“Because the only thing you seem to be good at is having sex with my friend, and I’m not interested in fucking his sloppy seconds.”
The vitriol hits me like a slap. “There are other things I can do.”
“Yeah. Fuck on camera. Great skill set you’re working on there.” He jerks his chin at the stairs. “Better get back to work. Those clients won’t pleasure themselves.”
“That’s not what I do.”
His laugh is caustic, stripping away my skin until to lay my nerve endings bare. “Could’ve fooled me.”
Trent’s voice comes from behind me, making me jump half a foot. For someone so large, he has a quiet tread. “Is there a problem?”
“Yeah,” Caylon said with a smirk. “Somebody’s not great at following orders.”
“Nothing illegal,” I blurt, stumbling over my exit route. “When we agreed to the rules, Zach said nothing illegal.”
The eyeroll Caylon gives me is so extreme, it looks like it hurts. “Here.”
He shoves a phone at me, and I frown at it in confusion, my brain skating between outrage and fear. “What’s this for?”
“It’s my alternate request. Think you can watch a video, or is that outside your spectacular range of talents, too?”
Before I can feel relief, my eyes narrow with suspicion. “And why am I watching this?”
Caylon steps towards me with such menace that I fall back until my rear end hits the wall. “This is what happened to the last whore Zach had on his payroll. Take a good look and you might recognise her. You’ll certainly recognise the other participants.”
Trent shuffles from foot to foot, no longer keen to meet my eye.
“Why are you doing this?” The cry bursts out of me like it’s spent the day trapped behind my lips. “I’ve done nothing to hurt you.”
His hand curls into my hair, pulling it out from the messy bun until it flows over my shoulders. “That’s better. I like you this way. It reminds me of Em before Zach corrupted her into his little mean girl sidekick. She knew the rules. When to fall into line and when to step out of it. Just like Tessa.”
Rage erupts out of me, and I slap his hands away. “Don’t you dare speak her name, you freak.”
“Or what? You’ll tell on me to your boyfriend?” His laugh could strip paint. “Don’t let him fool you. Zach might’ve been acting as high protector when he shot my friend to avenge Tessa’s honour, but it’s just another lie he tells himself. Such as the one that he’s not exactly like his father. Or the one about how it was worth Robbie’s life just to earn a cheap fuck.”
“Careful,” Trent growls, but he doesn’t move from where he’s standing.
Zach knew Tessa? I close my eyes, hoping that will make it easier to follow Caylon’s rant, but missing too many pieces to make the leap.
As if he recognises that, Caylon suddenly softens. His head drops so he can whisper straight into my ear. “Why don’t you watch the videos and then tell me how much of a hero your boyfriend is? Watch them all the way to the end and we’ll call it even. Then we can move onto your last request.”
I don’t know how, but this feels even worse than my aborted pickpocketing. I’d make the offer to change back, but my hands shake so badly there’s no way I could accomplish that now.
“What’s the last request?”
He takes a step back, the heel of his shoe resting against the bottom stair. “I’m saving that for later, but hang back after work and I’ll give you a lift.”
“A lift where?”
“To Zach’s place. I’ll deliver you to your boyfriend, safe and sound, and give you the last request. Nothingillegal.At least, not for you.”
“I’m coming, too,” Trent says. The offer makes me more comfortable. I don’t trust Caylon as far as I can throw him, but Trent has been nothing but kind to me, especially when he didn’t have to be. “I’ll meet you at the house.”
“Yay. A group date, what fun.” Caylon pushes away from the wall, striding upstairs before disappearing behind another door, whistling a melody so far off-key it sounds like the track to a horror movie.
I stuff the phone inside my bra, rearranging everything until the bump is barely noticeable, then head back to the table, my mind scattered in even more directions than before.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX
