Highest Bidder Collection - Lauren Landish Page 0,240

worth giving a fuck about. This isn’t the first or second or dozenth time I’ve had to put up with these assholes since I’ve left.

But lately I’ve been giving a fuck. I hear her pad across the bathroom upstairs. She’s not a quiet little thing. Not in the least. The thought makes me smile until I hear the ping from my phone.

I scowl looking down as my blood heats.

You don’t have a choice.

Pissed. If I had less restraint, I’d hurl the fucking phone into the wall and scream out. Instead I calmly set it on the desk, staring at the phone and thinking of all the ways I’d love to kill him. I could have strangled him in his sleep. So many times I wanted to. I should have. Leaving that sick fuck alive was a mistake.

My desktop computer is still alive with light. With the sun setting and the thick curtains nearly closed shut, the study is dark. The faint glow of the computer draws me to it, back to the email Zander sent me.

If you’d like to chat, you can reach me here.

-Z

It’s the third time he’s reached out to me.

He’s yet to be straight with me and I don’t fucking trust him. I don’t trust anyone.

My eyes dart to the ceiling as a thump followed by another thump tells me Lilly is up to something. I’m not sure what she’s getting into but I’m sure she’ll be enjoying herself.

I have no one, I never have, but right now I need someone on my side. I need to protect Lilly. My fingers pick at my bottom lip. They itch for a glass of whiskey, to drown out the problems pestering me. The men behind the scenes of crime each reaching out to me, each wanting me for something. But not with her here. I can’t do that to her.

My phone pings again and I don’t even have to get up or even touch the phone to see the message.

Answer me!

I feel the grin grow on my face. He never did enjoy being ignored. Fucking prick can go fuck himself.

We had a deal, I take the fall and I get the fuck out of the familia. What happened to loyalty? I clenched my teeth and bite back my anger, finally doing the sane thing and silencing the cell phone.

I toss my cell phone back onto the desk, rising from my seat and ignoring my past.

Zander, my familia … I can deal with them later. I leave the study, slamming the door shut behind me.

“Lilly!” I call out for my flower. For my beautiful distraction.

As I make it up the stairway, I see her scrambling out of her room. I’ve never called for her like this before. When she catches sight of my anger, she falls to the floor and into a perfect bow. A beautiful display of submission.

Her wet hair is sticking to her face and lying on the wooden floor of the hall way.

I climb up the last few steps and walk slowly to her, watching as her chest rises and falls. She thinks she’s in trouble. My lips kick up into a smirk as she trembles slightly on the ground.

“What were you doing?” I ask her with a bit of humor in my voice.

She answers clearly and quickly, “I was trying to rearrange something.” My brow furrows as I lower myself to the floor and cup her chin in my hand.

As I bring her lips up to mine, her body stays still, just as she should.

I plant a small kiss on her lips before searching her eyes. “Rearrange what?”

She swallows thickly. “I wanted to move the bed.” I wait for more. At my silence, she adds, “so it was across from the mirror.” Her answer and the bright blush in her cheeks makes me smile.

My flower. Ever the perfect distraction.

I rise, leaving her where she is and slowly taking off the worn leather belt. I let it slip through each loop on my pants slowly. “Did you ask permission?” I ask her. My voice is low and threatening. The punishment voice.

Her pupils dilate with lust as she shakes her head. “No sir.”

I hold the belt in my one hand, feeling my cock harden, “get on all fours, now.”

The belt cracks against her skin again. “Ten!” Lilly cries out. Her hands braced on the floor, her ass in the air. She’s hanging over the edge of the bed, half on. half off. I run my hands down her