Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 62811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 62811 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 314(@200wpm)___ 251(@250wpm)___ 209(@300wpm)
Now he sounds more like I expected, the sort of hard, merciless guy who can run a place like this and then sleep well at night knowing he’s profiting off the girls who walk through his doors.
“I won’t.” I press the pen to the page quickly, before I can chicken out.
“Very good.” He takes the contract when I slide it his way. “Leo here will take you to the room you’ve been assigned.”
“One more thing,” he adds as I stand. “Because these customers are well-known and respected, as I already told you, they’ll be wearing masks. There’s a mask waiting for you, as well. I advise you to wear it.”
I can’t believe how glad I am to hear that. Granted, having purple hair sort of sets me apart, but I could always change the color if I wanted to. At least now I know if I run into either of these guys on the street, there won’t be that awkward moment where we recognize each other.
Oh, yeah, hi, remember when you bought my virginity at a sex club? God, I don’t even want to think about it.
Leo, the guy who showed me to the office, leads me halfway down the hall to one of the rooms and opens the door before stepping back and giving me space to enter.
“Thank you,” I murmur before thinking about it. Why am I thanking this guy again?
“They’ll be here soon.” That’s all he says before closing the door, leaving me alone, thoughts racing.
This isn’t what I expected. I mean, sure, there’s a mirror on the ceiling and a few toys hanging on the walls: handcuffs, a flogger, that sort of thing. Nothing too scary.
Other than the… implements, this could be a comfortable room just about anywhere. A room with a bed, a sofa, a couple of leather chairs. There’s nothing inherently intimidating about my surroundings, except for the thought of what this all means and what I’m going to have to do to get paid.
Sure enough, resting on one of the satin-covered pillows at the head of the bed, is a black mask. I hold it up, studying it. It only covers the eyes, which are slanted at the corners like a cat. I place it over my eyes and tie the leather straps at the back of my head, wanting to be sure I’m hidden by the time my customers arrive.
I take a seat on the bed, breathing slowly and deeply in hopes of calming my nerves. The whiskey helped, but now that I’m sitting here, I feel kind of sick.
Two hours. That’s all I have to focus on, putting up with this for two hours, and then it will be over, and I’ll walk out of here a rich girl, and then…
And then? I won’t have anything to worry about for the first time in as long as I can remember.
CLEO
As time winds down, my nerves get the best of me. Ever since I made a deal with Lucian Black, I’ve been doing everything I can think of to make sure that I’m ready for tonight. It’s not a small amount of money these strangers are paying me; this is two hundred thousand dollars for just two hours of work. Most people don’t even make that much in a year!
In preparation, I’ve watched countless hours of porn videos, trying to practice the skill that I still lack. I can only hope all the… practice will be enough when it’s time for the real thing.
I blow out a shaky breath and try to relax. My senses are more sensitive than usual as my anxiety grows and grows. The ticking of the clock is soft, but the steady ticks sound like bombs dropping as the hand moves around the clock. Each tick sounds like the beeping of a detonator preparing to go off moments before my innocence is blown to smithereens. Bye bye, V-card.
I look over at the door, reminding myself that there’s still time to run or change my mind. Every fiber in my body wants to run, wants to convince me that there are better ways to get the money I need, but I force myself to remain on the bed. There’s no other job out there that will get me this amount of money, this quickly.
My heart speeds up when I hear laughter near my door, but it continues on down the hallway. My shoulders sag in slight relief.
I seriously need to get a grip on myself. No one put a gun to my head to make me do this; it’s my choice. I think of all the good the money will do for me to help extinguish the doubts threatening to swallow my mind in flames. I’ll be able to pay all my past due bills and I’ll finally be able to buy a car. That’s probably what I’m looking forward to the most.