Andre
I CAN’T BELIEVE I didn’t think of this sooner.
I almost smile as Paisley watches me with her wide blue eyes, clearly surprised.
But she doesn’t say a word. Doesn’t ask for any more information about what it is I want from her.
Doesn’t even want to know how I knew her name.
And that irritates me. “Don’t you want to ask me anything?”
She shifts in her seat again, dragging my attention down to where she wiggles against the chair, the fake leather of her pants making a tiny squeak with the movement. “I want more money.”
My eyes jump to her face. “You don’t even know what I want you to do yet.”
I assumed she was in Yvonne’s auction because she needed money, but I know for a fact she has well over fifty thousand dollars in her bank account, along with the extra two I gave her yesterday, so I’m surprised that she’s so eager to agree without any details.
Duchess, Paisley, lifts one shoulder in a shrug. “It doesn’t matter what it is.”
I study her, looking for some explanation. “I could ask you to do something awful.”
“I know.” She sounds resigned to the fact.
“Why do you need money so badly?” I’ve seen where she lives. I know she’s poor, was poor. Right now Paisley could easily move herself out of that place. Pay the rent on a new, nicer apartment for the next year.
But she hasn’t done that. She also didn’t immediately turn her phone back on, and she hasn’t missed a single shift serving at Platinum.
Most people would have already had new cell phones and quit their jobs.
“That’s none of your business.” Paisley’s chin lifts as she stares me down, managing to hold her own against me yet again. “How much more money will you give me?”
She’s not great at negotiation, which is fine because I’m not negotiating. “You don’t even know what I’m asking for. I could ask you to kill someone.” I straighten from the desk and move back toward the chair she’s sitting in. Paisley doesn’t seem to have any sense of self-preservation, and I want to know exactly how far she’s willing to go to get what she wants. “I could ask you to kidnap a child.” Her eyes barely narrow as I close in on her, as if she’s gauging my words, weighing them to see if they carry any truth. I lean in again, gripping the arms of the chair, moving close enough I can smell the scent of the club still clinging to her skin. “I could ask you to let me fuck that sweet ass of yours.”
She gasps at that, like I finally found something she wouldn’t have expected me to request.
Paisley licks her lips with a quick pass of her tongue that steals my attention. “You said you didn’t want to do things like that with me.”
She only questions the final possibility I offered, which is interesting.
“I said your virginity didn’t interest me, Duchess.” It didn’t. Still doesn’t. The fact that her pussy has never taken a cock is the least fascinating thing about her. “But I never said I didn’t want to fuck you.”
“That’s exactly what you said.” She doesn’t back down. “You literally said you weren’t going to,” she looks like the next word pains her to say, “fuck me.”
I know what I said. I don’t need her to remind me.
I lean in, testing her limits. “Are you telling me I’m wrong?”
I need to know that she can handle what I want from her. That Paisley can be what I need her to be.
Her hands are clenched tight in her lap but she doesn’t flinch at my nearness. “You’re wrong.”
So defiant.
“You should probably hope so.” I lean into her ear, letting my lips graze along it as I speak. “Because you’re going to be staying here with me.”
She suddenly leans away from me, her wide eyes snapping to my face. “I can’t stay here with you. I have to go home.”
The panic in her voice is unexpected.