AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But I do slip my hand down to her ass, pressing the spot where I know she’s tender. She gasps, a sharp sound that brims with need and want, and it crumbles her. Just a little.
She sways into me before steadying herself.
“I told you I’ll trust you in this,” she says. “And I know it could come down to that trust in saving my cousin. But what if me putting trust in you hurts her? What if?—?”
“Scarlett. You trust me. Enough to help.” I think she does, but I need to push through this, through her wavering. Touching her, no matter how much I want to, might hinder me right now.
So I keep my hands to myself.
“You know more about me than anyone outside my work colleagues.”
She nods. “What are you?”
“Whatever I need to be to get the job done.” Those are honest words.
“I’m the job?”
I hesitate. “Yeah. But things got complicated. I didn’t mean to touch you. Then again, I didn’t expect you to be you.”
Goddammit, the truth keeps breaking free, like pieces of an iceberg, and I’m the fucking sum of climate change. I don’t mean touching her, I mean liking her. But I keep that part to myself.
Because I didn’t fucking mean to end up liking her, wanting her like I do.
“You…” She closes her eyes. “You’re not fair.”
“I’m not trying to be. I need your trust. We’re gonna have to play some games here, and being fair, which is me giving you time, isn’t something I can do. Basically, you’re in or out. And if you’re out…” I study her.
Leave it hanging there in the air.
The unsaid part.
I could mean if she’s out, then I’ll pack her up and send her back to her fucking asshole father who only used her as a bargaining chip. Or I could just do this on my own. Tie her up and keep her here as my captive. Hand her over to the Knights to keep under a cushy lock and key, but one she won’t be able to escape.
I wait.
Each and every possibility of what I mean crosses her expressive face, and I want to be extremely unfair and seduce her into it all.
But I think since I kissed her in that warehouse, the seduction gets me only so far. She needs a different kind of seduction.
My words used by her fucking brain to seduce herself into believing me and handing over all her trust.
Whoever has her cousin… it stands to reason it’s someone in the sex industry. And it’s all fucking connected to that damn client list. They don’t want money. Not physical cash. They want the worth of what’s on that list.
And right now, I can’t even rule out my own fucking client.
“You’ll shut me out, send me packing? Lock me up?” She stares, her hands fisting. “What?”
“What do you think?”
“You won’t let me go, will you?” There’s no fear, just acceptance she hit on the right answer. And so it is.
Anything that gets her on board is the right fucking answer.
This time I close the gap, put my hand around her throat, and I apply the slightest pressure. She relaxes. She’s exquisite. Perfect. For me.
Fuck my life.
“I’ll have to keep you somewhere safe, Scarlett. Out of the way. I can’t afford my cover being blown. And I can’t risk you.”
