I had been grinding my teeth so hard, I wasn’t sure if there would be any enamel left as Tennessee told the room of founding members the fucked up situation we were in.

“She left.”

“What the fuck do you mean, she left? Where did she go?” I asked, feeling as if I were about to snap any minute.

Tennessee, shook his head. “I don’t know. Someone from Marco’s camp called us and said the bitch ran with the money. They said Anita went to the bathroom to clean up, and then no one saw her again.”

“Doesn’t she still have two weeks on that contract?” Matthew asked as he sipped from his drink. No one around the table seemed as concerned as they should be. Curious yes. But not really concerned.

“Did that prick Marco hurt her?” I asked.

Tennessee shook his head. “He claims no. Said she never said the safe word. Not once. She simply disappeared.”

“And we trust the man? I find it hard to believe this was a calculated move on Anita’s part.”

“From what Marco’s man told me, Anita demanded the money up front in the car ride over. She claimed she was scared and it would make her feel better knowing how much she was actually going to get and see it. Feel it. She told Marco she was new to Spiked Roses and still didn’t trust that this entire contract stuff was legit. She was getting scared of being screwed out of the money. So Marco, not giving a fuck about the money, and more focused on what dirty things he had in store, gave her the money. One hundred thousand dollars.”

“What?” I asked, surprised. “The contracts were for fifty thousand for that tasting.”

Tennessee nodded. “Apparently our delicate flower who likes the thorn negotiated for double that amount.”

I had to hand it to the girl. The women were allowed to negotiate the contract as they saw fit, but most girls attended several tastings before having the guts to ask for anything, let alone more money.

“So, Marco is pissed and sending his goons to find her,” Tennessee said. “And he isn’t pleased with Spiked Roses right now.”

“Fuck!” Michael Price said. “If word gets out that our staff steal our members’ money and run off, we are done. Say goodbye to our reputation.”

I nodded in agreement as did the rest of the men around the table.

“Did he threaten us?” Harley asked, showing anger for the first time this evening. “I’ll fucking put a stop to all this right now. Say the word.”

“If Marco’s men find her, they will hurt her,” I said more to myself than to the other men.

“Kill her, would be a better word,” Harley corrected. “Men like Marco Nunez don’t like being stolen from. If it were me, I would kill her but only after I got my money’s worth.”

“Then we need to find her,” I said. “Before his men do. We’ll bring her back, or bring back the money. We don’t need a murder on our hands, nor does she deserve that. She fucked up, and we’ll fix it. But we can’t let Marco and his men have their way with her.”

“Where do you think she’d run off to?” Tennessee asked.

“Where’s that hick town she is from?” I asked. “Give me the name of that from her hiring papers. Also all her emergency contact names. We’ll start there.”

“You want me to handle it?” Harley asked. “I can hunt her down.”

Yeah this was right up Harley’s alley. He could do this blindfolded, but I also didn’t completely trust the man. The assassin had demons. Ruthless demons. And I didn’t want to risk having Anita piss him off and end up murdered anyway. No. He was not the man for the job.

I shook my head. “No, I will. I hired her. It’s my mess to clean up.”

“Don’t fuck with Marco,” Harley warned. “He’s a mean son of a bitch, Kenneth. This isn’t the courtroom. This is my domain.”

“I don’t plan on fucking with him. I’ll make sure this gets handled and Spiked Roses is clear of this shit. I’ve got it handled.”

I couldn’t believe I was doing this. I didn’t have the time for this bullshit. But fuck. If you want something done right, do it your damn self.

* * *

I couldn’t believe he was standing in the middle of Virgie’s living room. I mean… I wasn’t exactly being smart when it came to coming back to Muckaluk, but I really didn’t expect anyone to follow me or really care. Sure, I knew Marco would be mad, and going back to New Orleans ever again was out of the question. But a hundred grand was just a drop in the bucket for these people. Would they really put a bounty on my head? I hadn’t thought so. I hadn’t thought it was necessary to go into hiding. Apparently, I was wrong.

And I really hadn’t expected my boss from Spiked Roses to do the dirty work. Kenneth Saxon was here. He was here! And he was pissed. If looks could kill… And he was fast. I barely had time to change my clothes, hide the money, and start planning on what I needed to do to get Virgie out of Elko Regency.

