When I accepted it, he beamed brightly.
“A toast to our success!” The wraith pitched forward, belly dragging the desktop as he clinked his glass against mine.
I gave him a tight smile and tipped the flute just enough to wet my lips. Maslow drained his like it was water, then collapsed into his chair.
I set my glass aside and nudged the folder across the glossy surface of the desk.
“I believe you’ll find everything in order,” I said smoothly. “The anonymous bidder withdrew their offer, after which the seller was more than happy to agree to a quick closing.”
Maslow gave a low, satisfied hum. “Record time, I’d say.”
“Yes, well, no need to drag our heels about these things. That’s why you paid me.”
He nodded, smug. “Speaking of payment, I assume you’d like to collect. Shall I call him up here for you?” Pushing out of his chair, he made for the door. “I’ve kept him nice,” he added over his shoulder. “Ready to be sent off the lot with a full tank.”
He laughed at the joke and paused with one hand on the doorknob. When he looked back, his grin was all teeth. “Unless you’d prefer him empty and crawling to you. I’m happy to oblige.” His eyes gleamed with that predator’s shine, and fury flared hot in my chest. But I kept it banked, cool.
“Zephyr, yes. I’ll be taking him immediately.” I let the next words fall like lead. “And the rest of them too.”
Maslow released the knob and turned slowly, squinting. “The rest of whom?”
“The dancers. All of them.” My tone left no room for misunderstanding. “Consider their debts to you paid and their contracts null and void. Or should I say renegotiated?”
Maslow barked a sharp laugh. “You can’t do that. The deal was for one dancer.” He held up a thick finger. “The redheaded whore. And frankly, you’re doing me a favor taking him off my hands. Little shit’s done nothing but raise Cain in this place.”
For a moment, all I could see was Zephyr, curled up in my bed with tears tracking down his cheeks as he whispered,“I don’t want to be a whore.”
I’d called him that. I’d thought so little of him when all this began. Made him smaller than he was ever meant to be. But I’d meant it when I told him he wasn’t. He never had been. Now, he never would be.
“There was no cap on the compensation,” I reminded the wraith. “Only that it would be at my discretion. In return for your property on Fairmont, I’m taking these four walls and everything in them. Except for you.”
Maslow’s face twisted, caught between fury and disbelief.
I didn’t care. Let him rage.
He could call Zephyr whatever names he wanted.
He’d never touch him again.
The wraith’s features went slack before he began tosputter. “You can’t…” His cheeks splotched angry red. “That’s outlandish. Extortion!”
Retrieving the folder from the desktop, I flipped to the signed contract, then held it out in the space between us. “It’s all here and signed for. Compensation to be determined upon successful closing.”
Maslow’s eyes bulged as they scanned the line of text. He blinked, taking it in, then fixed me with a frigid glare. “This isn’t what you said.”
“IsaidI wanted entertainment.” I gestured to the glass wall behind him and the stage beyond that. “This is the entertainment industry, is it not?”
Maslow knocked the folder away, littering the floor with papers. His finger stabbed into my chest, swaying me back as his voice rose to a shout. “We settled for afavor!”
Fabric rustled and leather creaked as Colette rose to her feet.
“We settled on my terms,” I replied coolly. “You assumed my price; I didn’t correct you.”
Maslow’s mouth opened again, probably to yell more nonsense, but this time he hesitated. Colette’s heels struck the floor as she took her position at my side. Her hand rested inside her suit coat on the revolver tucked out of sight.
I smiled, slow and vicious.
Maslow’s face twisted with rage, and his hand curled into a fist. “You cheating son of a bitch!”
