Total pages in book: 63
Estimated words: 58412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 58412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 292(@200wpm)___ 234(@250wpm)___ 195(@300wpm)
She really is beautiful. She has well-defined features, a strong nose with a little crook in it. I can imagine her younger and breaking that in some ill-fated scrape. Her eyes are piercing and wounded at the same time. She could come across as a little too businesslike, I suppose, if you didn’t see what I see. There’s something about Charlie Crown that is ever so slightly feral—and this place she lives in reflects that. An alley cat has to live in an alley.
Her makeup is simple, but effective. Lips. Eyes. What else is there? She has been chewing on her lower lip, but she stops that when she sees me. She also straightens up and stands taller, meeting my gaze without the slightest hint of weakness or shame. It’s hard to imagine that she ran out of my building just last night in a complete state. This is a strong woman, one who knows how to recoup. That’s important, given what I’m intending on doing to her.
“Good girl,” I say, approving.
A light flush appears on her face, and she tries not to look too pleased at that praise.
“You’re here right on time, and you’re ready to go out.”
“I didn’t know where we were going, so I didn’t know how to dress,” she says. “I hope it’s not a formal ball or anything.”
“You’d look perfect no matter where we went.”
Again, she tries not to look too pleased.
“You’re flattering me,” she says. “I have to wonder why.”
“Because I’m pleased with you, and when I am pleased, I let people know. You’ve been very well behaved so far this evening, which is quite a change. I’m going to reward you for that.”
“Oh?” She arches a brow.
Charlie
I get into the car with him and wonder if I’ll ever see my apartment again. There’s something about Marcus that makes me pretty certain I could end up captive somewhere with very little notice. That something is mostly the fact that he more or less outright said as much. He makes these little threats, and I ignore them because I feel as though I am on the trail of something bigger than I could ever have imagined. I’ve already learned a lot about Marcus.
I’ve learned that he has a penchant for punishing women, and I know that he’ll use his cock as a disciplinary implement too.
“You wanted to see my world,” he says. “My personal world. Tonight, I am going to take you there.”
“Really?”
I can’t believe it was that easy. I am certain it won’t actually end up that way. I am almost sure he’s going to make me regret this date, just as he promised. But he won’t be able to help revealing more about himself. Every word that falls from his lips is another clue.
We drive into the city, which I suppose to him must just feel like taking a tour of all the many buildings he owns. Though I’ve lived in the city all my life, I still feel like a stranger in so much of it. But Marcus’ experience has to be entirely different. Everything is something either he or one of his friends owns, or could own, if they wanted to.
We end up in the old part of the city, where the skyscrapers aren’t quite so high because most of the buildings are on the National Register here. These are grand old constructions, put up when the very first rich bastards came here and needed somewhere to be obscenely wealthy with one another.
We slide up outside one such building, and Marcus helps me out of the car, opening the door for me and offering his hand like a gentleman. I have a little flashback to the memory of last night, of how it felt when the hand now offered to me so genteelly was used for something else entirely. I try to hide the blush that inevitably rises to my face at the thought.
“This is The Embassy,” he explains. “It is a very exclusive club. The membership consists of the rich, famous, and powerful. That is why you will be blindfolded as we enter, and why you will have to sign a binding agreement which states you will never share anything you see tonight. And I don’t just mean one of your articles or stories. I mean you cannot tell your friends, your family. Nobody. What happens tonight will happen entirely between you and I. Understand?”
I nod.
“I need to hear it, Charlie.”
“Yes, I understand. I can be discreet.”
“You will have to be,” he says. “You will have no choice.”
I bite back a sassy retort.
He allows me to walk up the stairs to the front door without anything covering my face, but as the door opens, a blindfold slides over my eyes, just as he promised it would. I am now obligated to follow his lead, clinging to his arm as he leads me into the interior of this mysterious building. I feel us pass underneath several doorways before stopping.