“Of course not. Not now that I knowyouwant me.” It was the right thing to say. His chest puffed out a bit and a satisfied smile spread over his cold face.
Yep. Father of the year.“You do want me, right?” I bit my lip, trying to look unsure.
“Of course, dear. Look at you!” He lifted my chin in a similar way that Grayson always did, and I hated it. “Although, I would like it if you wore less mascara. I like my girls a little more natural.”
What a piece of work. It’s been all of two days and he’s already telling me how I should look. I tried not to let the rage boiling in my body show on my face. “I will be sure to remember that,” I bit out with a lovely smile.
He didn’t seem to notice my hate. He was smiling down at me as if he’d seen an angel.
“You are perfect, aren’t you?” he said before dipping his head and pushing his lips against mine.
It felt wrong. It wasn’t a bad kiss, although he was a bit forceful in getting his tongue in my mouth. But it felt wrong. So wrong.
It wasn’t Grayson.
My stomach turned. It was Charles. The man who has his assistants killed when they try to quit because they’ve seen too much. The man who let his henchmen first have a little fun with the poor women beforehand.
I couldn’t stomach any more of his tongue. I was ready to pull away, but his hand came up behind my head, forcing me to kiss him a while longer. He was getting off on it. The control.
By the time he let me go, my cheeks were warm with fury, but Charles, of course, saw it as a blush. I caught a glimpse of Grayson over his shoulder. He was outside the van, his hands balled into fists as he stared at us. He had seen it too. How Charles forced me to keep kissing him. Luckily, Gemma was there, her back to me, a hand on his chest, as she tried to calm Grayson. I exhaled a breath as Grayson took a step back, his eyes flitting to Gemma. Whatever she had said to him worked.
Charles and Wesley were perfectly oblivious to how close they came to their deaths. Wesley was holding the door to the store, the bag of gold in hand, trying to mind his own business and Charles was grinning smugly, like he had concurred me.
“We can continue this after we sell your gold.” The lust in his eyes made my stomach turn again. He pulled me into the store.
I was hit by a metallic smell as we made our way to the glass counters. Like dirty pennies. The whole place felt dirty. There was an assortment of jewellery on display, but I did not look closely, as the man behind the counter caught my attention. His small eyes raked over my body. He was practically salivating. I knew with every fibre of my being, that no womanshould ever be left alone in a room with this man. I could almost hear the screams of the women who’d found themselves in such a situation. How come I never had this strong a feeling towards Charles? Although he had men doing his dirty work most times, he was not much better.
“Ah, Monsieur Anderson. Please come through.” He gestured to a door, leading to the back of the store. His voice perfectly fitted with the way he looked. Menacing.
I followed Charles behind the counters and through the door, for the first time glad to have Wesley at my back. We walked into a dim-lit room, foul smelling and dirty. There were tools and papers scattered everywhere, including the floor, which was sticky for some reason. In one corner was a mountain of take-out boxes, bulging out of the trash can, covered in black and green mould.
The cagey store owner made his way around a table and waited. Wesley lifted the bag onto the table and set it down with a heavy thump before backing away. The man greedily opened the bag and stacked the gold bars on the table.
“Ah,” he said as he inspected the bars a bit closer. It almost looked as if he was about to sniff them. “Four-hundred-ounce bars, Swiss made, and very, very pure.” He licked his lips and nodded in appreciation as if he was turned on by them. “Very pretty.” He looked up at me. “Almost as pretty as you.”
I kept my face bored and my head high, as if his slimy eyes on me didn’t make me want to gag.
Charles snorted a laugh, his chest puffing out as if he’d just received a compliment. He put his hand possessively on the small of my back, grinning widely.
“Where did you say you got them?” The man’s eyes darted between me and Charles.
“Now that isn’t really your business, is it?” I answered coolly with a mock smile.
The man shifted his eyes down, glancing over the bars again, nodding with a grin. Charles was staring at me with pride.
“I’ll give you full value of the gold, if you let me have an hour with her,” he directed his question to Charles, ignoring the death glare I gave him.
My fingers were tingling from the adrenaline coursing through me. Would Charles do that? I turned to him as he started laughing, his chest bouncing.
He put an arm around my shoulders. “Any other woman I would agree. But this one; she’s all mine.” He looked down at me as if he’d just given me a compliment.
I tried and failed to gather a smile on my face. I wanted nothing more than to run from these monsters.
The slimy man pulled up his shoulders. “Eighty percent it is.”
“How does it feel to be a millionaire?” Charles asked as we walked out of the store, Wesley carrying my bag of money.
I smiled dimly. “Actually, I’m not feeling very well. I think there might have been something wrong with my steak from last night. Would you mind taking me back to the hotel?” I took his hand. “I know you had dinner planned, but I promise I’ll make it up to you.” I couldn’t bare one more second with him. I had to get away.
