Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 80689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 323(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Ryan must see something in my expression, a crack in my armor, because he says, “Tell me, Jonas. It won’t leave these woods. I promise.”
Even in the few days I’ve known him, I believe Ryan’s a man of his word, and after a few moments of consideration, I decide, fuck it all; if he does rat me out, then I know the kind of guy he really is, and if not, then maybe I’m closer to getting paid and back to my aunt and sister.
Besides, if he tells Simon and he sends me packing, maybe that’s how this was going to end anyway.
“He wants me to…” Despite intending to follow through with the words, saying them out loud isn’t easy. God, this is a fucked-up situation. “He said I could have the money if we had sex.”
His eyes widen. It doesn’t look like shock—it looks like horror.
He turns toward the house, then back to me, muttering under his breath, “That little shit. Of course he fucking did.”
“He told me not to tell you, though,” I remind him.
His gaze meets mine, and this is probably the most awkward moment I’ve had since I attempted to flirt with him.
Fuck, what must Ryan think of the guy his brother paid to fuck around with him? “I really need this money,” I spit out. “My sister, Charity, is sick. Maybe if you just told him that we did something…”
“That’s not gonna work. He’s got cameras all over the house. He’s not going to give you money unless he sees it for himself.”
“Sees it?” That wasn’t part of the deal.
“Jonas, the reason we had to meet out here is because he has cameras everywhere in the house. In your bedroom, in my bedroom. He’s got mics all over the place too. He’s just very…paranoid.”
Part of me wants to brush it off as a rich-people thing, but I doubt even most rich people need to have security in their staff’s bedrooms.
“My brother and I have a strange relationship. He’s my twin—I don’t know that it’s possible for me not to love him, but there’s this other side of him… It’s controlling, and…”
Controlling seems a tame word for a guy who hired someone to fuck him.
Ryan looks toward the house again. “We can’t stay out here much longer without him getting suspicious, so we have to make this quick.”
“Okay…”
He closes his eyes and takes a breath. “I hate that I’m even having to go there, but I’ve been tested and I’m negative for STIs. Have you—”
“Your brother made me get tested before I accepted the job. Negative too.”
“Of course he fucking did,” he says with an eye roll. “In that case, continue working through today, and tonight, come by my bedroom. We’ll…do what we need to do so you can satisfy the fucked-up terms of your deal, and then you’ll be on your way, and we can both pretend this never happened.”
I like the idea of pretending this never happened, but really, it was a lot easier when he was avoiding me and I didn’t have to consider the practicalities of following through with Simon’s request.
“I…um…”
“What? Do you want your money or not?”
“I do. This is just different than I’d talked about with Simon.”
“That’s not unusual, unfortunately. Give me the note I gave you. I need to destroy it. I’ll hand you another note today in view of the house, so Simon will think this is all legit. Meet me at my room at nine thirty, and we’ll get this show on the road. Good?”
“Great,” I say, though Ryan’s talking so fast and sounds so certain that I just go along with him.
“In the meantime, don’t slack on your work. We’re behind, and I have a feeling when Simon sends you back to Chicago, we’re not gonna have much help around here.”
He sounds hurt, like the thought of struggling with his work is worse than what he’s learned his brother did by bringing me here.
It makes me feel kind of bad that I’m not going to be able to help him out more.
That’s ridiculous. Focus, Jonas.
“Back to work,” he says, as though we haven’t just agreed to meet and fuck later tonight.
5
RYAN
“Good evening, Ryan,” I hear Simon say before looking up from my book to see a broad grin stretched across his conceited little face. I could deck him for the stunt he’s pulled.
After putting in my hours for the day, I retired to the reading nook in the library, tucked in the corner on the first floor. I hoped a book might help me decompress, but given what I know I’ll be doing in a few hours, it’s been nearly impossible to concentrate.
Simon steps around the love seat, opposite the sofa where I’m seated. He passes the desk alongside the wall of bookcases, stopping when he gets to the sofa.