Murderville Page 0,42

as the price was right.

Liberty no longer felt like a two-bit whore. She was clocking a salary that rivaled that of physicians and attorneys. Instead of hating what she had become, she embraced it. There was no point in dwelling on the things she couldn’t change so instead she buried her past, vowing to never think about it again. With Abia’s help Liberty was given a new life. The right palms had been greased to make Liberty’s presence in the states as legal as if she had really been birthed there. All of her paperwork was legit. With a phony social security card and birth certificate she had all the makings of a new life, and it was up to her to make the most of it. Instead of chasing an education or developing a trade, she was living the fast life. It was all she knew. Seduction was the only skill that she had ever developed and with connected friends like Abia, she was going to let it take her straight to the top.

Her past was not something that she ever spoke about so instead of answering the judge’s question she replied, “I’m really not in the mood to talk, Collin. I could think of some other things that we could be doing right now.”

She smiled sexily as the judge moved his chair closer to hers and she slid her hand in the seat of his crotch, massaging his stiffening manhood. A job that she used to hate had become one that she appreciated. She loved the power that she held over her clients. Instead of being the one that was taken advantage of, she felt like the manipulator . . . the black widow that trapped men in her web. She could see the lust in his eyes and it gave her a natural high because she knew that all of the cards were in her hands.

“Let’s get out of here,” he whispered.

Liberty rose from her seat and grabbed the judge’s necktie and held onto it as she walked out of the restaurant, dragging him playfully behind her as he became hypnotized by the natural sway of her hips. He was in for a long night. It was his first time requesting her company, but Liberty knew how to hook a man. After she put her thing down on him he would become just another regular on her rotation.

Liberty entered the mansion just before dawn. She crept inside to avoid waking the other ladies. She hadn’t made many friends in her time there, but it didn’t bother her. She was there to make the money . . . fuck the bitch standing beside her. The way she saw it, they were her competition. Her cut-throat mentality was a direct result of her sordid past. Everyone she had ever let into her heart was always ripped away from her so she had closed and locked it to avoid losing someone else she cared for. She didn’t even give anyone the opportunity to get close to her.

“Long night?” Abia’s voice cut through the pitch black mansion, causing Liberty to gasp unexpectedly as she dropped her handbag, spilling the contents of it onto the floor. Abia flicked on the light and bent down to help Liberty pick her things up. She noticed the white powder that dusted the floor and then she looked up to notice that Liberty was high. Abia wasn’t naïve to the fact that most of the girls in her stable indulged in one drug or the other, but Liberty went hard on narcotics like a true addict. The last thing Abia needed was a junkie bitch. She was known for having a high quality operation. She wasn’t about to allow Liberty to ruin the reputation of a brothel she had worked years to establish. Her clients didn’t pay to be around the likes of base heads, crack heads, or dope heads and if Liberty didn’t tread lightly she could easily become one.

“You might want to slow down on this stuff, Liberty. You’re not working the streets anymore. You don’t need this to cope. I can help you wean off this shit if you want,” Abia suggested as she handed Liberty her bag. Both women stood and Liberty shook her head.

“No, I’m good. I can handle it,” she replied. She was only nineteen years old, but had been snorting heroin since the tender age of ten. She noticed the sympathetic look on Abia’s face. “Don’t judge me, Abia.