same as you see, only completely empty. I didn’t need to add much besides furniture, the bars, stages, and the sound and surveillance systems,” he replies, making his way around the desk and lowering himself into his leather chair. “Please, have a seat. Astrid, is it?” He gestures toward the chairs between us, and I try to loosen my limbs as I walk over to one stiffly and sit.
“Yes, sir. I’ve been here for a week now and absolutely love my job as your new makeup artist for the girls,” I reply, trying to be as polite as possible. I can see an undercurrent of evil in his eyes that I don’t want to set off. They’re almost… soulless. I hadn’t figured the owner of a place like this would be a saint or anything, but I didn’t expect someone like this man. Neil, Seth, Corbin, and Brian own their own sex club, a BDSM one at that, and they’re freaking mercenaries—paid vigilantes, Neil confided, lying in bed one night when I asked him to tell me more about him and his team—but they have a code. A life for a life. They didn’t kill anyone who hadn’t killed an innocent person. They defended and avenged the helpless, in my mind something noble and virtuous.
This guy is… deviant. I don’t get any sort of moral or honorable vibe from him, and it sets every last one of my nerves on edge.
“Sir?” He chuckles. “What a good girl you are,” he says low, his voice deep, sending a chill of fear down my spine instead of a quiver of desire like when Neil tells me the same thing. “So tell me, Astrid. How far are you willing to climb the levels of my club?”
The way he says willing makes me think he doesn’t actually care what I want. He’d find a way to force me to go further.
“Um, well… I’m comfortable in my position as the makeup artist for sure. I was told a second one would be hired in order to split the hours, so I wouldn’t have to work every day. And I really enjoyed dancing in the nightclub tonight. That was a lot of fun, and the men were gentlemen, which was a nice surprise. So I wouldn’t mind filling in for the regular girls every once in a while, if you have no other options. But that’s as far as I’m wanting to go as far as the other aspects of the club,” I answer, thankful my voice comes out steady and firm at the end.
His eyes go even darker as he seems to stare through me. And then he snaps out of it, blinking before standing from his chair quickly and making me jump.
“You’re sure? Because there is more money to be made than you could possibly dream of on the top level.” He comes around the desk, walking slowly until he’s standing directly in front of me. He then leans back, propping against the giant piece of wooden furniture, before reaching out to trace his finger along my jawline. I shiver at his touch, jerking back in my seat. He lifts a brow, his hand hovering in the air where my face had been, and then he crosses his arms.
“N-No thank you. I’m only trying to earn enough money to go to school, to further my training as a makeup artist. I don’t need anything extravagant. I’m very happy where I-I am, as far as everything else goes,” I tell him. If I hadn’t just felt his warm touch on my skin, I would swear he was a coldblooded demon looking down on me. And it’s in this very second in time that I swear if I get out of here unscathed—hell, if I get out of here at all—then I’ll never come back. I don’t want to work for a man that permeates the air with such evilness just by breathing. I will tell Neil he can pay for whatever the hell he wants. Just please, God, get me out of here.
“Hm. I… I think you might need some convincing,” he tells me. And I suck in a breath, ready to scream my very lungs out if he tries to force me to do anything, but then I let it out as he stands up straight and passes me by, slowly prowling over toward the bed where Kristin sits, sobbing silently. I’ve spun in my seat to watch him, seeing her eyes lift to