Villefort thrust his hand out, took hers, and brought it to his lips. “I haven’t had the pleasure Miss…”
She smoothly removed her hand and I was surprised she didn’t wipe it on her dress. She did a terrible job at corralling her disgust. “Mercy, please. And how do you two know each other?”
I pulled her hand to my lips and kissed her palm. The opposite side of where his mouth met her skin. And she reacted differently too. She blinked up at me, eyes wide. “My dear, this is the man I want to support in his campaign, but we haven’t met in person before tonight.”
She smiled, or grimaced is what I’d call it. I leaned in and brushed a tendril of hair from her neck before planting a kiss just behind her ear. Her perfume enveloped me. I didn’t have to feign the hoarse whisper that came out. “You’re going to try harder if you plan to hold up your end of this deal.”
She straightened and bat her lashes, a flush to her cheeks now. She fanned herself. “I need a drink.”
Villefort motioned at the bartender. “Allow me, what are you drinking?”
She didn’t tell him but the man on the other side of the counter. “Whiskey on the rocks, please.”
He nodded and a minute of tense silence later he brought her drink over.
Once she fortified herself, she faced Villefort again. “So how is your campaign progressing?”
He nodded, a goopy dog grin on his face, at her attention. I stepped back and watched her turn on the charm. Until she glanced my way and froze. I’d already reached my limit on scaring her so she wasn’t freezing for my sake.
The intruder’s cologne surrounded me, and I pivoted to intercept Danglars before he reached her.
His rancid breath hit me as hard as his shoulder, the drunk bastard. He snarled in my face. “What the fuck is that whore doing here?”
Five
Mercy
Icouldn't hear what Danglars uttered over the sound of Villefort’s drooling. All I could think about was trying to keep my shit together before Will blocked his access to me, and walked him backward to a side exit. It all happened in seconds, and then Will returned alone with swagger and grace and a smile just for me. Seeing his lips turned up and a mockery everyone else's fake grins tilted me more on edge than set me at ease.
“Do you mind if I take Mercy for another spin?” He asked Villefort, putting out his hand for me to accept, as if anyone would stop him from taking what he wanted. Including me. As of right now he owned me. A reality I needed to tolerate if I intended to keep my people alive. So I smiled, and placed my fingertips on his open palm.
We weren't on the floor ten seconds before he launched in. “I see you and Danglars have a history.”
My face ached from all the forced smiling so I stopped. “Just tell me what you want from me.”
His hands tightened around my back and I let him drag me in closer. Focus woman. I needed to listen to what he wasn’t saying under the words. But I found it impossible to think properly with the way his hand curled into the curve of my spine like he memorized the shape. I should hate this man, he took everything from me. Yet here I stood something like enjoying his hands on my body. For a moment, I considered exploiting every single thing he screamed at me—no words required. If we went down that path, how would I come out on the other side? But, if my wiles gave me leverage, maybe I shouldn’t discount it.
“I think I’ve been clear about what I want from you.”
I looked up into his eyes and scanned his face for any other clues to what might be going through his pretty head.
“Besides a lovely arm ornament. You must have a purpose to all this…” I waved at the room. “Tell me how I can help you here.”
We continued dancing, and I shifted my hand from his shoulder to up behind his neck. I stroked the short hairs at his nape and waited for his reaction. Nothing. A blank face.
“If you think seducing me would work, I have to say I expected a little more effort.”
I jerked my hand away and tried not to scowl. If he could play the indifference card so could I. “Have a lot of experience seducing people do you?”
He blinked and gave me an inscrutable look. “Isn’t that what business is? All enticement and seduction, only some aren’t seduced by sex.”
Hearing him say the word sex trickled something decidedly not indifferent through me, and I flinched under his hands despite my best efforts to remain neutral.
The grin he cast down at me made me want to smack it off his face. “You aren’t one of those people, are you?”
He didn’t wait for my feigned refusal. “No, don't lie. Save it for these bastards. I can tell you're susceptible just by looking at you.”
He leaned down and brushed his lips against mine. Not to kiss, but a statement. Part declaration of ownership, part promise.
