Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Lilly
Bright sunlight wakes me the next morning. Just like it did that first time.
Back then it came as a warning to leave.
Christian was asleep then and I woke in his arms, confused because I lay cocooned there with his arm around me like we’d always fallen asleep that way.
This morning he’s awake.
He’s the first thing I see when my eyes flutter open and the sight of him sitting across from me shirtless wearing nothing but his boxers sends my pulse racing.
His hair is ruffled from the night we had and those eyes of his stare back at me like they want to claim me all over again.
I’m not sure how last night could have been more intense than the previous nights we spent together. But it was. Giving myself to him the previous times opened the door for more and last night I gave more. So did he.
Last night it wasn’t just me spending the night with him, it was him spending the night with me too. Like we could have been two normal people who met at The Dark Odyssey.
“Come here,” he says, skipping past pleasantries.
A sliver of panic seeps into my nerves and they scatter, wary of the unknown and what’s going to happen next. He said we’d talk in the morning.
This is it.
I gather the sheet around me to cover myself and make my way over to him taking in the beautiful, powerful man before me against the backdrop of the waterfall.
I feel like I just stepped into some kind of fantasy, but this is no fantasy. This is my life and my life is far from a dream.
He pulls me into his lap, and he slips his arm around my waist.
“Lilly are you in some kind of trouble?” he asks and my heart squeezes. “I want you to tell me if you are.”
Where do I begin?
I married a monster who destroyed my life and my only escape from his cruel thumb was his death. Now I live in a shit hole with the daily threat that I could be attacked by a group of men who want to rape me while my child watches.
That’s the fear.
It’s trouble that I worry about but… that’s not what he means. He’s talking about the money. The money I stand to make from being here. He’s covertly asking me that question again of what I’m doing here. What happened to me. All questions I don’t want to answer.
I don’t want my life outside the walls of the club to bleed into this one. That means Rosie too.
I had to tell Mimi and Louise about her when they asked in my interview if I had kids. But I don’t want to look even worse than I already do by looking like a bad mother.
“I’m coming out of trouble. I left it, so I’m not in trouble now.” It’s half a lie, but partly a truth. If he could just give me back the job, I applied for everything will be okay. In a manner of speaking.
“The money isn’t for a debt?”
“No. It’s not for a debt.”
“You have no debts?” he asks pointedly giving me that stare like he can see straight through me. “You have no debts at all?”
“I have a little debt,” I answer.
“Little? You don’t dance at the fucking Dark Odyssey and sign your body away to do anything for a little debt. Lilly, I fucking swear if you make me check you out, you won’t like it.”
I tense, and my heart stills. He’s serious. He actually wants to check me out.
“Why do you want to know?”
“How much is the little debt?”
“Ten grand,” I answer feeling foolish for calling it little.
“Okay, now we’re getting somewhere. The ten grand will be in your account within the hour.”
My mouth drops and I gaze back at him in shock.
“What?” I rasp, my voice quivering.
“You heard me.”
“You’re giving me ten grand?”
“Yes, and don’t even try to refuse it. There’s no point. I won’t allow you to.”
“I …” I stare back at him thinking about what this could mean. I can pay Lev and his assholes can leave me alone. I can be free of them and at least the worry of them bothering me will be gone.
“Tell me about the rest of the money. That’s just ten grand ticked off the list.”
“I just need the money.”
“By my estimate you were probably looking at making a minimum of a hundred and twenty grand over the next two months. The idea of making that kind of money is great. If you didn’t need it, you wouldn’t have come to me last night. If there’s more trouble let me take care of it for you.”
My lips part and I stare back at him in disbelief unable to process what he’s saying.
“There isn’t any more trouble.”
“But you need the money,” he points out. “Why do you need so much if you aren’t in trouble.”
“Because it can change my life, and I have people who depend on me.” It’s best I put it that way.
“Having that kind of money would change my life and I would be able to go back to dancing. I applied to dance with the Aurora Dance Company. That’s months away.
If I get it, it will mean I can get back to who I’m supposed to be. That’s why I need this job.”
He stares back at me, runs his hand over his chin, and sighs.
“Okay…I have an offer for you.”
“An offer?”
“Yes, but I’ll be completely transparent with you so you can make that choice.
You stand to make a lot of money by the time the show ends.
I can’t say how much, but it would be a fuckload more than what you thought you’d make,” he sets out and my pulse skitters in anticipation of what he’s going to say next.
“My offer is this: A million dollars to be with me.”
A bolt of shock flies through me at such an intensity it brings me to my feet.
I rivet my gaze to him and try to steady my breathing so my heart won’t leap out of my chest.
He stands too towering over me with his height.
“One million…” I croak, disbelief lacing through every fiber of my being.
“One million dollars. Anxious to sell your body? Sell it to me. Do anything with me for the next two months. Nothing is off limits. When it’s over we walk away. No strings attached.”
Numbness fills me and I can’t move. I can’t believe what he’s saying to me.
“Why would you make me such an offer?” I have to know.
“Because, while I want you dancing in my club. I don’t want anybody else touching you besides me. I want you for myself.”
We stare at each other and I mull over what he’s saying to me. It’s a no brainer. I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t accept one million dollars. Definitely not anyone in my situation.
Rosie would never want for anything ever again.
“Well what’s it gonna be, Lilly St. James?”
I look at him making me this unbelievable offer and I see another path to freedom. But I see something else too that I never expected. Him.
“Yes,” I answer.