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“What the fuck do you want?” I’m shocked by the vehemence in my tone. The hurt of being rejected by Matthew and seeing those pictures of me fuels the impotent rage I’ve felt for years. That rage now has a target, and it’s Damon.
He lets out a burst of laughter. “My, oh my, you have changed my pet.”
“Listen, asshole, tell our girl why you’re here, then get the fuck out of our club,” Kisten barks. My heart swells when he refers to me as ‘our girl’ only to pop like a balloon when I remember the look on Matthew’s handsome face just before I came down here.
Damon has a huge shit-eating grin spread across his face. He thinks he has the upper hand. He’s so obvious in his over-confidence. He thinks the results of his little visit are predetermined, so there’s no reason for doubt.
“It’s rather unfortunate, really,” Damon says with fake sincerity. “You see, it turns out that our dear little Rose isn’t in a position to give herself over to me. She has a Master already.” His words turn my blood cold in my veins. He’s talking about Mr. Perfect. “Don’t you, pet?”
Kisten steps up close to Damon, getting in his face. “What’s that supposed to mean?” His body is tightly coiled violence just waiting to be unleashed at the slightest provocation.
I put a calming hand on his arm, drawing his attention. “He means that someone already thinks they own me and that they want me back.”
A look of confusion flashes through his brown eyes as he studies my face seeking answers. “Who?”
“Nelson Grant,” Matthew answers shortly as he walks into the room, his face a mask of hatred and disgust. “Our foster father. Otherwise known as Mr. Perfect.”
“Fuck me.” Is Kisten’s only response. He obviously knows about Mr. Perfect, at least what Matthew knows of him.
Damon gets a satisfied evil villain type look on his face. “How interesting. I’m sure Mr. Perfect, as you call him, will be thrilled to know that two of his wayward children are right here in New York City.”
“We are not his children,” Matthew says with so much vehemence I flinch. “He was a real bastard of a man back when he took us in and based on those photographs, he was even more of a monster than I ever gave him credit for being.” Contempt drips from every word as Matthew paces the room.
“Well, I know he’s going to be more than interested in knowing how successful you turned out. It seems he’s run into a bit of bad luck these days. Apparently, his best girl ran out on him just before one of her most important clients were scheduled, and these clients don’t take kindly to being refused something they want.”
With every word from Damon’s mouth, a little of the bravado I carry diminishes. I know what clients he’s talking about. They’re one of the reasons I ran when I did. My sanity wouldn’t survive another session with them. I shove the thoughts back into the deepest recesses of my mind. Refusing to let myself fall into those memories. They are done and over with. Even if Matthew doesn’t want me anymore, I’m not going back no matter what it takes.
“Yep, a bit of back luck,” Damon says conversationally. “Seems he came here to look for a new set of girls and guess what he finds?” He turns his gleeful gaze to me. “His favorite girl. Right here, hiding out in the easiest place to disappear. Of course, it didn’t take him long to realize you’d be looking for a new identity, especially after he almost caught up to you in Kansas City. All it took was that pretty little thing he has with him going to a few of the shelters to come across my name.”
The smile on his face makes my stomach turn. I’m not sure how I missed the evil that radiates off him in waves. When I first met him, he seemed like any other businessman. Powerful, wealthy, and charming. What a damn lie that is. He’s the kind of evil that would sell his own child if it would get him ahead.
“I do have to say I was pretty shocked when I saw those pictures of you. You seem so uptight and prude. If I had known how you really liked it, I would’ve skipped easing you into things. My new friend has promised me a night I’ll never forget as soon as he has you back home.” Damon licks his lips, looking me up and down. “I can’t wait to fuck you better than you’ve ever been fucked before. I’m going to make you scream.”
Matthew growls and lunges at Damon. Thankfully, Kisten is quicker, and in a move so fast I don’t see, he has Matthew pinned to the wall. He talks to him quietly for a moment, and the fire starts dimming from Matthew’s eyes. He nods at whatever Kisten is saying, then pushes away from him heading straight for me.
I stare at him like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming car. Frozen. Unable to move to save my life, or in this case, my heart. I’m jarred from my frozen state when Matthew pulls me roughly into his arms holding me tight. So much is communicated in this silent moment between us. His breath hitches and if I didn’t know any better, I would swear he’s crying, but when he pulls away his eyes are dry.
“I’m so sorry, love,” he says, shaking his head. “I didn’t know.”
I wrap my arms around his waist, wanting to rewind time. Wishing I could go back and snatch that envelope from Kisten’s hands before Matthew could see. I never wanted him to know about that part of my past. It’s one thing to know that I was forced to be a whore; it’s another thing altogether to see exactly what that entailed. More than anything right now, I want to crawl inside a dark hole and disappear.
Kisten lets us have our moment, stepping in to get to the bottom of why exactly Damon is here. “Cut to the chase, Damon. What the fuck do you want?”
“Ah, I do love a good negotiation. You see, Mr. Grant has offered me any woman at his disposal for the duration of her contract. Plus, after, I get a real taste of your girl… I’m not really good at waiting for what I want. I’ll politely decline Mr. Grant’s offer in exchange for a night with Rose.”
Matthew’s entire body becomes a mass of tightly coiled rage. I snuggle myself closer to him, unsure if I’m trying to comfort him or myself… maybe both. “Never.”
“One night is a single blip on the radar. One night and you’ll never hear from me again.” He shrugs dismissively. “Or I can tell daddy dearest where is favorite girl is hiding and let him come for you. Your choice.”
Matthew laughs darkly. “You act like you have the upper hand here. You dare to come into my house making demands and threats? Why the fuck would I ever make a bargain with you when my connections run as deep as yours? Deeper even.”
“So cocky. Do you really think you and your rag-tag team can keep her safe? I didn’t take you for a fool, Bennett.”
“Fuck you,” Matthew growls. The ferocity in his tone sends a shiver down my spine. If it were anyone else, I would be afraid, but this is Matthew and he’d never hurt me.
“Suit yourself,” Damon says with a smug smile as he meanders out of the room.
Matthew turns to me and cups my cheek. I close my eyes and rest my face against his comforting touch. “You okay, love?” All the anger and threat are gone from his voice. He’s once again my hero. Sweet and gentle.
