Total pages in book: 167
Estimated words: 157162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 157162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 786(@200wpm)___ 629(@250wpm)___ 524(@300wpm)
“Martini, dirty. Please.” I gave the bartender a smile before directing an arched brow at Jasper.
I knew the handful of seconds of waiting for my attention irritated him, even if he didn’t show it beyond a small twitch in his left finger, which was resting on the bar.
“I thought I was meant to be arm candy,” I murmured to him.
His fingers drummed on the surface of the bar as the bartender shook my drink. “Arm candy does not mean flashing your cunt.”
No one else would’ve heard it, but I caught the thread of irritation woven into his tone. It intrigued me. Jasper wasn’t exactly possessive. He enjoyed me toying with people. Showing people what they couldn’t have.
We stared at each other until the bartender wordlessly slid my drink along the bar.
“Thank you.” I clasped the stem, still holding eye contact with Jasper while lifting it to my lips to take a sip.
The vodka singed my throat as it went down. But I felt no warmth. “It is not up to you who I do or don’t show my cunt to,” I told him once I swallowed.
“At the least, tonight it is.” He pulled harder so my back arched, and I straightened off the bar.
“Tonight,” I agreed.
His eyes brimmed at the challenge. “For now.” He grabbed the martini glass, lifting it to his own mouth and taking a long sip.
There was a promise, warning, in his tone.
It sickened me.
Once Jasper completed the buy-in—$250K—he was put in a high-backed, cozy chair, and I was situated behind him, not that afforded any comfort despite the fact my shoes were a lot more painful than his.
Part of the game, though. I knew that, yet it infuriated me.
I knew a lot of the men at the table. Billionaires and criminals, though those were mostly one in the same. You didn’t make the kind of money they did without breaking laws. Some of those laws were regulatory, no real blood spilled, yet others hurt a lot of people.
I didn’t know exactly what Jasper was doing here, so I watched and listened carefully. Men spoke about deals, about fucking taxes, about politicians they had in their pockets. Run of the mill topics with men like this, but I catalogued every piece of information, knowing it could be a weapon or an asset for me at some unknown point in the future.
“You hear about Rhodes?”
My spine straightened at the familiar name.
Kane Rhodes was married to my friend, Avery. Motocross star—former, since he’d retired upon becoming a dad. A good man, through and through. His name should not have been in the mouths of men like these. Unless he had secrets.
The man next to me nodded. “Parted ways with his employer to become an … independent contractor.”
My mind whirled. It couldn’t have been Kane they were talking about, since I could read between the lines that this Rhodes was some kind of hitman. Had I heard Kane say he had a brother?
I always listened more intently when people offered personal details. Though I’d never run into an occasion where they’d serve me—until then.
“Very picky about his contracts, though,” a man across from me scoffed, wearing a $100K Rolex. “Wouldn’t even take my call.”
There was spite in his tone. A man used to getting what he wanted. I knew this kind of man. Knew he had buried a handful of sexual harassment cases. With the swath of men brought down by the MeToo movement, at least triple had managed to escape by buying or threatening their way out.
In other words, this man was scum.
I mulled over what I’d heard. Made plans to unearth more about this elusive Rhodes brother.
I did so even when Jasper’s hand meandered to my exposed knee, traveling up my thigh until it brushed the edge of my panties.
My breath didn’t so much as hitch, and my expression did not change. Although whatever Jasper was doing here wasn’t solely about me, he was making the most of his favor. Humiliating me, tugging at the ragged thread between us.
I knew that the men at the table were watching, eyes flickering from their hands to me. Like I had when I walked in, I didn’t lower my gaze, didn’t submit to them by exposing any shame or communicating that I would be objectified.
Jasper’s finger dipped inside my panties, to my skin that was utterly bone dry. I felt him pause. As much as I could put on a show for him, my body didn’t lie. Jasper was quickly discovering just how much things had changed. We’d never been in this precise situation before, but prior to this, he’d be able to assess how far he could push me and know I’d be turned-on by him.
Maybe in the past I might’ve gotten a thrill out of what he was doing. Before Jupiter. Before Elliot. Before the event. When I was operating under the illusion that Jasper viewed me as an equal, not an object.