“Did you really think you could just sign the contract, take the money, and run? And I’m disappointed in you, Anita. Back to your hometown? In the house you used as an emergency contact on your hiring paperwork?”

“I didn’t think you rich fucks would really care enough,” I defended. “Not to come to the middle of nowhere Nevada to find me. That’s for sure.”

“Well I did. And I’m not happy about it.”

“I’m not happy about it either, so we are even.”

Our eyes locked, and neither of us would dare back down and look away. We were having our own stand off.

“You have two choices. Come with me, and honor your contract, or terminate the agreement, and give the money back. Simple. Your choice.”

“No,” I said with zero emotion.

“No?” His firm and rigid expression was only slightly altered with the rise of an eyebrow.

“You heard me correctly. I will not give the money back.” I meant every single word, and there was nothing this man could do to make me change my mind.

“Fine. I don’t care. But you will return with me and honor your two week contract then.”

I shook my head. “I won’t do that either.”

Kenneth’s jaw clenched. “You are saying this as if you have a choice. You don’t. You return the money, or I return you.”

“Consider this my resignation,” I said without so much as a flinch even though my heart beat a mile a minute. “I quit.”

Kenneth gave a slow and sinful smile. Fuck the man was handsome, even when he appeared terrifying at the same time. “Very well. I shall accept your resignation. But that does not change anything. You owe a very dangerous man a lot of money, or you owe him you. The choice is yours, but it is one or the other. You can’t just quit Spiked Roses and run home to hide. There is no hiding from this man. Do you understand that?”

“I’m not giving the money back!” I snapped. “I consider the money payment for services rendered. He pissed on me!” Bile formed in the back of my throat just thinking about it.

Kenneth smiled again with humor twinkling in his dark eyes but said nothing. Was he going to laugh at me? Yes, the fucker wanted to laugh at me!

“It’s not funny! He pissed on me, he choked me, and he expected me to act like his pet. I’m not a fucking animal! I didn’t sign on for that.”

Very calmly, Kenneth asked, “Did you read the contract?”

“Yes,” I mumbled, hating how the man had full control of his emotions when I wanted to scream and throw a fit like a damn toddler.

“Then you knew what you were agreeing to. You initialed next to noncon, did you not?”

“Yes, but—”

“You initialed next to Master/slave? To pet play? To whatever aggressive act aside from permanent bodily harm, correct? And were you not paid in cash? A large sum of cash to perform Marco’s out of the ordinary desires?”

“I didn’t know he was going to pee on me!” I took a few steps back and shuddered at the memory of Marco’s ammonia-scented urine raining down on my naked flesh.

“Clearly you got in over your head on this. Tennessee warned you, but you were too stubborn to listen. Or maybe too greedy. But whichever the case, you were warned.”

The fucker was right. I’d had no idea what I was getting myself into. But I’d wanted the money. I needed the money, and I wasn’t going to give it back. I should be paid for what was by far one of the worst experiences of my life. The image of piss shooting from Marco’s ugly limp dick would forever be ingrained in my mind.

“So give the money back and end the contract. You know that either party can walk away at anytime. You could have said the safe word, which you didn’t. You can’t be so stupid as to think that you can walk away and keep the money. So give it back to me, and this mess is over. I don’t have time for this shit. Hurry up so I can get back to New Orleans.”

I crossed my arms and glared at him. “I already gave you my answer.”

An ominous shadow washed over his face as I was lifted into the air by Kenneth and swung over his shoulder as if I weighed nothing to the man. He bolted out the front door and down the porch stairs, heading straight for a black Escalade waiting in front. Complete panic filled me as I thought of all the horrors that may happen in the hands of this man. He could be far more deviant than the asshole I had recently escaped. I already knew he was no nonsense, and a man all the ladies at Spiked Roses feared. But what if there was more beneath the surface? What if my fleeing and forcing him to come after me had awoken the beast?

“Stop fighting me,” he demanded calmly, carrying me to the vehicle, apparently not really concerned as my fists walloped on his back.

I continued to kick and punch with every ounce of strength I still had left in my body, coughing from the bone of his shoulder pressing into my stomach with every twist and turn of my resistance. The pressure of his shoulder into my abdomen also prevented me from screaming—if there had been any point in screaming to begin with. Everything was happening so fast. I would be thrown in the back of the vehicle before anyone would arrive to save me.

