Bane

by Kristin Mayer

  I ignored the compliment and got straight to business. The sooner I was done, the sooner I was out of there. “No problem. Hampton briefed me that you wanted me to check over all your security measures.”

  Jewel lithely sat in the chair in front of me and pushed her breasts out. No doubt this woman was used to using her body to try and get her way. I’m not sure why she was coming on to me. That shit was a complete turnoff.

  “Yes, supposedly, we had a top-of-the-line system put in, but I want to make sure there are no gaps.” She paused and raised an eyebrow. Lowering her voice, she continued. “We have a clientele that requires complete secrecy.”

  I acted like I wasn’t aware of what really went on. “For dating?”

  Giving me a knowing smile, Jewel didn’t give much away. “Yes.”

  “Well, show me the system and I’ll take a look.”

  She stood and I followed suit as she spoke. “Perfect. I’ll need you to sign the appropriate disclosures.”

  “Of course.”

  Following Jewel out of the room, I wasn’t able to resist looking in the Diamond Room. The mysterious woman was gone. I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or disappointed. That thought bothered me.

  Sitting at a desk, I made notes of all the gaps I’d found. This top-of-the-line security system Jewel installed was a joke. A rookie hacker could get in without breaking a sweat. I needed more caffeine before I met with Jewel to disclose my findings. Within thirty minutes I’d be out of here. Heading to the break room I’d been shown earlier, I easily found the coffee machine. It was some fancy machine that gave a person all sorts of choices. Black coffee was the only kind there was in my opinion. I pushed the button on the machine and waited for the coffee to pour.

  After today, I was done with this place and Hampton could decide if he wanted to get involved in an undercover prostitution business that catered to the rich. Before coming, I sent him the info but he asked for me to move forward with my analysis of the system.

  A few girls giggled as they walked behind me. With my coffee in hand, I turned and nearly ran into the brunette beauty.

  “Shit.” I barely managed to keep my coffee from spilling as I cursed.

  “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you like that. I’m Maren. I mean … I’m Candy.” She glanced away shamefully. That voice. Those eyes. The creamy skin that lead to her tits had my dick hardening. And in an instant, the sensations I’d felt earlier returned in full force. Hell, I’d love to taste her.

  Fuck.

  We needed to stop running into each other. I was almost done with this job which meant I’d be done here. I took a sip of coffee and watched Maren—at least I assumed that was her real name. Candy seemed like something made up for hooking.

  Taking a deep breath, Maren met my gaze again. Like many times, my silence prompted people to keep talking to fill the quietness. “Are you looking for a date? I saw you in the lobby earlier.”

  “Are you asking me on a date?” I quirked a brow. What was I doing?

  Maren flushed and stammered, “Umm—No, I’m not—I mean, I—wait.”

  It was evident I affected her like she did me. The only difference … I was able to hide it. Taking a deep breath, she continued, seeming more confident. “I joined today. I wasn’t meaning to overstep any bounds. When I saw you earlier, it surprised me that a guy like you was in a place like this.”

  This woman didn’t seem to fit in here. I saw humiliation in the depths of her eyes. “I could say the same about you. Are you okay? I can help if you’re not.”

  A slight downward motion in her lips was barely perceptible along with the dullness in her eyes. “Sometimes life deals you a shitty hand. I’m okay. I promise.”

  Truer words were never spoken. Without another word, Maren grabbed a Coke from the counter and left. There was a lot more to this woman’s story. From the way she looked, I wasn’t sure if she actually wanted to be on the backside of this business, but that she was being forced. I was intrigued and that was a bad-fucking-thing.

  Glancing at my watch, I saw it was time to meet with Jewel. Maren wasn’t anywhere to be found in the hallway that led to my desk. My mind only wanted to think about her and not this joke of a security system. I am almost done with this job.

  As I rounded the corner, Jewel was at the desk, waiting. This felt awkward as she provocatively leaned against the wall. She was trying too hard and that felt off. “So, what do you think of the system?”

