18. Dante
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
DANTE
After purchasing my usual double espresso, I pretended not to notice Natalia.
She was impossible to miss, sitting near the rear window in a crimson designer wrap dress that clung to the hourglass of her body like a second skin.
The neckline plunged just low enough to be enticing, revealing the soft swell of her breasts and a hint of black lace beneath.
Her blonde hair fell in perfect waves past her shoulders, catching the sunlight streaming through the windows. As I neared her, her signature perfume wrapped her in an aura of warm spices, tobacco, and sweet vanilla.
Around her neck gleamed a diamond pendant gifted to her by a Saudi prince after a memorable weekend in Monaco. Her stiletto heels clicked against the hardwood floor whenever she crossed her legs, the flash of their red soles a perfect match for her dress.
The weekly charade had become our routine, a necessary performance for any of Salvatore’s watchers who might lurk nearby. The coffee shop sat five blocks from Gennaro Corporation, close enough to be convenient but far enough that none of the brothel staff visited.
“Dante, is that you?” Natalia’s honeyed voice called out with feigned surprise when I approached her table. “Fancy meeting you here.”
“What a coincidence,” I replied, sliding into the chair across from her.
Her blue eyes sparkled with mischief. “Huh, what are the odds we’d both crave coffee at the same time on the same day of the week?”
“Almost as astronomical as the chances of you getting here early enough to secure the most private table in the place.” I took a sip of my espresso, scanning the room for familiar faces.
A man in a suit typed on his laptop. Two college students spread textbooks across their table as they studied. No one paid us any attention.
“I guess I’m lucky.” She pushed a small plate with a chocolate croissant toward me. “I got your favorite, since I figured you wouldn’t spoil yourself.”
“It probably has more to do with your unhealthy addiction to caramel lattes.” I broke off a piece of the pastry, glancing around the shop again. “Thank you.”
“Please. After all the great orgasms you’ve given me over the years, the least I can do is buy you breakfast.” She stirred her drink, the oversized diamond tennis bracelet on her wrist catching the light.
Another gift from a besotted client. “How’s life treating New York’s most expensive piece of ass? ”
“Better than it treats New York’s sixty-ninth most expensive piece of ass.” I smirked as I ate the croissant.
She laughed, not bothered in the slightest. “You know you only make more than me because you get to charge the penis tax.”
“The what?”
“The premium clients pay for services involving a dick.” She stirred her latte. “I’ve tracked price differentials across five major competitor brothels in the metropolitan area. For identical services, male sex workers earn twenty-eight percent more than their female counterparts.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Did you make a spreadsheet about it?”
“With pivot tables and everything.” She laughed.
“The markup increases to forty-two percent for male clients and drops to eighteen percent for female ones. This proves my theory that it’s not about actual skill but perceived value based on heteronormative power structures and cultural fetishization of male pleasure. ”
I snorted. “Is that what they taught you in your fancy MBA program?”
“Among other things.” She took a long sip of her latte, leaving a perfect red lipstick print on the rim.
“Speaking of men thinking with their dicks, how’s Jace treating you?” I asked.
Natalia’s perfectly shaped eyebrows shot up. “How do you know about him?”
I shrugged. “Word gets around.”
“Bullshit. We haven’t worked together this week yet, so I never mentioned my newest enthusiastic pet to you. Try again.”
“I doubt that makes up for his lack of skill.”
Natalia tilted her head, blonde curls cascading over her shoulder. “You’re unusually interested in my client roster today.”
“Not particularly.”
“You’re dancing around something. Spit it out before I force it out of you.” She kicked me under the table to remind me that one of her best skills in the bedroom was being a dominatrix good at dishing out pain to get what she wanted. “Why do you care about Jace?”
“I don’t.”
“You clearly do, or we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
I sighed. “Fine. I know him from high school.”
“Wait, is he an ex of yours?” Her face lit up with delight at the possibilities. “Oh my god, did you fuck him in high school?”
I almost choked on my espresso. “God, no. I have standards, and he’s a huge asshole.”
“Well, duh.” She laughed. “Most men who pay for sex have some asshole tendencies. Comes with the territory.”
I ate the croissant, debating how much to share. “Jace’s different. There’s something wrong with him.”
Natalia propped her chin on her hand. “Ooh, do tell.”
“Jace’s brand of darkness makes him lash out when he feels threatened or inferior, which is his baseline state.”
