Outfoxed (The Fox Witch #1) - R.J. Blain Page 0,57

my situation, I asked, “Are you planning on letting go of my hand anytime soon?”

“No, I don’t think so. I have you right where I want for a change. You’re an infuriatingly slippery woman, Jade. I shouldn’t have given you five minutes. I should have given you a minute. That way, I might have had a chance to catch you.”

I grinned at the complaint in his tone. “That must have been infuriating; you, a quadrant master, outfoxed by a vagrant of a vixen.”

“And you decided to show me up, ditching your vagrant status with the acquisition of an Asylum-linked cellar. I had your records pulled, and the new deed intrigues me.”

“Carl died during one of the recent storms. He leased the place to me properly.” I sighed. “We were supposed to get together for coffee once a month when I’d pay the rent, and the rent was something I could actually afford.”

“We can get together for coffee. I’ll sacrifice myself as a stand-in. I’d heard about the lease law, but there aren’t a lot of landlords who would do a lease in the outskirts, especially not on a linked property. Those things are valuable. It’s not Asylum access, but it’s as close as it gets, and the good ones are just as safe as Asylum. From what I could tell of your records, you have a safe one. Unfortunately for you, I know where it is and how to get into it. Fortunately for you, as it’s your cellar, it’s neutral ground, so while I may come pay you a visit, I won’t catch you for your bounty. I am debating how best to handle your bounty.” Sandro headed up the steps, tugging on my hand until I followed along. “I have decided I couldn’t care less about what the East wants. You’re far too interesting to toss to a bunch of wolves as an underpriced—” He huffed and shook his head.

I tried to fill out the blanks. “Whore?”

“No.”

Hmm. Interesting. “But isn’t that what an uncontested courtesan is? An overpriced whore?”

“No. You’re a woman, not a whore. And even if you were a whore, which you are not, you wouldn’t be overpriced. You’d be underpriced.”

“You have no way of knowing if I’m a whore,” I pointed out.

“You’re not a whore because I don’t view any woman as a whore.” Sandro huffed. “Whore is a word weak men use to shame strong-willed women.”

I stared at him, and my mouth dropped open. “What?”

“You heard me.”

“I don’t think I heard you correctly.” I couldn’t have heard him correctly; every quadrant I’d been in, it was the first-choice weapon used against women like me.

“My mother raised me to be more respectful to women than calling them whores because she wants to bed a man. Of course, as my uncontested courtesan, I would be selfish and keep you all to myself. I would also be a proper gentleman, meaning you would be the only one to enjoy my company. That is how this is supposed to work. If I expect or demand loyalty out of you, you should expect and demand it of me.”

I worried I’d somehow tripped, fallen, and bashed my brains out on some rock, as I’d been around long enough to understand there were more men like Tom Hartlen in the world than like Sandro Flores Moretti, who seemed determined to claim me as a prize. “You aren’t making any sense.”

“Right. We’re in the Alley. Apparently, men weren’t brought up properly here. Savage beasts, too many of the ones I’ve met. Being my uncontested courtesan would make you the future matron of my household and my wife. That is a very important position, and it would remove anyone else’s ability to claim you as a courtesan of any type. Frankly spoken, only a woman who gets in my face, smiles, tells me she is getting away, and promptly does so is fit to be my future matron and wife.”

Fuck. Sandro was in line to become the head of his household?

I regretted I hadn’t asked Noah for more information about Sandro before clearing him of any debt owed to me. “Don’t I get a say in this?”

“Under normal circumstances, I would say yes, but with how much your pretty little head is worth, the answer to that is no. However, unlike the other bounty hunters, I am absolutely willing to toss a hundred thousand for the right to keep you for myself, as I have no information on the auction you’re slated for