I fumed inside. My anger and pain and humiliation curled and coiled over my skin until they threatened to strangle me. I was used to being a whore. I was used to being passed around, to being a toy and not a person. But not to Tyler. I wasn’t used to being treated as less than human by Tyler and I never would be.
It was my fault. I’d tried to put him off the whole humanitarian bit by convincing him I was truly a whore. Apparently I’d convinced him since he was now content to treat me like one.
Tyler’s fingers nudged my thigh to the side. I let it fall open. The short black skirt rode even higher, just barely covering the bare skin at the center. He inched his fingers up until they touched my sensitive flesh. I wanted to gasp, to squirm, but instead I went deathly still.
Let him have my body. It wasn’t worth much anyway.
Tyler fingered me, gently at least, as his mouth found my neck. Jesus, he was horny as hell. He’d certainly gotten over his reticence since last time. Maybe even that had been an act, pretending like he was reluctant, like he only fucked me because Carlos would punish me otherwise. A guy who participated in trafficking wouldn’t exactly value a woman, especially not one like me.
But, traitor that my body was, his ministrations started to affect me. Wetness coated his fingers, but that was a good thing. It kept me safe, kept my pussy from getting torn apart by invading fingers and cocks and other things. Little sparks of pleasure appeared, taunting my anger at Tyler. I wasn’t really mad at Tyler. I was mad at myself. How could I let myself be pleasured by him?
Conversationally, with his fingers in my pussy, Tyler said, “How often do you pass her around?”
I clenched around his fingers, but not in pleasure. Carlos’s hands, which had been stroking my breast, tightened painfully. Didn’t Tyler know who he was dealing with?
“Whenever I want. She’s mine,” Carlos said. I’d expected more anger, but that was probably coming. He seemed as surprised as I that Tyler would speak to him so disrespectfully.
“I would think…” Tyler trailed off thoughtfully.
“Yes?” Carlos clipped out.
“I would think if you had a girl who served you well, you wouldn’t want to share her.”
Carlos’s fingers dug into my breast. My hips jerked in a silent plea for mercy against Tyler’s hand.
“Weren’t you just the one asking to borrow her?” Carlos said in a silken tone. “And now you complain about my methods? But let’s not forget. Your area of expertise is on keeping the bitches fenced in. Me? I have years of training whores like her.”
Tyler shrugged, unconcerned with the beast in the room. “I want her, sure. I could take her off your hands even, if you were looking to sell.”
Carlos narrowed his eyes.
“I’m thinking of expanding,” Tyler explained. “Building a personal line. I could learn a lot from a guy like you. And she’d be a great starter piece.”
Carlos eyes widened briefly, which for him was practically preening. “You can purchase one from the shipment. A fresh one.”
“Sure.” Tyler shrugged. “But that one’s getting older, hmm? You could get a nice young one to use your experience on. But this one, already well behaved, would set an example for other girls I purchased.”
It was a new experience for me, being negotiated over while I was in the room. Disappointment seared me, because I’d thought, or hoped, that Tyler could be different. He’d asked if I needed help, if I needed money or something, and I thought that meant that he was a nice guy. Or maybe that our history meant something, however small. But here he was, ready to establish me as head whore on his new little harem. Fabulous.
“I’ll think about it.” Carlos stood. He dug his fingers into my hair, yanked me up beside him, and marched me off into his office. Before I knew it, I was bent over his desk, getting slammed into from behind. He was turned on, but it wasn’t from me. It was Tyler’s words that had done it, every covetous word as much a stroke to his cock as his ego.
At least my pussy was ready to take him this time, I told myself. At least I wasn’t dry.
I’d had all kinds of sex. Quick sex, painful sex, humiliating sex, but this was the least sex-like sex I’d ever had. It wasn’t about lust, it was about power. Not even ownership, which implies a certain regard for the object, even pride. This was more like getting pissed in the face by a dog. He didn’t care about his territory, he just didn’t want anyone else to have it.
