Chapter Three
Yasmin woke up on an incredibly soft but unfamiliar bed. She opened her eyes to slits, eying the sunlight peering from the partially closed curtains. Like the curtains, the bedsheets she lay on were black. She fingered the fabric, which felt silky to the touch. Certainly nothing she could afford.
She rubbed at her eyes, glad to be woken up from her nightmare. Then she noticed she wasn’t alone. Yasmin sat up, swallowing as she looked down. No clothes. She always slept in one of her comfy big tees, never naked. Yasmin silently checked herself. No aches or pains. What just happened?
“You’re finally awake,” said the same voice that had haunted her nightmare.
A quick look around the space told her this wasn’t her bedroom. Clean lines. Almost spartan furniture. The curtains and bedsheets contrasted with the white walls and marble flooring. A collection of guns lined one side of the wall, next to the giant TV. More decorated the wall next to the big desk with the laptop. Black and white, unlike the room’s owner, who only saw shades of gray.
Yasmin finally found the courage to look at the man sitting on the armchair facing the bed. Her father, heck, most of the people in the city, painted the kingpin as a monster. Carver had positioned the chair far from the window, seemingly choosing to remain cloaked in the shadows, but Yasmin could make out his huge outline just fine.
“You’re real,” she whispered, suddenly feeling self-conscious about her body.
Yasmin tugged the comforter higher. That only made him chuckle. She furiously blushed, recalling the words she’d hurled at him out of desperation.I’m yours.Horror flooded her, and excitement. That last emotion made her wary. Aside from that one meeting years ago, Carver was a complete stranger. He was also a name parents whispered to keep their children in bed at nights.
“Very real,” he agreed. “Did you wish it was all a dream, angel? Did you forget that offered yourself in exchange for that bastard?”
“No, I didn’t forget.”
She raised her chin. If he thought he could intimidate her, he’d soon find out she was no pushover. Yet, hadn’t she entertained the notion of submitting to him in bed?God.Everything was so confusing. Any normal person would be begging for their lives by now or finding the nearest exit routes. Maybe she was really born with a kind of wrongness.
“How long have you been watching me?” she asked when he didn’t say anything else.
“Long enough.” He rose to his feet, and she shrank back against the headboard, heart thumping. Carver looked so much bigger than she thought. Yasmin wasn’t a small woman, yet she looked tiny compared to him. He sat on the edge of the bed, not touching her. No suit this time, but Carver looked good in a pair of worn in jeans and a plain black shirt. “Are you afraid of me?”
“Who wouldn’t be in my position?” she fired back.
“I don’t like people who go back on their deals.”
“I believe you,” she said in a whisper.
“There’s no reason to fear me, especially if you keep your word, Yas. Tell me, are you regretting your decision now?”
“I—I don’t know,” she admitted. “My dad?”
“Back home, but you? You’ll be staying with me. One of my men accompanied your father and will be bringing all your belongings here.”
“You can’t just make decisions like that,” she blurted unthinkingly.
Carver laughed. “It’s been a long time since anyone said what I can and cannot do.”
Recalling how Carver nearly choked her father to death for suggesting Carver take her to pay all his debts off, she bit her lower lip.
“Never forget. You sold yourself to me to save a useless piece of trash.”
“Are you going to remind me of that little fact every single time we’re together?”
Carver inched closer, switched from the edge of the bed to the empty space next to her. He reached out, and she didn’t draw back as he cupped her burning cheek.
“No, but I’m going to prove to you that was the best decision you ever made in your entire life.”
She turned her head away, and he stopped touching her. Yasmin tensed, thinking he’d instantly roll on top of her and force her, except Carver didn’t do any of those things. “Coming back to this city was the worst choice I ever made. If I didn’t come back to help my dad, none of this would have happened.”
“Don’t say that, angel.” Carver regarded her for a long time, but she didn’t miss the way he eyed her body under the sheets.
Yasmin’s nipples tightened to points, her pussy grew wet, and she was so glad for the comforter. She didn’t know why it made her entire body flush. When Anatoli and his guys looked at her, she felt nothing but revulsion and fear. Somehow, when Carver looked at her, she felt warm all over. She clutched at the fabric, wondering what in hell’s name this man was doing to her.
Yasmin never reacted like this to the other men she dated, those who only saw tits and hips. To them, she was only good enough for a quick fuck but not good enough to be seen in public, but Carver looked at her like some kind of grand prize, a treasure he didn’t want to let go of.Damn.She must really have a loose screw somewhere.