  I took another sip of coffee as I watched Jewel’s movements closely to see if I could pinpoint what was off. I looked at my notes on the black shiny desk. “I think you need to ask for your money back. It’s substandard software. The firewall provides no real barrier and the encryption for all your secured files is not complicated. I’d suggest upgrading to actual secure software. It’s top of the line.”

  She groaned and licked her lips. “I knew they were lying. How fast do you think you could get it installed?”

  “I’ll call his office and have a quote sent to you. If you agree, they’ll put you on the schedule.”

  Jewel stepped closer to me and her tits brushed against my arm. “So, would you be installing it?”

  I stepped back. There was no interest. No way was I going there with her. “I’m not part of the installation team. They’re good. Hampton only hires the best.”

  Her tone turned more seductive. “Thank you, Bane. If you’re ever looking for some company, I hope you keep Discrete Encounters in mind. I bet I could find you the perfect person.”

  Without thinking, I blurted the woman’s name she’d told me in the break room. “Do you have a Candy on staff?”

  Fuck. Where had that come from? I never spoke before thinking.

  “The new girl?” Jewel quirked her eyebrow as she watched me. I’d already messed up. Might as well see where it goes. Hated feeling like my balls were in a vice when I exposed my thoughts.

  I stayed straight-faced and took another sip. “Yes, I want to book an evening with her.”

  “When?” Jewel look affronted.

  “When is she available?”

  Business mode took over as she looked at her phone, before speaking. “Tomorrow. You’ll have to pass the initial screenings. There is an extra fee for expediting.”

  I wanted to see Maren again. Plus, I’d get to make sure she wasn’t being forced into something she didn’t’ want to do. “That’s fine. If I pass, I’ll take tomorrow. I want to reserve the rest of the month too, in case tomorrow works out.”

  What the hell? The whole month.

  Jewel’s expression became shocked as she cocked her head. “There’s a fifty percent non-refundable deposit. Candy’s rate is three-thousand a night. Nothing is guaranteed. It’s up to the girl. And all this is assuming you meet our requirements.”

  Pulling out my credit card, I handed it over. “That’s fine.”

  “We’ll also need the place you plan to meet her for our approval.”

  I had no idea where I was going to meet her. First, I needed to think about everything I’d done before I committed to anything else. “I’ll send over the location later.”

  Taking my credit card, a pleased smile came across her face like something had been won. Maybe the awkward behavior was about enticing a new client. I said, “I’ll send over the particulars in an hour.”

  “Okay. Come with me and we’ll start the paperwork.”

  Something with Maren wasn’t adding up, and I wanted to figure her out. What the fuck had I gotten myself into?

  COMING OUT OF the lush five-star hotel’s bathroom, I tried to create a safe haven in my mind. I was about to become someone’s whore. What was I doing? Abruptly, I changed my direction from the bed to the door, wanting to leave … escape. Then, I stopped in my tracks, remembering why I was here in the first place.

  Frankie, my older brother, was the reason.

  “Gah!” I screamed and went back to the bed, sitting in a huff.

  There was still five minu
tes until I met some pervert that couldn’t get a girl on his own but had to pay for it. I wanted to cry, but I couldn’t let Frankie down. He’d raised me and been there for me my entire life.

  Every part of this situation was messed up.

  When I turned eighteen, something switched. The responsible brother who’d raised me got mixed up with the wrong crowd. He was a shadow of the loving brother he used to be, but I couldn’t leave him. Mom died giving birth to me. Dad died in a car accident when I was thirteen. If it hadn’t been for Frankie, I would have been absorbed into the system. But at eighteen, Frankie took on the responsibility of raising me and sacrificed a lot. He’d gone to work full-time and gave up his football scholarship.

  Then, when I became a legal adult, Frankie digressed to being a juvenile. Now, I took care of him. In fact, I’d been taking care of him for the last nine years. My twenties being nearly squandered away as I was nearing twenty-eight.

