“You’re right. The business you see? That’s only half my kingdom. It’s the shield to keep the rest of it safe and protected.”
“What’s the other half? What do you do?”
“Many things.” He kisses my chest again and now his hand strays to the fasteners keeping the corset together. They flip open as he deftly undoes them. “I threaten. I steal. I import drugs. I sell illicit goods. I’m a killer, a liar, and a thief.” My breasts spill loose as he shoves the corset open. His tongue latches to my right nipple, sucking hard. I moan, grinding harder, panting with the effort and the pleasure. “I’m a monster. I’m a thug and a brute. I burn what gets in my way and I’ve never once in my life cared about the body underneath me, so long as I get what I want in the end. You don’t want to know the real me, Deanna.”
“Fuck,” I moan, bucking into him faster, pleasure building alongside my fear. “I know you, Prime. You pretend—you can lie—but I know you.”
“You don’t.” He sucks my nipples, licking them, leaving trails of spit. “You can’t begin to guess.”
“You’re a criminal. You’ve always been a criminal.”
“Worse than that. So much worse.”
“Fuck,” I gasp as he reaches down between my legs, lips at my nipple. His fingers shove my panties aside and plunge into my soaking wet pussy, and I can’t stand it anymore. He’s a beast, he’s right, he’s every dark thought I’ve ever had, all the horrible monstrosities lurking in the back of my mind, the ghosts trying to drag me down to hell. He’s a devil and I love it as his fingers curl, slamming into me, palm grinding against my clit, mouth sucking my nipples like he wants to drown in me.
I shatter against him, moaning his name. He keeps me pinned as I come and I’m helpless. I break and break, whimpering as I do it, whispering his name and hating him and wanting him all at once, the fear making the pleasure heightened in a way I’ve never experienced before. My world tunnels and there’s only him until I can breathe again.
He pulls back, kneeling and looking down at me. I gasp for air, vision blurry, ears ringing. My head’s like cotton wool and I’m floating ten inches above my satisfied flesh.
“You’ll hate me when this is over.” He slides his pussy-drenched fingers into his mouth and sucks. “And I’ll hate myself too for letting you.”
Prime leaves me on the floor. I watch the ceiling until the sweat on my skin cools, the spit on my nipples dries, and I can think clearly.
I’ve always known. At some level it’s hard to ignore how shady Prime is. But I’ve pushed that side because the money’s been good, the work’s satisfying, and the job helps take care of my parents.
Now it’s in my face. It’s in my bedroom.
I married a monster and I’ll have to find out how far I’m willing to go to get what I want.
CHAPTER 19
DEANNA
Islam the copy machine’s lid down and hit the green button.
Lights flash, gears whirr, and a perfect facsimile of a spreadsheet I’ve been annotating falls into the tray.
I do it again. And again. And again. Ignoring the fact that several of my coworkers, none of whom actually speak to me, wander in and out of the office supplies closet and run away like I’m a lunatic.
Why the hell do we even have a copy machine? And a whole bank of faxes that I’ve never seen run a single time since I’ve been here?
There’s probably some nefarious and illegal reason. Like he’s selling meth via phone lines or something. Maybe the FBI can’t track faxes.
Or maybe it’s just an office with outdated machinery.
Everything feels wrong now.
All the work I’ve ever done here is tainted.
Drugs. Gambling. Blackmail.
Murder.
What else have I been a part of?
I hear motion behind me. A squirrelly older man named Jonathan lurks in the doorway, studying me curiously. I wonder how much he knows. Does he sling crack on street corners for Prime on the weekend? Is he moving numbers around to make sure the feds never find the funny books and all the crooked cash?
“Do you need something?” I snap and it comes out way harsher than I should.
