I let that sink in. This girl is a pampered middle-class college graduate with a bruised face and a self-esteem problem, and she’s looking at me like she’d rather stab me in the chest than work with me, and yet I like that spark, it means there’s something inside of her yearning to get out. I’m not sure what that thing is—whether it’s good for her or not—but I’m curious enough about her to want to find out more.
And it doesn’t hurt that I find her attractive. It doesn’t hurt that I like watching her walk, watching her swim, watching her lounge on my couch in a light-weight crop top that shows off her smooth belly and the bottoms of her breasts. That’s dangerous and might be a problem later on—but right now, I like it.
“All right, Adrienne. You want to do this? Then you’ll accept my rules.”
Her eyebrows raise. “What rules?”
“You work for me. That means when I tell you to do something, you do it, no whining, no complaining. No second-guessing or hesitating. Understand?”
She nods once. “I understand. What else?”
“You will tell nobody about my work with Reina unless they are actively involved.”
“Done. What else?”
“You are mine.” I push off the counter and enjoy the surprise that slips across her face. “All of you is mine. From the second you wake up to the second you put your head down on my pillow, you are mine, and I will do with you what I please. Do you understand?”
She chews her lip and I wonder if she understands the implication—but I’m not being subtle. I don’t want subtlety right now.
I want her to be afraid.
I want her scared out of her mind—because maybe then she’ll make the right decision and run the hell away from me.
I’m not the kind of man she wants or needs. Adrienne needs someone that can take care of her, that can pick up her pieces and put them back together. She’s been through some horrible shit and I know she’s hurting badly. I can see it in the way she moves, the way she speaks, the way she flinches at loud noises. The Russians broke her and she needs someone loving and caring and gentle to help coax her back into herself.
Someone to reconnect her puzzle pieces.
I’m not that man. I’m not loving and I’m not gentle. If she lets me, I’ll take everything she has to offer and I’ll be greedy for more.
If this girl were smart, she’d run the hell away.
“All right, Peter,” she says quietly and bites her thumbnail. “I can agree to all that. But I have my own terms.”
“And what are they?”
“No more hiding things from me. No more kid gloves. No more tip-toeing around. If I’m going to be involved, I’m your partner. I want to know what’s going on. And I want to get paid.”
“Done. No secrets between us, baby girl. And let’s say five thousand per week to start, but I’ll make sure you earn it.”
She turns away and I admire her neck, her strong back, the slope of her shoulders. “I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?”
“Only if you’re smart.”
She walks away and disappears down the hall back to her room. I watch her go, wondering how the hell I’m going to survive this, and whether or not she’s going to make it to the other side with me.
Chapter6
Adrienne
The club’s music is loud and pounding. The bouncers lift the red rope and let me and Peter pass without more than a cursory glance and a curious stare. The other people waiting outside shout in Greek and I have to assume they’re cursing at the bouncer for letting us cut in line, but I push them out of my mind. It’s not like I can understand them anyway.
Peter’s wearing a sleek black suit and he looks like a man that knows his way around a club like this. Loafers, no tie, tattoos peeking out from every inch of his skin, his dark hair slicked back, his intense eyes roaming. There’s a bulge in his waistband and I know it’s a gun. I cling to his arm, feeling his muscle, if only to make sure we’re not separated in the crowd. I don’t want to touch him like this, but he made it clear that I’m to act like his date tonight.
“Stay close,” he says, putting one hand on the small of my back and speaking into my ear. “This is Balaska’s place.”
“Isn’t he on our side?”
His smile suggests I have a lot to learn.