  I had three jobs to try and keep up with Frankie’s gambling addiction. But, two months ago, Frankie got into some serious debt with a different loan shark. Apparently, he felt lucky that night and knew it was his time to shine. He’d been wrong, so wrong, and lost everything. Since then, I’d sold my car and all my possessions of any value. It wasn’t enough to cover the fifty thousand Frankie needed by the end of the month to keep him alive.

  If we paid back the fifty, he still owed two-hundred thousand more. I wasn’t sure how we’d come up with rest.

  How could Frankie do this to us? To me?

  Becoming one of Discrete Encounters’ harlots was the only way to save his life. Of course, it was one of his ideas that Frankie heard from one of his gambling buddies. The job provided a means to earn large amounts of money quickly, since I earned fifty percent of what I made. We were twenty grand short of meeting the fifty and if I could stay booked, we’d exceed it. A shudder ran through my body at the thought of what I had to do to accomplish getting the money.

  Sweaty strange hands would touch me. I would become cheap. A whore. Nothing more than a shell of who I’d been. The untold damage would never leave me, haunting me forever. Any innocence that remained would be gone—forever. I wasn’t a whore. But if I went through with this … I would become one.

  Frankie sacrificed for me for five years and I couldn’t let him die. After this time though, I was done bailing him out. Hopefully, after all this, enough of my soul remained intact to gain some semblance of life back.

  I was wrecked inside. Torn. Not knowing if I would follow the path of self-preservation or sacrifice.

  Click.

  My head shot toward the door and I drew the robe tighter around me. The modest lingerie felt like I wore nothing. The door opened and I knew I couldn’t do this. My heart went to my throat and I wanted to throw up. There was no way I could do this. I’d have to figure out another way to get the money. There had to be another way.

  Standing, I wrapped my arms around myself. Whoever came through those doors, I would let them know I changed my mind.

  I couldn’t do this.

  To my surprise, the gorgeous man from Discrete Encounters walked in. An involuntary shudder ran through my body like before. On a molecular level, my body was driven toward him, but I remained in place. He was gorgeous with the bad boy edge, his bald head and muscular body.

  With the same dark and brooding attitude, the nameless man locked his dark eyes on me and a shiver ran up my spine, which was the same reaction I had yesterday. We’d been so close in the break room and I couldn’t help the flirty side that came out, never thinking he’d be the one paying for sex with me.

  The man took a step farther in the room, letting the door shut behind him. Knots laid heavy in my stomach as I took a step back, intimidation filling me. What did this man want with me?

  There was no doubt he could have his pick of women if he wanted, yet he used basically a prostitution business in disguise. Regardless, I still needed to leave. I couldn’t be paid for sex. If only we’d met outside of Discrete Encounters.

  “Maren.” That deep voice had so much authority laced within it.

  I took another step back, fighting my response to get closer. “There’s been a misunderstanding. I can’t perform the service you paid for. I’m sorry I wasted your time.”

  “Talking?”

  What? Talking? Is he serious?

  I was stunned into silence. Under his intense gaze, I felt urged to begin speaking. “I-I-I thought you wanted sex?”

  Taking a seat, he watched my every move. He gave a slight shake of his head. “I don’t pay for my fucks. If you want to leave you can.”

  Was he serious? All he wanted to do was talk. Hesitantly, I sat on the green bedspread that was adjacent to the cream-colored couch.

  “You only want to talk?”

  “Yes.”

  I watched him closely to see if there was any hint of a lie. There didn’t seem to be. Talking for money. For some reason, that still made me feel cheap. Maybe if I was dressed more appropriately, I’d feel less vulnerable. “Can I change first?”

  “Yes.”

  I nodded and silently went to the bathroom. This was the strangest situation I’d ever found myself in. What was wrong with him if he paid girls to simply talk to him? My heart hammered in my chest like a freight train. That voice. It was deep and vibrated something on the molecular level within me. Attraction was not an issue, but trepidation overtook my thoughts. Changing out the silk lingerie, I put on my jeans and pale-yellow sweater.

  Creaking the door open, the man still sat on the couch. His gaze trained on me. I smoothed my hands down the front of my jeans.