Carlos’s hand tangled in my hair, curling me back in an unnatural arc as he whispered in my ear, “Yes, I taught you well, didn’t I, whore? Making the other guys want you. Fucking whore.”
His fingers groped at me, grabbed at me, mastered me before I’d even given a thought to rebellion. I’d known this evening would include sex, but I’d thought I’d have a break at least, some time to pretend I was a regular girl and not this. Stupid, really.
As my ass tilted back, he rammed in deep, too deep. He bottomed out, hitting my cervix and I couldn’t help the whimpers that escaped. Then with a harsh expulsion of air, he came inside me. Thank God.
He slipped out of me wetly, then fell back across his desk chair.
“Go on,” he said, slurred. “Entertain him. Show him how well I trained you.”
I’d expected Tyler to be on the couch where we left him. He was across the room, and that was okay, maybe he was wandering around or maybe he’d gotten some of the food that was laid out. He didn’t turn as I approached, too engrossed in something. Maybe I should have been scared, maybe that was the point of the whole charade, to put me off of him, but I was curious. Even knowing what I knew, everything about him fascinated me—the smell of his aftershave, the soft hair on his arm, the way a smile flickered on his face without him seeming to move a muscle.
So when I reached his back and he still hadn’t noticed me, I peeked around his arm. It was a stupid move, just like thinking smart-ass thoughts, the kind of thing that could get you killed. But I did it, and what I saw was enough to make me regret my brashness.
Tyler was holding what I immediately recognized to be Carlos’s phone. It was a popular kind of smartphone in a black case, so maybe it could have been Tyler’s, except I knew it wasn’t. The way he was holding it, kind of shielding it from view, his fingers hesitant on the tiny buttons would have been enough. But the little black cable that stuck out of it, some kind of wire, proved the whole thing. He was downloading data or uploading a virus or something, but it wouldn’t be good.
A sharp intake of breath ripped through the room, and I realized it had come from me. He whirled on me, and I watched with morbid fascination as emotions flashed across his face. Fear, anger, frustration—things at once familiar and foreign. Resignation, that one I knew well.
The heavy clod of footsteps signaled Carlos’s return. Tyler yanked the cord from the phone and slid it onto the console table. The cord disappeared, presumably into Tyler’s pockets. His eyes met mine, daring me to say anything, asking me not to.
Carlos gave me a smirk. “Hungry, chica?”
He was always nicest after an rough fuck.
I led the way to the dinner table, hoping my walk didn’t look as robotic as it felt. I barely had control over my limbs. I felt numb even as I sat and ate and conversed. All I was thinking about was that wire. And the look in those blue eyes—caught.
What had he been doing? Well, that was clear enough. He’d been spying. Tampering.
But why? God, it had been bad enough when I’d thought he was in league with Carlos. Carlos would just as soon screw a business partner over if he thought he could get away with it. And he got away with a lot. But to turn the tables and betray Carlos? Shit. Tyler wouldn’t just get himself killed. He’d get himself destroyed. Tortured. Maybe his family killed, if he had any left. I remembered he had a mother back when we’d been neighbors, though she hadn’t been home much. God help whatever girl he might be seeing. Although right now that might be me.
The specifics didn’t matter. Did he think he
could make a few extra bucks somehow, maybe skimming off the top? Or was he thinking he could cut Carlos out of the loop entirely? Whatever. He would lose. And then he would die.
And somehow—still—I couldn’t let that happen.
I had to warn him. I had to stop him. It wouldn’t be easy to dissuade him, I knew that much, if he thought the rewards were big. Besides, I’d seen the stubborn glint in his eyes. But I would try. And I would succeed—I had to.
Maybe I could use my feminine wiles. A wry smile traced my lips at that. Such as they were.
Carlos took a large swallow of wine. “The thing about whores is that you don’t want to break them. Then they are worthless. You want to keep them hoping, as if one day they might escape.”
“Really? Why is that?” Tyler’s voice was flat, emotionless. Was this how he’d sound giving orders to a battered, but not yet broken, whore?
