Total pages in book: 77
Estimated words: 77160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77160 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 386(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 257(@300wpm)
“Talk to me. What’s wrong with the dresses and necklace?”
Her gaze stayed stubbornly averted even as she spoke. “I don’t want you… getting ideas.”
“Ideas? What kind of ideas?”
“About these gifts… buying anything.”
“Buying—” I started to repeat before her meaning slipped in.
Her head turned, chin lifting, gaze steady.
I tucked my chin slightly, leaning ever so slightly closer.
“Baby, you think I need to pay a woman to fuck me?”
Her blue eyes widened at that. And up so close, even in the darkness, I watched the way her pupils blew wide. Like maybe she was thinking about fucking me. And liking it.
“I didn’t… that’s…”
“I’m sure that slimy boss of yours has put all sorts of twisted thoughts in your head. But I don’t give women things with the expectation that they’re going to spread their legs for me. I’ve got plenty of other ways to reach that end goal. I don’t need my money to get there.”
She swallowed hard at that, her gaze slipping from my eyes to my lips, then back up.
“I didn’t mean to offend you. You’re right. Frank said… some things right before I got out of his office.”
“About ‘Eric’ and the necklace?”
“Sort of? But also, I think, more about me and him.”
“You and Frank?”
“Yeah. It all got a little twisted up in my head. I can, um, give you the name of the shop. For the dresses.”
“You have a shift tomorrow night?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Let tomorrow be a normal night. No snooping. No trying to get closer to Frank. I feel like, with using you, we have to have a cool-down period between everything. You seem to know how to work him. But let’s not push it.”
“Yeah, I think that’s a good idea. I mean… things have been… shady with Frank in the—”
“Shady how?” I cut her off.
“He once came into the room when I was changing.”
“Did he?” I asked, hearing the snarl in my voice and not particularly caring.
I wasn’t sure what Remo’s end plan was for Frank once he had possession of the casino. But I wouldn’t mind getting my hands dirty with some asshole who thought he could peep on his employees when they were vulnerable.
“Yeah, uh, the door doesn’t have a lock.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. I try to put off changing until the last minute to make sure Frank isn’t going to do a drop-in. One of the many reasons I’ve been thinking about finding a new job.”
Yeah, that shit was beyond fucked.
I had to add one more stop to my list of errands the next day, it seemed.
“Alright. So, normal day tomorrow. Do your sets. Get the hell out of there. Then the next afternoon, before your shift, I will text you about a meeting. Give you the new dresses, so you can have your phone on you in case anything goes sideways.”
“Sounds good.”
“Got preferences on colors?”
“Black and dark reds tend to be the colors for my job. Oh, there is an emerald-green one they have that is gorgeous, though. And a deep navy. Just… dark. And, obviously, tight. Without being too revealing. The lady there knows me; if you mention me.”
“Perfect. Anything you can tell me about Frank’s office?”
“Aside from it being… packed?”
“Packed? With what?”
“Boxes. He just has stacks of boxes everywhere. New ones, old ones that haven’t been opened so long they have half an inch of dust on them.”
“Did they seem heavy?”
“Maybe the lower ones, but a few fell right off the top when Frank threw the door open.”
I needed to know what was in those boxes.
But not until it was safe to do so.
“Anything else?”
“Everything is really… old. Like… really old. Not just a little out of vogue. The desk was from like the seventies. The printer was ancient. I don’t know if Frank just has no interior design sense or what.”
Frank was a showy guy. Nice suits. Decent jewelry. A guy like that would have a nice office if he could afford it.
Which made me think Remo was right in suspecting something was going on with Frank and the casino. Or Frank and debts.
“Did you notice if the drawers were locked? Or if there was a safe anywhere?”
“I really tried not to look like I was looking around once I noticed the camera. But I don’t think that kind of desk would lock. And I didn’t notice a safe. But with how much junk was around, one could have been hiding anywhere.”
“Alright. Good to know. You okay? Did shit get sketchy?”
“He just… made a comment that didn’t sit right with me. I mean, I guess he always does, though.” She was trying to brush it off. But it clearly was different if she was almost running out of the casino.
“What’d he say?”
“Just… something about how if men get teased long enough, they expect you to make good on it. That kind of thing.”
That kind of thing. Like it was not a big deal that some dick was talking about coercing or forcing a woman into something just because she was flirting.