  Taking a seat on the edge of the bed, the man kept staring at me. He was a man of few words and gave me the urge to fill the silence. “I don’t think I know your name.”

  “Bane Bradley.”

  If I was going to stay, I needed more. “Why did you pay to talk to me?”

  He shrugged while running his hand over his bald head, dark eyes watching me. “I’m not sure. Jewel, the owner, asked if I wanted some company and I said your name.”

  “Why?”

  “I find you intriguing. I wasn’t busy. So, I figured why the hell not.”

  I shook my head. “You don’t give much away, Bane.”

  “I could say the same about you.” A smirk appeared as I crinkled my brow. There was no way I wanted to delve into my issues. Trust me, I knew how it looked with helping Frankie and I loathed myself for feeling like I had to. Needing a subject change, I asked, “Would you like a drink?”

  Rubbing the back of his neck, Bane seemed tense as he responded, “Bourbon.”

  This would give me something to do while I kept trying to process everything. Standing up, I took in an imperceptible steady breath as I made my way to the black granite bar across the room. The ice bucket was filled. Quickly, I made the drink and grabbed myself a bottle of water from the mini bar.

  My fingers flexed before I grabbed Bane’s drink, trying to squelch the nerves. Bane’s gaze never faltered off me as I came back to him. The way he appreciatively took me in, I had the impression he was as attracted to me as I was him—at least for some reason I hoped that was the case. But, I was probably reading everything wrong. The situation was confusing. After handing him the drink, I took a seat on the far end of the couch.

  He tipped the glass to me. “Thank you. Have you decided if you’re leaving or staying? Regardless, you’ll be paid.”

  “Staying. I’m staying. No sex.”

  “No sex.”

  I believed him, but it didn’t keep the thoughts of what it would feel like if he touched me. Nervously, I rubbed my hands together while I cleared my mind of all the thoughts my mind conjured of what Bane looked like without clothes.

  This was crazy.

  I am crazy.

  More silence resumed. Bane took appreciative sips of his bourbon. Unscrewing and re-screwing the lid on the bottled water, I watched him, hoping to piece this together. Bane was in co
mplete control of his emotions and actions. Every move seemed calculated.

  I decided to keep talking since he was paying me to do so. Taking his money felt wrong, but I wasn’t ready for our time together to be over. “What do you do for a living?”

  “I’m in security. It’s why I was at Discrete Encounters. What do you do?” His eyes went wide. “I mean. I meant. Fuck, I didn’t mean to ask that.”

  Sarcastically, I chuckled. “What don’t I do? Through the week, I work mornings at a dentist office, afternoons at a vet clinic walking dogs, and weekends I wait tables.”

  “And an escort?” Calling her a hooker didn’t feel right.

  An awkward silence filled the room. Bane thought I was a hooker. Who could blame him? I responded, “I think we know my escorting days are over after this talk. I’m not cut out to be a prostitute.”

  For the first time, I saw humor in Bane’s eyes versus the emotional dark depths. “What made you sign up?”

  Even with Bane’s forbearing presence, I wanted him to know the truth. It was important, for a reason I didn’t want to explore, that Bane knew I wasn’t a hussy. “My brother. He’s in trouble and needs the money.”

  Leaning forward slightly, Bane laid his drink on the coffee table. “How much trouble?”

  “Enough that the three current jobs I have won’t cover the trouble.” I squirmed. This conversation was getting a little deeper than I wanted to go. Not being strong enough to stand up to my brother was shameful. Maybe taking the offensive in the question asking would help steer the conversation. “What do you do for fun?”

  “Run.” A gruesome look passed over my face and Bane chuckled. “It’s relaxing.”

  “If you say so. I tried that once and thought my lungs were going to burst from lack of oxygen. Running and I aren’t a mix.” I folded my legs underneath me to get more comfortable.

  Bane mimicked my relaxed posture. “It takes some training.”

  It was hard to concentrate as the outline of his defined abs became more defined through his snug shirt. Stay on track, Maren. Talk. He’s paying you to talk. “Okay, what’s your favorite junk food?”