“You’re upset.”
“I’m pissed.”
“I see that.” My tone went warmer, coaxing. “Frank, I have never… sold myself to customers.”
“Yeah, you all say that.”
“All? Frank, it’s just you and me right now.”
“Teasing whores, all of you,” he snarled, yanking me closer.
The pain was a white flash across my vision that had me blinking back tears.
“Frank, please. This is me you’re talking to.”
“Always flirting. Always hinting at things you never let me have. Then I catch you… giving it out to some random tourist.Did you do it just for the money? Or did you like it? I bet you liked it, you slut.”
Suddenly, horribly, I felt it.
The shift.
Every other time, rebuffs had been met with a certain level of playful frustration.
A cat-and-mouse game.
But he’d gotten tired of the chase.
Now, he had me in his claws.
And I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like what was going to come next.
“Frank, I—”
“You think I’m stupid?” His voice was a slap, making me jerk back. “Getting diamond necklaces without spreading your legs. No man is stupid enough to spend that much without getting pussy.”
Bile slid up my throat, making me regret all the food I’d just eaten.
There was no flirting my way out of this.
There was no fawning that would ease the sharp edges of his rage.
“I got a drink at the bar,” I insisted, chin lifting, eyes holding his. “Alone. Let’s go ask the bartender—” My arm screamed as I tried to walk in the direction of the hotel.
But he just pulled me closer.
“You’re gonna give me what you owe me,” he snapped.
And I was suddenly too aware of the space between buildings, the cover of darkness that could hide all kinds of sins.
I had to get away.
I had to…
“Hey!” a voice called, sounding slow and thick.
High? Drunk?
“Hey, I know you!” the voice declared, making both Frank and me turn to watch him stumbling toward us, his gait so unstable that it was a miracle he stayed upright.
