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“True. Children and wives are bad investments, so I’ve made it a point not to.” A choice I’m proud of.
A myriad of emotions cross Andie’s features at what I’ve said, all too difficult to read. Her mouth opens and shuts, as if she can’t figure out what she’d like to say, and in the end, chooses to say nothing at all.
Since I seem to have left her speechless, I’m the one that talks. “I’ve told you what I want from you. If you need money to make it happen, you obviously know where to get some.” I point in the direction of my bedroom. “And if you need more than you’ve already stashed in my closet, I’ll provide it.”
“And after that?”
“After that,” I shrug. “I’ll give you a good reference. I’m sure you can assume keeping your employment here after what you’ve done is out of the question.”
Her jaw tics and she looks from the door to me, as if she’s weighing her options. Pay me my due, or try to run.
“Don’t,” I warn her and her head snaps back to me.
In my world, bigger men than her have attempted to cheat me. Some in the casinos, others in the more dirtier side of my business. They’ve all paid a price.
“You usually get what you want?” she asks.
“Always.”
“Just like that, you’re blackmailing me into sleeping with you. Only bad men do that shit.”
“I never claimed to be anything else.” I stand and go to crouch behind her, leaning in close to inhale the scent of that maddening pony tail. Strawberries and vanilla invade my nostrils, seeping into my fucking soul, and I shut my eyes for a moment to savor it fully. “Since it’s clear you didn’t know your mark, I’m going to tell you who I am so that you never make the same mistake again. I’m a bad man, Miss Burrows. I’m a man that killed for a living. But I never stole a damn thing. That’s where I draw the line. I hate thieves.”
Without looking at me, she says, “Taking a life is stealing.”
“Not if belongs to me.”
“Interesting logic.” She turns her head slightly, her face coming dangerously close to mine. My gaze drops to her mouth. I want to kiss her now, forget getting her consent, just take what I want.
She must see the heat building inside me. “You have strange morals. You don’t steal, but take lives. You blackmail me into paying for my offense with my body, but won’t just rape me and take what you want because you consider it stealing. Is that what it is?”
“Exactly.”
I move nearer, bringing my mouth within inches of hers. Her rapid pants fan across my face and heat me further. But she doesn’t pull back and I don’t go closer.
“What will it be, Miss Burrows? Is a week of pleasure worth your freedom?”
Swallowing hard, she whispers, “A week of your pleasure, you mean.”
“Nothing would make me come harder than the sight of you writhing beneath me, falling apart. Begging me for more. And I want to come again and again, so...” Unable to resist myself, I reach for her hair and wrap the silken strands around my hand. “What will it be, Andie?”
Abruptly, she turns her face away and stands, pulling her hair from my palm.
“I accept.”
4
ANDIE
Gavin, as he asked me to call him from now on, gives me one hour to get my shit together. Fucking asshole. It takes me more than twenty minutes on a good day just to drive home. Not only do I have to pack, but I also have to make sure Lola is taken care of.
My chest tightens as I think of not seeing her for an entire week, of not holding her or hearing her chatter or laughter. The only ray of sunshine in my life will be kept from me.
It wasn’t a lie when I told Gavin I have no family. Dad died when I was two, or so my mother claimed. She abandoned me when I was fourteen, not giving a damn about what happened to me. At least she left me a letter to let me know not to expect her back.
I never met my grandparents. There’s an aunt in Arizona, but if she’s anything like Mom was, I’m better off alone.
Alone. All of my life I’ve been on my own, even when Mom was around. It was because of my own wits that I managed to stay alive, if it can even be called living. No one helped me. I wouldn’t accept it after experiencing the tough consequences of trusting the wrong person.