“If I was scared of darkness, honey, I’d be in another line of work.” She waved dismissively. “I guess that means you were enemies who never reached the lovers portion of romance?”
I wrinkled my nose in distaste. “The man’s a walking trash fire with the personality of infected toenail fungus.”
Natalia nearly spat out her latte, covering her mouth as she laughed. “Damn, tell me how you really feel.”
“He’s a misogynistic, homophobic jackass who gets off on abusing others.” I met her gaze. “How is he really treating you?”
“Aww, are you worried about me? That’s adorable, but I’ve been stomping on men’s balls in six-inch stilettos since you were in elementary school.” She laughed at her own joke. “Trust me, your little high school nemesis is nothing I can’t handle.”
I scowled at her refusal to take my concerns seriously. “He’s dangerous.”
“And I have whips and chains in my drawer to keep him in line.” She shrugged. “He’s sweet in his own way. Like an untrained puppy who keeps peeing on the carpet.”
“More like a rabid dog that needs to be put down.”
“What a rare treat to see you being so dramatic.” She tore off a piece of my croissant to eat. “He’s enthusiastic, if unpolished. It’s cute how he gets so excited he finishes before I even get my bra off.”
I snickered at the confirmation he was a premature ejaculator. “I’m not surprised. He’s inept at everything.”
“On the plus side, he’s so embarrassed he tries twice as hard to please me the second time around.” She grinned wickedly. “Nothing motivates a man like wounded pride and the desire to prove himself.”
“He’s still a waste of your considerable talents.”
She enjoyed another bite from my croissant. “You know I love a fixer-upper project. With his daddy issues and raging inferiority complex, he’s easy to manipulate. All I have to do is withhold praise until he does what I want, then reward him like he’s a good boy.”
“Why am I not surprised you use basic behavioral conditioning for that mangey mutt?” I snorted. “Pavlov would be proud. Does Jace drool when you ring a bell, too?”
“MBA, remember?” She tapped her temple. “I specialized in organizational psychology. The same principles apply whether you’re training corporate executives or submissives. Besides, you know firsthand how much I enjoy teaching my men how to please me.”
I snorted at her reminder. “You’re the sex ed teacher everyone deserves to have.”
Her smile turned wicked. “Remember that little trick I taught you about controlling a man’s orgasm by applying pressure to that spot between his balls and ass while you’re blowing him? It makes them shoot twice as hard but feel like they’re coming forever.”
I scanned the room. The businessman remained absorbed in his laptop while the college students argued over their textbooks. I lowered my voice to avoid drawing their attention. “It’s certainly a lesson I never forgot.”
During my early training sessions, I had been convinced sex work would be nothing but suffering to endure. Natalia had shown me that pleasure could be a weapon in my arsenal. She’d given me control when everything else had been taken away.
Her dominatrix skills had reshaped my understanding of what my body could feel by turning what I’d expected to be pure torture into something I could enjoy and always use to my advantage.
For that, I would always be grateful to her.
Her kindness, warmth, and support had kept me sane in my darkest times.
Her eyes softened with fondness. “You were such an eager student, always so determined to master every technique. I was so proud you practiced until you could make a man see God.”
A rare blush graced my cheeks. “It was easy when I had an excellent teacher.”
“I admired your determination and obsessive perfectionist streak.” She snickered at a memory. “Remember how you made me time how long you could keep that senator on the edge? Two hours and seventeen minutes before the poor man was sobbing and offering to buy you a car to let him come.”
I smiled faintly. “I’ve gotten a lot of mileage out of your techniques.”
“You’re still my proudest accomplishment. Not everyone can say they created a sex god.” Her smile was a comforting hug I soaked up. “Though I still remember how adorably flustered you got the first time I made you practice deep-throating techniques on that ridiculously enormous dildo.”
“Who’s being dramatic now?”
“What can I say? I’ve always had a flair for theatrics.” She tossed her blonde hair over her shoulder with a haughty laugh. “Speaking of training, I had the pleasure of working with the new Italian stallion last night.”
My head snapped up. “Renato?”
Her smile widened at my reaction. “Oh, so you know his real name? I’m surprised you’re not calling him Lorenzo like a good little employee.” It was a fair point when Natalia was the only employee I referred to by her real name in private and didn’t mind her calling me Dante in return.
My curiosity demanded answers. “How do you know his real name?”