Total pages in book: 73
Estimated words: 72308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 72308 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 362(@200wpm)___ 289(@250wpm)___ 241(@300wpm)
I waited for him to speak first because I honestly had no idea what to say.
He didn’t say a damn thing.
I remembered I was the one who was supposed to earn the client, so I blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “I’m Camille.”
He wore a look on his face, as if he was saying, Go on.
“I’ve been out of the game for a while…”
“Doing what?”
“A long-term contract.” My relationship with Cauldron was so brief, I wasn’t sure what to call it. In retrospect, it seemed like a summer fling. Once the cold weather arrived, our heat froze.
He was so still, his chest not even rising with the breaths he took. His body was fully covered by his clothing, but the tightness of his forearms suggested how tight he was everywhere else. His chest filled out his shirt like a concrete wall, and his neck had the same kind of cords as his arms. “Why did that expire?”
“I-I didn’t want to marry him.” This guy didn’t seem interested in long-winded explanations, so I kept it as brief as possible.
He gave no reaction at all.
“What are you looking for, exactly?”
His eyes shifted away as he became lost in thought. His jawline was so sharp, it reminded me of jagged glass. There was a soft shadow along the skin, like shaving that morning wasn’t enough to keep the darkness at bay. One second turned into several, and then his eyes shifted back to me. “A woman who can keep up with me.”
Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I was that woman. His vibe was more mysterious than a black hole. “I don’t do beatings or chokings. I don’t do chains or whips. So, if that’s what you’re into, I suggest you go to another table.”
“Then what are you into?”
“Me?” I asked in mild surprise. “I don’t think it matters what I’m into.”
“I don’t think you would be in this line of work if you didn’t somewhat enjoy it.” His eyes were trained on me the entire time, hardly blinking, just laser focused. It reminded me of the way Cauldron used to stare at me. But at least I could read his look. This guy was an utter mystery.
It took a long time for me to find a good answer. “A man who’s selfless in bed.”
He stared and stared.
I wasn’t sure if I should keep talking. “What are you looking for? You’re the one who walked through that door.”
He broke eye contact again, taking his time to craft his response. “I have a lot of social events on my calendar. As I’m sure you’ve surmised in this brief interaction, dinner parties and charity events aren’t my forte. I want a woman who can deal with all the bullshit so I can focus on what matters.”
“So…you don’t want me to sleep with you?”
His eyes shifted back to me. After a long stare, he gave a shrug. “That’s optional. Not mandatory.”
That was the very last thing I expected. “And you want to pay me to do that?”
“I wouldn’t want you if you were free.”
In disbelief, I stared.
“Unlike these other assholes, I don’t have a problem getting laid.”
I believed that.
“You want the job or not?”
“Can I know a bit more about you first?”
With a bored look on his face, he said, “What do you want to know?”
“I don’t know… What’s your line of work?”
He answered the question without hesitation. “Drugs.”
He was a drug kingpin. No surprise there. “What kind of drugs?”
“You don’t look like a user.”
“I’m not,” I said quickly. “Just wondering.”
“Coke. Meth. Heroin. The whole kitchen sink.”
“And…what kinds of dinner parties are these?”
He studied my face for a long time, showing the patience of a monk. “You’ll never be in danger, if that’s what you’re worried about. I just have to rub elbows with men in high places to get my products across borders.”
He was probably no more dangerous than Grave or Cauldron.
“Any other questions?”
“You haven’t told me your name.”
Silence. A very long stretch of it. His eyes were so still, his face so lifeless, it was like he hadn’t heard me at all. Then finally, he said a name I’d never heard before. “Bartholomew.”
12
ELISE
I couldn’t bring myself to contact Jerome.
I didn’t want to go back to that.
The first thing he would do would be to call Kyle—and fuck that.
Days passed, and Grave didn’t contact me. I was far too proud to contact him and would rather die than make the first move, so I suffered in silence. I suffered the way I suffered when my husband left me for someone else. There were tears in the privacy of my bedroom, tears that I wiped away the second they fell.
How did this happen? How did I get here?
After my kids went to bed, I watched TV in the living room. I was curled up with a blanket, ready to fall asleep on the couch, when my phone vibrated beside me.