaches the invisible border the coffee table has set. As he reaches across, I brace myself.
I feel the reverberation of his hand smacking my face well before the pain comes. Like most things with him, it’s not immediate.
“That was more than what you call a mistake. That was thirty-seven million dollars,” he says, referring to Marcia Louis. I could have just sent that video, and everything would be different right now. And yet, nothing would. That’s the irony.
Eventually, his eyes fall to the table. There’s more bothering him than the fact that I’ve come here on my own accord. “You think your tricks work on me?”
“No.”
“Apparently, they don’t work on anyone.”
“You’re right.” You learn quick when you know what kind of punishment is on the line. “Please,” I plead. “I can do whatever you want. Whatever you need…”
“Whatever I need. That’s cute.” When his eyes meet mine, they are no longer troubled; they are crazed. I watch as he pulls a syringe from his pocket, holds it toward the light, and narrows his eyes. “Less messy this way.”
“I can fix this, Adam,” I beg. “I know I can.”
“If only I believed you.”
“Fine,” I offer, playing my last good card. “If you want to lose this one—that’s your call.” I fold my hands neatly in my lap. “I trust you know what’s best.”
He smirks. I can see he doesn’t believe me. “Oh, it won’t be me on the losing end, sweetheart. You know better than that.”
A hard knot settles in my stomach, the culmination of a lot of hard work and the defeat I know is coming. The room grows so quiet there’s nothing left but the pulse thumping through my ears. “What is it?” I ask, eyeing the syringe. They like to mix it up. Or so I’ve heard.
“Just a little something to paralyze the larynx. Takes about ninety seconds. Probably won’t be much suffering involved. A pity, really. It’s his own drug, ironically…but then you didn’t know that, did you? Had no idea what you were really messing with…”
My eyes study the grooves in the carpet.
“Figures,” he scoffs. “You really should be a little more careful. You’re in a business where there’s no room for secrets.”
My eyes meet his. “Guess I got lucky.”
“You got the opposite of lucky.”
Bile burns the back of my throat. I swallow it down like all the other things I’ve been forced to swallow.
I should be thinking about an exit strategy. Instead, my mind is filled with the man lying in the next room. Sleeping now, relaxed. Happy, even. Maybe. I’ve never met anyone like you, he’d whispered, just moments before he dozed off, moments before the text came. I think of his hands on my body. Such smooth hands. Hurried hands. Desperate, seeking hands.
“Funny, isn’t it?” His voice catches my attention. His gaze drifts over the length of my body, lingering. “How money can buy pretty much anything.”
“I don’t find it so funny.” I shift and then I make a move to stand. He raises his hand to halt any progress I might make.
“Tell you what…you go lie on the bed and spread your legs, and when I’m done with you, I’ll think about giving you another week.”
“No.” This is his way of testing me. He doesn’t have to make deals if he wants me on my back.
“Guess you can’t complain then.” He smiles. “This is on you.”
I’ve passed his test.
He stuffs the syringe in his left pocket, and I realize this isn’t one of his usual threats. Regardless of how much talking he’s doing, he isn’t bluffing. He’s come here, personally, to teach me a lesson. It’s going to hurt, I know.
But there’ll always be the next job, the next lesson: Work harder. Faster. He thinks his punishment will make me more efficient. But then, he knows little of seduction. He only deals in fear.
