“You arrogant…” Sarah starts but Ethan ignores her like she isn’t in the room and focuses on me, which makes it worse as I was hoping the ground would swallow me whole.
“You’re tired,” Ethan says softly. “I’ve noticed youstruggling. You’re in severe debt, trapped. You’re suffocating.”
My breath catches. How the hell does he know about my finances? Why is he talking to me like that, with a softness that I’ve never seen from him. Who is this guy?
“You don’t know anything about him,” Sarah snaps.
“I know everything that matters,” Ethan replies.
Their eyes lock and I cannot look away. When he turns back to me there is hunger there. Wild but controlled. Like he has already decided the outcome and is simply allowing us time to catch up.
“One night,” Ethan says again, gently.
“No harm. No scandal. You walk away with enough money to change your life. Or waste it. I don’t care. I have a contract already set up, ready to go, that protects you both. It’s a straightforward transaction.”
Sarah turns to me, her voice sharp with panic and hope tangled together. Is she actually considering this? Also how long is it since I last spoke, as I can’t seem to find my voice.
“Leo, this is crazy, but a million dollars? Do you know what that money could do? We could move. You wouldn’t have to work the mail room. You wouldn’t have to…”
“Stop,” Ethan says, cold and full of annoyance. Sarah flinches at his tone and sits back down.
“This is not your negotiation.”
She stares at him, her nostrils flare and I’m now starting to get pissed off like I’m being negotiated like a piece of meat.
“I’m his wife.”
“And irrelevant to my desire.”
The words are cruel in their simplicity. I feel exposed, dissected by Ethan’s gaze. Wanted in a way that has nothing to do with romance and everything to do with possession.
“I don’t belong to you,” I say, finally able to find my voice.
Ethan smiles faintly.
“No,” he agrees. “Not yet.”
The implication coils low in my stomach, terrifying and intoxicating. I also notice another sensation in my pants, but I ignore it. It must be the alcohol mixed with adrenaline. How can he be so confident and shameless? Did I give him the wrong idea at work? I know I wasn’t flirting and gave no sign of being interested in men. Did I? I flick through in my brain every interaction we have had to see if at any point I gave the impression that fucking me was ever an option.
“I won’t force you,” Ethan says. “I don’t need to.”
He glances at Sarah, impatience sharp again.
“You will.”
Sarah looks between us, anger and ambition battling in her eyes. I know her. She has already spent the money offered, her spreadsheet of dreams becoming a reality.
“Can you both not speak about me like I’m not here. I’m not owned by either of you,” I say sternly and stand from the table, facing Ethan directly.
“And I’m no whore to be bargained with.”
“So, what would it cost, Leo? Everything has a price,”Ethan says, so detached as he sits there watching for my reaction, taking a casual sip of his wine. I lean over him, blood boiling.
“Go fuck yourself, Ethan.”
Without looking back or even waiting for Sarah, I storm out of the room toward the hallway. Humiliated, offended, and turned on.
Fuck my life.
