Chapter 2
Chapter Two
Viktor
Absently, I ran my finger down the cracked wood of a cheap dresser piled high with trinkets. There wasn’t a speck of dust on it.
Just like there wasn’t dust on the photo frames and other small girly things.
She didn’t have a lot, in fact, she had pretty much nothing, but what she did have she looked after. It told me a lot about her.
Yanking open the top drawer, I stared down at the array of plain bras and panties. Exactly what I expected from her.
She was simple, and her choice of underwear reflected that. Still, Leah was beautiful. More stunning up close than she had been in the photos I had seen. It would have been a nice surprise to find she dressed in the prettiest or sluttiest of lingerie.
But I could imagine her in those without much difficulty, just like I could picture how she would look when I peeled it off her body.
My eyes traveled to the bed before I could stop myself. It was a low, sagging thing. Not sturdy enough for the things I was imagining doing on it. I went to it anyway, pushing down on the middle of the mattress and testing the springs. The wooden frame cracked from my weight .
Definitely not sturdy enough for what I was imagining. Straightening, I headed back toward the tiny living space. There was nothing of interest in her bedroom, not when she wasn’t here anyway, plus, she would be home soon, and I wanted to be ready when she was.
The thought of seeing the fear flicker into her eyes was almost as intoxicating as the images in my mind of her lying on the bed waiting for me to unwrap her like a damn Christmas present.
And what a present it would be.
The thought made me smile. Christmas wasn’t actually that far away, so maybe I would get my wish. No, that wasn’t right.
I always got my wish.
I glanced around the rundown apartment and couldn’t imagine anyone living here, let alone a girl as pretty as Leah, but it did give me an advantage.
She wouldn’t have the money—
The sound of a key sliding into the lock and turning pulled my attention back to reality. I fell into the armchair tucked in the corner. It was still pretty dark in here, but she would see me the second she walked in and flicked on the light.
Only she didn’t turn on the light. She moved into the apartment quietly, on autopilot. Shrugging off her jacket, she hung it on a peg.
“Hello Printsessa.”
She froze, only one sneaker kicked off, and turned to me slowly. “W-what?
I heard her swallow hard in the darkness. Clearly, she had recognized my voice.
“I thought it would be easier to talk here in private rather than at your place of employment.”
The words had barely left my mouth, and she was running. There wasn’t far to run, but she didn’t have a chance of escaping anyway. I was fast, and her reaction was expected.
I caught her a second before her hand touched the lock and spun her around. Her back hit the flimsy wood door with a low thump, and I trapped her against it.
“Now, now, Printsessa.” The urge to grind into her trembling body was almost overwhelming, but she was such a tiny thing. Much smaller than she had looked at the gas station. Maybe it was because she was in such a vulnerable position. A position I liked.
A position I fucking loved.
“Running is such a rude thing to do, don’t you think?” Leaning into her, I tilted her chin up high. Forcing her to look at me. “After all, we are just talking.”
She met my dark eyes with her pale ones and didn’t look away. Bully for her. She had some fire in that tight little body of hers. I kind of liked that.
“You broke into my house.” She spat.
Oh, my mouth broke into a wide smile. She had more than a little fire. It filled her eyes. I didn’t know what I wanted more, to make it blaze or to dim it.
“I simply unlocked your door, Leah-Anne.” Absently, I reached for her cheek. Smothering my fingers across it and pushing a strand of her auburn hair behind her ear. Her trembling increased.
Was she scared or—
My eyes darted to hers. Yes, she was afraid, but there was something else in their pale depths as well. It was almost like she was kind of enjoying me touching her.
Was loss of control something that did it for her? It was an intriguing prospect, and one I was more than willing to explore. There was no doubt in my mind that I could make her tremble in other ways.
“No one calls me Leah-Anne. My friends call me—”
Dropping my hand to her throat, I curled my hand around it. Not squeezing but applying gentle pressure. She froze. Every muscle tensed.
“Are we friends, Leah?”
Wide blue eyes met mine and blinked slowly. “What do you want?”
Chuckling, I stepped back. She didn’t realize it, but that was a loaded question. I had been watching her because I wanted what was owed to me, but now that I had seen her and had felt how soft her skin was and how she trembled when I touched her.
