Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 89934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89934 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 450(@200wpm)___ 360(@250wpm)___ 300(@300wpm)
“So, what? Do you want me to pretend to be Lock’s girlfriend? His captive sex doll? What are we talking about here?”
Christ, if the conversation continued along these lines, he’d have to leave the damn room. Imagining Brenna tied up in his bed, at his mercy, had him sweating bullets.
Curly chuckled. “Maybe somewhere in between?”
Not helping, Prez.
Lock shook his head and stepped forward. “You’ll stay with me here and be seen out with me and at the clubhouse. Wherever you go, I go, and if I can’t because of work or Caleb, one of our prospects will accompany you.”
Frowning, Brenna ran her finger over a scratch on his table. “Because you want it to look like I’m not allowed to go anywhere alone.” She lifted her gaze to meet his, and the gut punch caught him by surprise.
Fuck, she was gorgeous. Exactly his type—innocent and sweet with a hint of dark curiosity. Lock may have preferred monogamy over sleeping around, at least when sober, but that didn’t mean he wished for vanilla sex. He was down for anything, anywhere, any place, and the dirtier, the better.
His poor dick.
“Yes,” he managed to say, though there wasn’t much blood left to power his brain. “We want it to look to the outside world, especially Oliver, like we own you. Like I own you.”
Was it his imagination, or was that a flare of heat in her eyes?
If so, it vanished in a flash.
“And you think this will bring Oliver to you.”
She didn’t phrase it as a question. She knew and only wanted them to agree.
Spec jumped in. “Yes. That’s exactly what we think will happen. He’ll keep his distance until he no longer worries there will be repercussions for shorting us. Once he realizes we accepted his… gift,” Brenna and Liv winced, “… we’re anticipating he’ll come sniffing around to borrow more money.”
That had Brenna frowning again. “Why did he need money in the first place? He’s an estate attorney who makes a great living. What the hell did he need fifty thousand dollars for? Is he doing drugs or something?” Her attention bounced between the three men as she asked the question.
“It seems our friend Ollie has a bit of a gambling problem,” Spec said with a sideways glance at Lock, whose skin suddenly felt too tight. Brenna’s question about drugs hit a little too close to home.
He could barely swallow as an invisible hand squeezed his throat.
Oblivious to anything besides Liv’s necklaces, Caleb let out a happy shriek.
Focus on your son. You’re not that man anymore.
“No way. I was with him for almost two years. I mean, he goes to a poker night once a month, but wouldn’t I have noticed if it had gotten out of control?”
“Probably not.” Spec shrugged. “I’m sure he’s a master at hiding it. But that’s not all, unfortunately. Ollie also—”
Brenna snorted. “He hates that name.”
“Good.” Spec winked, making her chuckle.
The slight hint of comic relief helped loosen the fist crushing Lock’s throat.
“Ollie also seems to have a penchant for certain types of ladies.”
Liv straightened. After being engaged to a man involved in trafficking women and witnessing him assault one, she was particularly sensitive to these issues.
“What do you mean?” Brenna asked, but her voice had gotten small.
Sighing, Spec rubbed Liv’s shoulders again. “I mean women who came here seeking asylum, mostly from Mexico and Cuba, I’m guessing, but managed to land themselves, very unwillingly, I might add, in the middle of a prostitution ring.”
“You-you’re talking human trafficking,” Brenna whispered.
“I am.” Spec nodded.
Instead of looking at Spec, she straightened and spoke directly to Lock, “Then I’ll do anything you need as long as you promise me one thing.”
He raised an eyebrow. “What’s that?”
“You make it so he can’t ever use his inadequate pencil dick to hurt another woman.”
Lock’s lips twitched. He took two steps forward and extended his arm across the table, offering her his hand. “One castration coming up.”
Brenna slid her palm along his. The second their skin came in contact, he sucked in a breath.
Did she feel it? The bolt of lightning streaked straight to his core.
Fuck, this woman was going to be trouble. He was trying to get his life back on track. The last thing he needed was a woman who gave him a constant hard-on living in his house. He couldn’t fuck her. Not if he wanted the club to take his promise of commitment and loyalty seriously, and that was his number one priority. Well, that and Caleb.
Brenna nodded. “Deal.”
And with that one word, Lock realized the coming days would be a challenge like he’d never experienced.
CHAPTER FIVE
IF BRENNA MADE it through the day without a major screw-up that caused a client to leave her a scathing one-star review, she’d consider it a miracle. By eleven in the morning, she’d missed a virtual meeting, ordered the wrong cabinet hardware for a commercial client, and spilled not one but two cups of hot coffee on one of her favorite sandals, scalding her toe. Her concentration was shit, and it didn’t take a skilled investigator to uncover why.