Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 44304 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 222(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 44304 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 222(@200wpm)___ 177(@250wpm)___ 148(@300wpm)
“We think she’s a woman we can share, who we can take anywhere in the world with us and never be bored.”
“Hm,” he nods. “Maybe.”
“I want something else,” he adds.
“What’s that?”
“A demonstration. I want to see you two handle her. I want to see what it takes to get Aslin to behave herself. And I want to be satisfied that when she leaves here, she’s not coming back.”
I think there’s more to this story than meets the eye. I don’t think he has any intention of hurting her. I don’t think he ordered his mercenaries to hurt her, either. I think Luca has a thing for Aslin still. I can’t blame him, she’s that sort of girl. Addictive.
“She’s going to apologize to you and make recompense. She has to learn that there are consequences.”
“There aren’t for Aslin. She never gets involved in anything without also having an exit strategy,” he says. “I’d put money on her being gone from your hotel room before this meal is over.”
“My associate has her. He’s not an easy man to evade.”
“Uh huh. You don’t know her at all, do you,” he laughs. “Tell you what. You get your money back to me, and you show me that you can handle her properly, and I’ll let the matter drop.”
“Let’s go upstairs,” I say. “Aslin is waiting.”
This might be a mistake, but I want this matter finished and dealt with. It’s obvious Aslin does not want to be married to Luca. If she did, she wouldn’t have run away. She wants to be free. I want to make her free. She doesn’t need his money. She has us.
Luca and I go up the elevator to the fourth floor. From the moment I open the door, I know I’ve made a mistake. The room is a mess. It looks like there’s been a struggle, but I think we all know the struggle that took place here was no fight.
Aslin is tidying up on her hands and knees. She looks like she’s been crying. On seeing Luca, she straightens immediately and rubs her eyes with her sleeve. It does nothing to make her look like less of a mess. We can smell sex and cum. We can see the rucked sheets and the smashed vases, and lamps, and broken paintings.
“Aslin,” he says, a triumphant smirk passing over his features. We’ve delivered her to her personal devil. The second she sees him, she goes pale and wide-eyed. Even Jason looks concerned, and he has been lounging in the corner of the room in an armchair, watching her clean up until this point.
“Luca,” she replies.
“I told you I would get you back,” he says. “There’s no escaping me, Aslin. There’s nowhere on this planet you can go where I will not find you.”
Aslin looks at me, and her eyes hold so much betrayal, even though we both knew this was coming. I think some small part of her thought I wasn’t really going to go to him, and certainly not bring him back to her. I feel immediately guilty. I thought we were doing the right thing. I still think that, but I don’t feel it. There’s something wrong here. Something dark and twisted, something historical, maybe even ancient. I want to sweep her up and take her away, but I can’t. Not yet. He needs his money. And I need him to renounce his claim on her.
“Luca,” Jason says. He gets up and walks over, putting himself between Aslin and Luca. He sticks his hand out to shake Luca’s hand. It’s such a small gesture, that blocking motion, but it means a lot. As much as Jason doesn’t want to admit it, he cares for her. Deeply. Maybe as deeply as me.
“Nice to meet you, Jason.” Luca’s response is smooth and calculated. “Thank you for taking care of my wife.”
There’s a suggestive lilt to those words that tells me he knows exactly what we’ve been doing with Aslin. It’s unmissable. It perfumes the air, and it is written on all of our faces. If Luca is a jealous or possessive man, we might all die in this very room. Fortunately, Jason and I are accustomed to walking with death. I am not afraid, nor is he.
“I’m sorry I stole your money, Luca,” Aslin says. “In my defense, you deserved it, I’m not sorry, and I’d do it again.”
“This is what I’m fucking talking about,” Luca sighs.
“What? You want me to lie?”
“I want you to act remotely sane, Aslin,” I comment. Why can’t she make this a little easier for us all? All she has to do is lie. She usually does that without issue. Why is it suddenly so difficult?
“Well. There’s your first mistake,” she smiles at me, and flickers a little wink. How is she suddenly composed? What game is she playing?