“Do you know what it means when a gang takes you as collateral?” I let go of her arse and reach up, my thumb circling her nipple, which instantly hardens. “Ever been through that before?”
“N-no, I—” She breaks off, swallowing hard, her face twisting. Her eyes lower, then rise again to meet mine. “You won’t turn me over to them, will you?”
There’s so little breath behind her voice that I read the last few words off her lips. She’s adorable. Her neat white teeth bite on her lower lip, sucking it into her mouth.
She doesn’t need to know I would kill before I let one of those fucking brutes near her. I’d take a crowbar to the knees of anyone who so much as thought about putting a mark on her soft, supple skin.
That treat belongs solely to me.
“Not if you do as I ask.”
She nods, blinking so rapidly I can’t get a fix on her eyes. “You hurt me.”
I use my thumb to smooth the frown away from her eyebrows, cupping her cheek in my hand. “Only a little. Given the ending, you didn’t seem to mind.”
She shakes her head. “You coerced me and it’s not okay. I’m not… I won’t do that again.” Her nostrils pull together. “I still have a mark on my thigh.”
“And do you still remember what it felt like to come on my fingers? Still remember how it felt to come on my cock?”
Her eyes dart to meet mine again, puzzled, her lips parting. There’s no sign of recognition in her gaze, just growing frustration.
I close my eyes, having to clamp my lips to stop from groaning.
The pill.
It’s the fucking pill.
It must have dicked about with her memory.
Calvin confirmed it was a fast-acting sedative with a few other goodies thrown in, probably to extend the supply. Pretty much what George had told me it was.
I’ve even worked out which maid gave it to her, but I haven’t confronted the girl yet. She’s indentured to my father, proceeds of a gang takedown a few years back, before I was on the scene. Just another horrendous cog in my dad’s household that doesn’t bear thinking about.
At least, I can’t bear it. Nobody else seems to mind.
Her life’s so shit right now, she needs to be handled with care. A wrong move and that twenty-year sentence before she works her way to freedom might stretch out like an impassable divide.
But now, I’m annoyed. Worse than annoyed, something closer to bereft.
The thought of reconnecting with George was like a piece of joy I had tucked in my pocket, a future treat, ready to explore in depth later.
Now it’s been stolen from me. As far as she’s concerned, it never existed.
The memory of her grateful tears has quickly become a firm favourite. It cheapens it if she doesn’t have the same image locked in her subconscious. Like it’s something I invented. Just as false as everything else in my new life.
“You can’t coerce—”
The word is like fingernails on a blackboard. She really has no idea. I cut her off with a snap. “It’s not coercion. It’s a trade.”
A man clears his throat behind me. I don’t turn, instead watching George as she checks out the teacher standing nearby.
“Ah, Mr McManus? Could you please step away from the girl?”
“No.” My eyes fix on George’s until her gaze returns to me. “I don’t think I will.”
Another clearing of the throat.
I smile, the fingers of my left hand tightening on her hip. “Sounds like you have quite the cough there. You should fetch some hot water from the teacher’s lounge.”
