Page 58 of The Masked King

“You’re boring me now. I’m starting to think that you like them better than me.”

I do. But if he leaves now, I don’t know when he’ll be back, and I still have more questions.

“What about the lights?” I glance around the room and straight back to him.

“I needed the images to look professional.”

My stomach twists itself into tight little knots. “Images?” The word escapes on a raspy breath.

“Remember what I said about using people to reach the top or were you not paying attention? No matter. You’re going to make me a lot of money, Demi Payne.”

“How?” I already know the answer.

Enzo Sabatelli.

Because if he knows about me, he also knows about Enzo, and I walked straight into this little trap when I started working at JADED.

I could deny my involvement with Enzo, tell him that it was over a year ago, that I haven’t seen him or spoken to him since, and he won’t risk his entire world for a woman he no longer cares about. But it isn’t true. Enzo and I have unfinished business, and I know deep in my heart where the ache of missing him hurts the most, that he still loves me.

If he didn’t care, he wouldn’t have tried to find me.

And I wouldn’t have come back.

He comes closer and crouches in front of me, spreading my legs wide with his fat-sausage fingers and glancing down at my pussy. “Do you think you’re special, Demi?”

My throat might feel like it’s on fire, but it’s nothing compared to the loathing I have for this sadistic asshole. “If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t be here, but you’ll never know how special I am, and that’s why you’ll never beat me.”

His pupils blow wide. I’m so mesmerized by them that I don’t see him move until his hand connects with my cheek.

I yelp, a wheezy sound like someone with asthma in desperate need of their inhaler. “Asshole,” I choke out, covering my stinging face with my hand as tears fill my eyes. “Michael Douglas was twice the man you’ll ever be.”

At first, I think I’ve touched a nerve when his eyes narrow, and a tic appears on his temple. But then, he tips his head back and laughs out loud, and I draw my legs closer to my body, shivering despite the warmth of the room.

“Is that so? Did you open your legs for him, Demi? Huh? Did you spread that pussy wide and let him fuck you with his shriveled-up cock? Did you suck his dick in the dressing room and make yourself come while you let him believe that he was the best fuck you ever had?”

“No!” I wish I’d kept my mouth shut, but now that the name is out there, I must do what I can to protect him. “It wasn’t like that. You monitored everyone. Play it back, and you’ll see that nothing ever happened.”

It feels like I’m swallowing razor blades and playing back a recording of my voice at half the regular speed. My chest is heaving with the effort of breathing and speaking with ruined vocal cords. But he’s still here. He hasn’t dismissed me yet.

“That won’t be necessary.”

“You believe me?”

“Sure.” He shrugs.

No, no, no. He conceded the point too easily, and dread congeals inside my stomach. “Where is he? Is he here? Can I see him?”

“You want to see him? I’m here, but you’re telling me to my face that you want to see him instead?”

“Yes. He wouldn’t try to kill me and then tell me to breathe after.”

He inclines his head, and I realize that I don’t even know his name. “You’ve got balls, Demi. I like that. Perhaps I’ll keep you for myself after all.”

Please don’t… I want to scream it out loud, but my voice is ghosting me, and I’ve already poked the bear once too often.

“So, can I see him?”

“Sure. It can’t hurt. There’s nothing he can do to help you now.”