“It gives them a little fight.” Carlos’s eyes had glassed over, as if he were far away. “That’s what you want. A little fight.”
“Hmm,” Tyler said. “I’ll have to keep that in mind. I always thought that you’d want an obedient slave.”
“Obedience is only worth anything when it’s earned. And trust me, I’ve earned it. Right, Mia?”
Except I knew he didn’t want me to answer. I felt Tyler’s eyes on me, but I stared down at my plate, pretending not to care that he wanted to learn how to train a slave.
My opportunity came sooner than I was expecting. The phone in question rang from the corner of the room, vibrating on the table. Tyler and I both froze, as if the phone itself could incriminate us. Incriminate him, really, although I was now in league with him by keeping silent. Carlos went over and answered it. He turned back to Tyler, and I held my breath.
“Feel free to amuse yourself with her while I take this,” Carlos said mildly.
As soon as Carlos stepped outside, Tyler’s gaze snapped to mine like a puzzle piece sliding into place. “Are you going to say anything?” he asked, sounding unconcerned and fooling no one.
I didn’t even know where to start. “Jesus, Tyler. Who the fuck do you think you’re messing with here? You’re going to get yourself killed, do you understand me? Killed.”
“That’s not important,” he said. “I asked if you were going to talk.”
“And what if I am?” I asked. “Shit, I probably should tell him. Then you can get the hell away from here and never come back.”
Then the chair wasn’t holding me anymore and my back was against the wall. Tyler’s body loomed above me.
“This isn’t a game,” he ground out.
His hands were on my wrists, holding them, squeezing them. I didn’t like to be restrained. Maybe I should have been used to it, but hot panic flashed through me. I yanked my arms uselessly. He didn’t let go, but he did relax his hold. I took a deep breath, ignoring the racing of my heart.
“What’s it going to take?” he asked. “Money? A girl’s gotta eat?”
My own words from his lips stung. He thought so little of me, which was somehow more painful than the fact that it was all true. I was the worst sort of whore because I took Carlos’s money and then worked to betray him. Because I would convince Tyler he could trust me, and then do anything I could to keep him safe, even if it meant stopping him. Disloyal puta.
“Sure,” I choked out. “Pay me off.”
“How much?” he asked.
“Make an offer.” I rolled my body against his.
He sucked in a breath. “Fuck, Mia.”
“Fuck, Mia,” I mimicked. It was immature, but I didn’t care. He already thought the worst of me. He could beat the insolence out of me when he bought me. If Carlos didn’t kill us first.
“How much to get you to leave?” he asked. “Permanently. Go far away.”
It was my turn to suck in a breath. His disgust of me went deeper than I’d thought. Pain rattled around in my chest like a pin ball before finally dropping down into the pit of my stomach. Men had hated me before him, but at least they’d wanted me, even if it was only for sex and to act as the occasional punching bag. Despite the erection poking my stomach, he didn’t want me. He wanted to get rid of me.
Who was I kidding? I couldn’t blame him. If I could get rid of me, I’d do it in a heartbeat. I stared at the pulse that beat in the hollow of his throat, so steady.
I had no fight left, no hope. “Carlos would find me. He’d kill me.”
Tyler must have recognized that I didn’t pose a threat to him because he let me go. But he didn’t back up. He stood, broad chest to heaving breasts, breath to breath.
“I’d protect you,” he said.
My laugh rang out like the rattle of an empty tin cup. “You and what army?”
“Not the army,” he said pointedly.
My eyes snapped to his. And the final chink fell, like a deadbolt locking into place. Witness protection…the Holy Grail that had been dangled in front of me by another man just recently. That man had been with the FBI, and I realized that Tyler was one of them, undercover. Of course. A laugh burbled to the surface. Inappropriate, this entire situation was inappropriate. “You’re faking it, aren’t you? You’re the fucking cops.”
He frowned and glanced around, adorably peeved.
I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it myself. The golden boy of the neighborhood, the soldier, Mr. Perfect. He could never have been a bad guy, the lighting was all wrong.