Now I wasn’t sure money was all I wanted. The hand around her slender throat loosened and then slipped from her altogether. Sighing, I pointed to the chair that I had just vacated.
“Sit.”
For a second, confusion clouded her eyes, and then she glanced at the door, almost like she was about to try to run again. I raised an eyebrow, and she scurried in the opposite direction.
Clever girl doing as she was told. I liked that. “Good girl.” I didn’t move until she had taken the seat.
“That’s better. Now, let’s have a conversation like two old friends.” Nodding my head, I smiled at her. It was meant to put her at ease, but she paled even more.
“We aren’t old friends, though, so either tell me what you want or get our—”
“We might not be old friends, Leah.” Purposely, I used the name her friends used. “But we have an old friend in common.” Taking one of the seats opposite her, I steepled my hands under my chin and stared at her. I knew the second she realized the truth because her already pale face turned white.
“Alek.” She shook her head.
“Your boyfriend.” She didn’t seem surprised at all. It was almost like she knew exactly the kind of man she had been involved with. It made me wonder what else she knew. Or what else she might be involved in. I quickly scanned the room.
“No.” Her voice was sharp, and my eyes snapped back to her.
One side of my mouth quirked upwards in a lopsided grin. “Lover then?” The smile stayed on my face, but my voice was flat.
I just didn’t understand how a girl like her could ever be involved with a lowlife like Alek. But then again, the things women did had always confused me. It was one of the reasons why I didn’t have anything but casual relationships .
“Neither.” Clasped in her lap, her hands curled into fists. “Our relationship was over before he died, I’m sorry Mr.— ”
“Viktor. You can call me Viktor. Now we are friends, Leah. And I am well aware that his relationship with you was over, but—” I took a deep breath. “A debt is a debt, and you are his next of kin.”
She paled even more. “Debt?”
“Yes.” Stroking my hand over my chin, I studied her. She seemed genuinely surprised, but something in her eyes told me she wasn’t that surprised.
“It’s quite a large amount of money he owes me,” I said quietly.
“He owes you, not me. I told Alek the last time I wouldn’t bail him out again.” She muttered.
My eyebrows pinched together. So she had paid his debts before. Women, I would never understand them. She was beautiful and sweet and clearly intelligent, and yet she gave herself to a man who brought nothing but debts and heartache to her door.
“But he’s dead now. And even if he wasn’t, I wouldn’t be paying anyone off. He and his gambling debts have caused me—”
I cut her off. “It’s not gambling debts, and I am aware of his passing.”
“So you can’t expect me to pay. How much does he owe?” She was half out of her seat when I spoke. “Around a hundred thousand dollars, more if I calculate interest, but as this is not technically your debt, I am willing to waive—”
“Waive?” She sat heavily and dropped her face into her hands. “A hundred thousand dollars?” Her eyes were dull when she peeked out between her fingers at me. More grey than their usual pale blue. “Did you really just say a hundred thousand—” she trailed off
“Yes.”
She sobbed. The sound of it ripped from her throat. Crying was to be expected, but she had to know that it wouldn’t do any good. I’d spent my entire adult life with people crying and begging me for mercy, and not once had it worked. Why did Leah think she was going to be any different?
“I don’t have that kind of money. ”
Sighing, I looked around the room. It was clear she didn’t. She wouldn’t be living like this if she did. I doubted she even had a hundred dollars in her account.
“I am aware.”
Slowly, she lifted her head, and her pale eyes blazed to life. There were still tears in those eyes, but there was anger there as well. Fire the same color as her hair.
“Then why are you here? You know I can’t pay.” She spat. “I shouldn’t even be asked.” Standing she pointed to the door. “Get out.”
My smile grew until it was a wide grin across my face. Oh, she was so full of fire. It wasn’t just a spark. It was a god damn inferno, and it was hot as hell. In fact, it was more than hot.
Against my zipper, my cock throbbed into life. All that fire just needed the right man to tame it.
“I mean it. Get out or I’m phoning the cops.” The arm she was pointing with trembled, but she didn’t look away.
“You’re not going to do that, though, are you, Leah?
