Chapter 4
Mattia
“So what is it you hope to accomplish?” I settle into the chair she uses as a bed and drape my arms along the back. “Do you want me to ask someone for a ransom?” I glance around, thinking she could definitely use a nicer place to live. “Maybe the cleaning crew up here too?”
“Hey, I told you that normally it’s immaculate.”
I reach over to the stand the television sits on and run my finger through an inch of dust. This didn’t happen overnight, and as much fun as I’m having playing with her, this is a problem I can solve.
“Immaculate?” I hold my finger out and then brush away the glob of dust on it.
“So I’m not some neat freak. All the more reason to be afraid of me. You don’t know what I’m capable of.”
“I think you’re holding the pepper spray backwards again,” I tell her.
“What?” She looks down and curses under her breath. “Not again.”
“Tell me, Leo, if you could have anything, what would it be? What’s your heart’s desire?”
“Is this the bargaining part of our situation?” she asks.
I nod. “I guess you could call it that.” Personally, I just want to hear her talk, but knowing what she wants could help me make her happy.
One thing I’ve noticed since meeting Leo is that she doesn’t want to be in charge. She might think she likes giving me orders, but I don’t miss the way her eyes flare when I take over. She’s a soft woman with a body made for pampering.
“What would make you happy?”
She lets out a small laugh as she shrugs. “Money solves a lot of problems.”
“It does,” I agree. “Not only that, it creates time.” She looks at me in confusion, so I keep talking.
“Having money means you don’t have to answer to anyone.
You can work when and where you want. It gives you the chance to tell someone to fuck off and do what you like.
That’s how you create time. When you’re able to spend your day doing what you love instead of grinding for a paycheck. ”
“If only it were that easy,” she sighs as she takes a seat on the coffee table in front of me. I notice she drops the pepper spray on a random sweater beside her at the same time, but I don’t point this out. “But unfortunately, that’s not how the world works for me.”
“Maybe it can,” I tell her. “Maybe me being here is an opportunity for you.”
“How so?” She narrows her eyes, but she doesn’t seem suspicious like she did earlier. If anything, she seems interested in what I have to say.
“I’m a man with a lot of money.” Before she can stop me, I keep going. “And I like to spend my money on things”—I pause as I look her body up and down slowly—“I find pleasing.”
“Pleasing?” Her tongue darts out to lick her lips, and my cock stirs with excitement.
“Have you ever been spoiled?”
“Once,” she says, surprising me. “But I thought the milk was still in date. I was sick all night, so now I always smell it first. I learned from that mistake.”
It takes everything in me not to laugh. God, could she be any more adorable?
“I see,” I tell her, sitting forward. “Have you ever been given money by someone because they like looking at you?”
“Looking at me?” She snorts. “No, people don’t pay to look at me. They just look.”
“What if I were to offer you money to look at you?”
“You’re looking at me now.” She sits forward, mimicking the way I’m sitting. “So what’s the catch?”
If she were mine, I’d bathe her in rose water every night and massage every inch of her with only the finest oils. I’d treat her like a priceless doll and play with her endlessly.
“I’d like to make a deal with you,” I say.
“I’m listening.”
“This hostage situation has to end at some point, correct?”
“I suppose,” she hedges.
“Well, then my deal is simple. If I’m no longer your hostage, you need to make sure that I don’t run to the mafia and tell them what happened here today.” She seems excited by the idea that I’ve got ties to the mob, so I might as well run with it.
“Exactly,” she says, then blinks. “But how?”
“You need a guarantee that I won’t betray you. Something like collateral.”
“Okay, then what’s your collateral? Is that the money?”
“Absolutely,” I tell her. “But I’d need a guarantee from you in return. Something that shows me that you trust me. Holding me hostage could get you into a lot of trouble, so we need to be able to trust each other.”
“Oh god,” she whispers, and I sit forward, getting closer.
Reaching out, I place my hand on her knee and try not to think about how fucking soft her bare skin is.
“With this agreement you’d still be in charge.” My cock is already getting hard at the thought of what I’m asking for.
“What do you want? I don’t have anything of value.”
“I want to give you a phone,” I tell her as I let my fingers slide over her knee and then around to the back of her calf. “One where only you and I have access to it.”
“I mean a new phone would be great, but—”
“One where you can text me how much money you want,” I say, cutting her off. “After you text me how much, then I’ll text you back and tell you what I want to see.”
“What do you want to see?”
“I told you, I want to give you money to look at you.” I let my fingers slide slowly up her calf and to the back of her knee.
“I’ll tell you what I want to see and then you’ll send me a picture of it.
That way you have my money, and I have your picture.
It’s our agreement not to tell anyone else what happened here today.
” I get even closer as my fingers slip higher up the back of her thigh. “It will be our secret.”
That’s when the buzzer for the door goes off, letting us know the pizza has arrived. Damn their thirty minutes or less motto.