I thought of Zachary, Carlos’s nephew and my contact in the FBI. Dark hair, a grim mouth, and tortured eyes. That was a man who belonged in the underworld. Only an irrepressible sense of honor had kept him on the straight and narrow despite his familial ties.
They couldn’t have been more opposite, Zachary and Tyler. One man’s redemption, the other a fallen angel. But it turned out they worked together, fought together. I was just a pawn on the board.
“Know a guy named Zachary?” I asked.
He stiffened. “Why?”
“He’s my contact,” I whispered, giving myself away, trusting him once again.
His eyes narrowed. I could see when he got it, when he understood that I was with the FBI as well. “I knew Zachary had an informant, but…” He trailed off, looking almost disappointed. Well, I could guess why. He couldn’t get rid of me as long as I was an informant, as long as I supplied him and Zachary with information.
“What was all that shit about buying me then?” I demanded.
He looked away and then back at me, guiltily. “I was just trying to get him out of the room.”
It seemed like a stretch. He wanted to see the phone, so he goaded Carlos into dragging me off to his cave like a Neanderthal. Well, I was used to getting played. The disappointment stabbed a little deeper than I expected. As much as his offer to buy me from Carlos had made him a dick, I’d liked the interest he’d taken in me. It felt good to be wanted. Now I knew I was just a feint, a slight of hand.
Look over there, fuck that girl, while I take what I need.
Well, I told myself, be grateful that he’s really a good guy. It had eaten me up to think I’d been wrong about him. Or that the world had so hardened him that he’d turned criminal. But his halo was safely shiny, blinding beside the worn-down horns of a whore.
He put his hand on mine, grounding me. “Can I trust you?”
Could he trust me? Yes, to the ends of the earth. I would die for him. That part wasn’t a huge sacrifice, considering, but more than that, I would kill for him. Anything he wanted, though it was probably for the best that he didn’t know that.
“Yes,” I said.
“Good,” he said, though the air around us stank with doubt and suspicion. “We can meet up later. Just lay low.”
He pulled his hand back as Carlos came into the room, walking away like he didn’t know me, like he didn’t care.
Chapter Four
The air in the shadowed corridor vibrated with a presence just before Leo grabbed me and slammed me against a wall in an alcove.
My body was a fluid thing, accustomed to moving with the flow, bending but not breaking. I took the hit without a sound.
“What’s with the new guy?” he growled.
Leo would see Tyler as competition. Hell, he was Leo’s competition.
Where I was Carlos’s cock-sucking whore, Leo was his right-hand man. I’d heard they were distant cousins or something, which was a big plus for a guy like Carlos. I was shocked he’d brought in someone on the outside for something so important. He must be nervous. Or maybe Leo was on the outs, but if that were the case, he shouldn’t even be breathing.
“I don’t know. It’s some big deal they have going down.”
Leo shook me, banging my head against the wall. It was a testament to how upset he was, because he usually tried not to hurt me, except for the times Carlos wanted him to hurt me.
“Stop dicking around,” he said. “You know about the girls. And you know that’s what Martinez is here for. I want to know what happened last night.”
“What do you think happened? I was supposed to ‘entertain’ the new guy. You think they consult with me on business matters?”
“You have ears.”
I sighed. “Look, I want the new guy gone as much as you. But I don’t have a say either.”
“Did he hurt you?” Leo looked down at my body, as if he could see my injuries through my clothes. It wasn’t like when Tyler had asked me that, though, with a mix of horror and hesitation. Leo was downright curious.
He had a sadistic nature just like Carlos. The difference was that he also had a conscience. So he tried to hide his sadism, to repress it, and maybe even would have been successful if he hadn’t hooked up with a guy like Carlos. Carlos made use of Leo’s propensity for giving pain, whether it was to torture information out of an enemy or punish a slut for his amusement.
“Not more than usual.”
“Okay.” Leo released me. I was always being slammed up against walls, forever having to redeem myself to men. And maybe I wouldn’t have minded so much if they gave a shit about me in the end.