Kenneth swatted my ass hard, causing an involuntary yelp to escape my mouth. “I said to stop fighting me.” He spanked my bottom two more times until I paused in my useless struggle.

“That’s a good girl,” he praised.

The submissive term of endearment fired me up again. I would never be anyone’s “good girl”. I began my fight with a renewed strength. Over and over, I kicked and punched, only to be rewarded with continued swats in response. Fucking bastard was spanking me like a damn child.

* * *

I lowered her feet to the ground, my hands still gripped tightly around her tiny wrist, my stare immediately going to her rich brown eyes. “What the hell did you think you were doing running here? Did you really think no one would find you?” I asked, pulling my gaze away from her briefly and tossing her into the back of the car, knowing I had to get her as far away from this house in this piece of shit town, and quickly. “I took you for a smart woman. You didn’t think they would look for you at your friend’s place in your fucking hometown? Are you a goddamn idiot?”

She continued struggling against me, her fists punching, and her legs kicking me in the side with a vengeance as I crawled in beside her, slipping across the slick leather seating. I knocked on the glass separating the back seat from the driver to signal for him to take off.

When the vehicle started and pulled away, Anita’s eyes widened as she glanced out the tinted windows. “You have no right to take me. This is kidnapping! Who the fuck do you think you are?” she demanded.

I turned calmly to look at her, my hands going to her assailing fists trying to stop her futile attack. Finally grabbing her by the wrists, I made her stop, my eyes studying this woman I’d felt the duty to find. Her skin was so pale, bruised in areas from the hand of a monster—no doubt Marco Nunez. Her body seemed so fragile, a contrast to the spitfire that ineffectively pummeled at me. As I restrained her, I couldn’t help but be concerned I may bruise her delicate skin even further. I knew this woman was practically a stranger to me, and I shouldn’t give a fuck about her wellbeing, but I still didn’t want to deliberately cause her any lasting injury or mark her beautiful skin more than it was.

Feeling her boot heel clomping down hard onto my foot, my attention pulled away from Anita’s tantalizing beauty and back to the harsh reality that stood before us. I needed to remember why I was here with this woman in the first place. I wasn’t here by choice. I was here because I needed to figure out a way to clean up this fucking mess. A fucking mess her dumb ass put us both in.

“You signed the fucking contract, and I’m here to make sure you honor it,” I told her as she continued her assault on me.

“You can fuck off, you and that disgusting contract!” Anita yelled, still fighting against me. “Mind your own business, and let me go.”

“I advise you stop before I lose my patience,” I warned, my lips close to her ear. So close that I could smell a floral scent mixed with spice that literally made my mouth water. “And watch your mouth and speak like a fucking lady, or you won’t be sitting comfortably for the entire ride back. I tolerate many things from women, but I can’t stand a foul-talking, truck stop vocabulary.”

Anita seemed to pay no attention to my warning as she continued fighting against me, her body brushing against me in a way most men only hope to have some woman to do so well in the heat of a sexual encounter. But this was no fucking sexual encounter. She was a goddamn, out of control little brat right now. The nerve that she actually believed she could take the money and run caused my core to sizzle with frustration. And she was acting like I was the bad guy! I was saving her goddamn life. Well, I was sick of playing Mr. Nice Guy and Mr. Professional. I was going to do this my way from now on.

My irritation—and sexual frustration—building, I did the only thing I knew would keep her still and silent. My fingers firmly gripping her chin, I lifted her head, grabbed a handful of hair in my hand forcefully, and kissed her hard and fast on the lips, nipping at her lower lip.

“Now you stay still, baby doll, or you’ll be getting more than just a kiss,” I said, enjoying how the force of intimacy seemed to cease all breathing in the stubborn woman. I finally had the upper hand… and I didn’t mind how I had to get it either.

Stunned motionless, Anita just stared. “What are you planning to do to me?” Anita asked, her struggles gone, her tone obviously nervous.

“I told you. You signed a contract, and now I’m bringing you back to New Orleans to honor it. Marco—your new owner for the next two weeks—is waiting for you. And from what I know of this man, you could be in a world of trouble for trying to steal from him and think you’d get away with it. I’ll try to fix this, but you need to shut your fucking mouth, smile like a good little girl, and let me handle it.”

“Fuck you,” she said in more of a mumble than a statement. She crossed her arms against her chest and stared out the window in what I had to admit was the most adorable pout I had ever seen.