Dominic stood up and pointed at the chair I’d fled from.
“Sit, Sutton. This interview isn’t over and I’m not chasing you down again.”
I embarrassingly complied with his demand. I walked over and sat down once more, my hands folded in my lap. I was going to have a lot to dissect later.
“Thank you.” Both Leon and Theo looked at Dominic like he’d grown a second and third head. He ignored them to stare me down. “Ten percent more than we’ve already offered and I’ll pay for your father’s medical expenses. If there are treatments he needs or trials he could participate in, I’ll make it happen.”
My heart thumped harder and harder. I’d never even considered that option. Dad’s doctors didn’t seem to think there was much to be done for his degenerative disease but I’d always had the feeling like maybe they just weren’t motivated to try harder. Maybe it was a silly hope but I’d secretly crossed my fingers and hoped for a better, more upbeat report at every appointment we went to. Like they would’ve discovered some new way to treat him since the last time we’d been in.
It was a sour reality that money could buy you time in our country. Money meant better doctors, better treatment, better outcomes. What Dominic had just held out to me was biggerthan he could possibly know. Big enough that I might have cried if I didn’t think the men in front of me would’ve been horrified.
“You’re serious?” My voice sounded quiet and meek, even to me.
“Yes.” He glanced at Theo and Leon and they both met his gaze with a single nod. It seemed as if they were giving their approval.
I squeezed my knees and stared at a spot near my feet. I had to think. I had to understand what exactly they were asking for in return. “I would need to meet the kids first. If I don’t think I’d be a positive addition to their lives, I can’t do it. Some kids and adults don’t always mesh and I would never want to put a child in a position.”
“You can meet them in the morning. Meet us back here and we’ll take you to meet them.” Leon saw the way my eyes widened and grunted. “Surely you aren’t that scared of this place.”
“Someone asked to see my…chest…and then put me on stage to get people to bid on me. I don’t want that to happen again.”
Theo’s perfectly blank face turned dark. “Who did that?”
“Benny. He won’t be working here any longer.” Dominic saw me start to say something and narrowed his eyes. “I told you I was probably going to fire him. Now that I know he asked to see your tits, he’s being fired with extreme prejudice. It’s not something we’re going to debate, Angel.”
I bit back a sigh and nodded.
“Okay. But does it help if he was just asking to get a better idea of what I looked like? For the bidding?”
Dominic growled and came around the desk. He reached down and gripped my hand.
“Come on. I’ll walk you out.”
I let out a little squeak as the big man tugged me out of the room. Back in the office I could hear Theo’s distinctively accent-less voice.
“See you soon, Sutton.”
CHAPTER 5
Dominic
Even in the suffocating heat outside the club Sutton didn’t make a move to take her cardigan off. I could see sweat forming on her cheeks beneath her glasses, though, and I couldn’t stand the thought of her burning up for no reason. I reached over and caught the shoulders of the sweater.
“Off. You’re burning up.”
She looked up at me with those huge eyes and her lips parted like she was going to argue. Even her sweet arguing wasn’t something I’d tolerate when it came to her health. She must’ve seen the reality in my gaze because she looked away and let me undress her. I saw her let out a relieved sigh when her skin felt fresh air again. She had on a light pink t-shirt in a size too large with a reading slogan on it. She saw me looking at her chest and thought I gave a shit about the slogan.
“It says ‘Reading is Lit’. It’s a little embarrassing but one of the other teachers at my school made them and it was so kind of her to put in the effort so I wear it as often as I can for her.” She crossed her arms and pushed up her full tits without realizing she was tormenting me. “That’s my car there.”
I was relieved to see a small car which looked relatively new and decent. She’d be safe driving it home. At least until I got her something new with the highest safety ratings.
“She a friend of yours?”
I didn’t miss the way Sutton’s lips turned down. She wasn’t going to tell the truth, I knew. For whatever reason she lied and agreed when her face said anything but.
I was about to tell her how I felt about lying when the primal players behind the club made themselves known. I sighed as the first scream finished and then another one started up. There wasn’t a chance in hell that Sutton wasn’t going to be terrified.
Sure enough, she was staring up at me in horror. Her bottom lip quivered and she stepped back into the door of her car. “W-what’s happening?”