” I said smoothly. “I mean, you could, but you never know who is going to turn up. I mean, you could see if the attending officer isn’t on my payroll, but I wouldn’t count on it.
” Leaning forward, I lowered my voice. “I’m not the kind of man who can be played with, Leah.
And I always,” I stood slowly. “Always get what I want. And I want the money your boyfriend owes me.”
“But I didn’t— it’s not my debt.” Her bottom lip wobbled, but she didn’t cry again. The only sign that she was upset at all was that damn quivering lip.
There was a soft center in that hard shell. She tried to hide it, but it was there under all the fire.
“I know.” I didn’t even think about it, after all of these years of men begging for their lives in tears. It was her damn quivering lip that undid me.
Pulling her into my arms, I smoothed a hand roughly down her back, all the way down to her round ass in those snug threadbare jeans and back up to the nape of her neck.
I closed my hand around it and pulled her head back so she had no choice but to look into my eyes.
“I know.” I said again, and this time my fingers squeezed.
The movement drew a startled breath out of her, and she stiffened, and from her place crushed against my chest, I felt her heart stammer with fear.
“I don’t have any way of paying,” she murmured, her wide eyes turned saucer round with terror as she stared up at me.
Good, she realized the danger she was in now. That would make it easier.
I knew that. Even if I gave her longer to pay than I would usually allow, she wouldn’t be able to do it. She was already working every hour under the sun just to maintain this pathetic lifestyle.
“So maybe we could come to some other arrangement.”
The moment the words left my lips, she blinked rapidly.
“Something mutually beneficial—” I trailed off as she ripped her way out of my arms. Or at least she tried to. I kept my grip on her waist so even though she pulled away she only got a few inches before my hands tightened.
“What are you saying?”
Slowly, I let my eyes travel down the length of her body, the tight jeans with a god damn hole in the knee, threadbare sneakers, and the faded gray t-shirt with some band logo on the front.
She was beautiful, ethereal, and sweet under the hard outer shell.
And she was something else as well. Something she tried to keep hidden.
She was broken. And those were my favorite kind.
“You’re a beautiful woman,” my fingers flexed around her hip. “And we are attracted to each other.”
“I am not attracted to you,” she didn’t get to finish as I yanked her back into my arms. A small squeak left her lips as she tilted her head up to mine.
“Liar.”
“It could be a very beneficial arrangement, Leah. For both of us. I think you would find I am a very generous—”
Her slap took me by surprise. “How dare you?” She screeched and drew her arm back again. This time, I caught her wrist easily .
Cheek stinging, I glowered at her. “Now that isn’t what friends do to each other, is it? I was giving you an option to pay the debt before it got unmanageable,” my voice lowered to a hissing whisper. “Now I’ve started adding interest.”
She swallowed hard.
“Think about it, Leah, you have two choices.” My voice was hard, but not as hard as my hand in her hair.
Fisting the long strands, I tugged her head back sharply.
She let out a hissing breath. “You get me my money or,” I ducked my head into the crook of her throat and rubbed my nose against her pulse.
And there it was. That needy little tremble. She was full of fire and anger this one, but with a little redirection, I knew she would bring that fire to the bedroom, and god, I wanted to be burned.
“You give me you.”
“I’m not a whore. I am not for sale.”
Chuckling, I replaced the tip of my nose with my lips. It wasn’t the kind of kiss I wanted to pepper along her skin, but now wasn’t the time for that. Plus, she kind of smelled like gas and stale gas station pizza. It wasn’t the most seductive of smells.
When she agreed, that would change. She wouldn’t be working the graveyard shift, and she sure as hell wouldn’t be dressed in clothes with holes in them or smelling like day-old pizza.
“Everyone is for sale, Leah.” Finally, I forced myself to step away. If I didn’t, I knew my control would slip. She felt so deliciously delicate in my arms, and my cock was screaming at me that we should take our first payment now.
“You just have to know their price.” Bending over her, I pressed my lips to her forehead. “Think about it, I know you have the next few days off, so I’ll be back in three for your answer.”
Not saying another word, I turned and walked away.
“I am not for sale.” She screamed after me.
Laughing, I stepped through the door without looking back. “Then I’ll look forward to seeing my money. See you in three days, Leah.”