“So, you had something for me?” I ask, pretending I don’t notice my own voice shaking in his presence.
“Oh?” He cocks a brow at me as he hands me the boozy concoction.
“The ne-necklace,” I remind him, flushing. I hate how weak I am in his presence.
“Oh, right.” He shrugs. “It’s gotta be around here somewhere. You should help me look for it later. After we’re done.”
“After we’re...” I knit my brows together, staring at him. “Done with that?”
I take a sip of the drink as he winks at me.
“Come on, Willa, don’t play dumb.”
“Dumb? I don’t get it.” I stare at him, wide-eyed. “What’s this about?”
“Come on, Willa. You don’t think it’s coincidence we met tonight, do you?”
“You...” I glare at him my fingers tightening around the tumbler in my hand. “You followed me?”
He pulls his phone out of his pocket and types something. A moment later, my phone pings with a message.
From the guy I was supposed to meet tonight. The one I thought stood me up.
Don’t pretend you didn’t know it was me all along.
My mouth drops in shock. I never thought he’d do this. Take advantage of me like this. And he’s given me so much money... I have an obligation to him now. I promised him something. And now he’s going to take it. Just like he did when I was a kid.
“N-No.” The glass drops from my hand, the carpet under my feet softening the fall as the liquid seeps into it.
“No?” He laughs, cocking his head to the side again. “You never used to say no, sweet thing.”
There’s his nickname for me again, the one I always fucking hated. I want to kick him. I want to spit in his face and tell him he ruined my life. That I’m still too broken to tell anyone what he did to me. Even Dove or Nox, who would surely hunt him down and punish him.
“Don’t call me that,“ I whisper.
He just laughs at me, knowing he holds all the power. He’s still older, stronger, and smarter. And I’m still just a fuck-up.
“What are you going to do about it, sweet thing?”
Chapter 8
Raphael
It’s another long evening of me waiting in my office for the call that Willa is here.
But the call doesn’t come. Instead, my assistant buzzes through the phone saying, “Mr. Santino? Dylan here to see you.”
Instantly, I perk up, sitting up straighter in my chair. I’m excited for this.
Through the door, my apprentice, Dylan walks into the room. He’s in his early thirties – a kid by my standards. His nearly black hair is short and chopped into a fashionable cut, and a thin layer of stubble covers his chin. I’ve seen girls melt at the sight of him. I hope Willa wasn’t one of them.
Dylan takes his seat across from me at my desk. “Good news, boss.”
“Oh yeah?” I get up, pouring us both drinks. “What did you find out?”
“I found out just what a bad girl Willa Canterbury Miller is,” he smirks. “And I have the photos to prove it.”
My balls tingle and my dick twitches at the thought of seeing a picture of Willa. I can never have enough. I could stare at her for hours. No other woman has elicited this kind of response from my dick. Or my heart, but that’s another fucking story.
Still, it bothers me how Dylan speaks about Willa. I’m the only one who’s allowed to talk about her that way.
“Show me.” I lean forward, setting down his drink and sitting back at my desk. He slides over a manila envelope and I cut into it with a letter opener. Photos pour out, photos of my Willa. “How did you get these?”
“One of her friends turned twenty-one,” Dylan smirks. “I got into the venue and pretended to be the private photographer. You know, the one nobody hired. And the one that only took photos of the gorgeous Willa.”
I slam my fist onto the table and Dylan throws me a surprised look. I’m calm and collected, fucking always. But apparently not when it comes to Willa.
“What’s wrong, boss?”
“Watch your mouth,” I hiss at him, making his surprise double. “Don’t talk about her that way. She’s just a target to you, not someone you get familiar with. Got it?”
“Got it,” he laughs after a short pause. “No worries, boss. Take a look at the photos, please. I have a nice video here, too.” He places a flash drive on my desk.
It doesn’t escape me that he’s now acting impersonal about the situation, and my smile softens in response. I knew I did the right thing by giving this young man a chance and a job.
I look through the photos, trying to fight my erection and miserably failing. “When was this?”
“Three days ago.”
Three days ago. After Willa had promised to visit me in my office. So, this is what my trouble gets up to when she’s supposed to be on her knees, sucking my cock. My fist tightens around the photo, crumpling it. The next second I’m trying to flatten it out again, not wanting to damage anything with her image on it.