“Nothing.”
Frantic, I glance at Brecken, my eyes practically bugging out of my head. “So much for integrity,” I remind him, my tone icy.
“Looks like you’re mistaken,” Reuben confirms, ignoring my comment. “So what’s it going to be?”
“Luca,” I plead.
He runs a hand through his hair, looking unfazed by the delay. By the negotiations. “What’s changed since last night?”
In theory, not much has changed since our card game. Hardly anything, in fact. Maybe there’s a quiet alarm bell ringing inside me announcing that this is a bad idea. What if I get caught? If I do get the promotion, I wanted to keep my head high and my reputation squeaky clean. That’s an impossibility if Luca reneges on his offer. “You made me promises.”
Luca regards me critically, but his voice is surprisingly tender when he says, “Your choice is to end the night here, and I tell Elias in intricate detail the many ways you took my cock since my arrival, or, we have a little fun tonight.”
I want to hate him, but it’s hard to find my ire when half of me wants what they’re offering, especially when I’m now remembering every delicious time with him. And he delivered his ultimatum sonicely, his voice calm but firm. But I can’t overlook that it was, nonetheless, an ultimatum.
“You promised me I wouldn’t lose my job.”
“You won’t.”
“I will if you say something.”
“Then don’t make me say something,” he returns confidently.
Fuck, he has me there. And it was so effortless on his part, watching me fall so easily into his trap. Surprised by my naïvety, I’m more annoyed by my lack of foresight. Frustrated, I glance towards Brecken again, hoping for some kind of interjection. Some kind of help. But he just settles into the sofa, looking at me as if I’m keeping him from tonight’s entertainment.
I guess I am.
But with my future hanging in the balance, I’m backed into a corner. “Perhaps my lawyer feels like helping his client out?” I hedge.
Brecken barely looks at me. “No money has been exchanged yet. And I’m busy at the moment.”
Asshole.
“Clothes off, Winter,” Reuben repeats. “And what happens in this cabin will never be shared.”
“And the promotion stands?”
Luca nods. “You have my word.”
“I’m not sure your word is all that spectacular,” I point out. “I thought you were better than this.”
“I’m a businessman.”
“Which means, what? I’m a transaction?”
“It makes you a commodity, precious and valuable,” he growls. “And it means I’ll fight dirty to get what I want. What we all want.”
His resolute statement replays over and over as I find myself incapable of looking away from his fierce expression. And I’m not going to lie; his words destroy any ill thoughts I’d been harboring, the fraught conversation flying out of my head. It decimates any doubts I had about my role here. Of their interest in me.
There’s no point trying to prove I have any kind of restraint. And while I knew I could easily walk out of here, I want the new job more. I want to be Luca’s precious commodity, a thing he can’t live without.
Uncurling my legs from behind me on the couch, I stand, my hands lifting to the hem of my shirt. Slowly, I lift it over my head, shaking my hair out.
“C’mere,” Reuben instructs softly.
I round the table, tremors running through me. Reuben’s eyes drink me in with every slow step. “Good girl,” he rasps. His eyes drop, taking in my breasts covered in midnight blue lace. “You’re important to all of us, remember that when we get difficult and demanding.”
A smile breaks free at the understatement.Difficult.And even though I wish I was stronger-willed, my mind diverts to Brecken. Am I important to him too?