"W hy don't you come over and say hi, sweetheart?"

Nico turns and beckons. Slowly, the girl — my co-star — breaks the lock her eyes have on mine. She falters, her face blushing a little as she looks away. The big goon behind her gives her a push forward, and my blood pressure suddenly spikes watching him put his fucking hand on her. The snarl curls on my lip, and my hands tighten to fists at my sides. But she steps forward, and when she looks up at me again, the fight goes out of me.

One look from this angel, and I'm adrift, like I've never been before.

She steps close, and Nico claps his hands together and rubs them.

"Alright. Me and the boys are going to take off for a bit and let you kids get to know each other. You know, before you get to know each other."

I could roll my eyes at Nico's shit sense of humor, but my eyes are way too busy drinking her in. She's fucking gorgeous . And so goddamn innocent looking. I mean, how the fuck is this girl doing porn? It's insane, and also kind of depressing. She's too pretty, and too innocent, and not in that fake porno schoolgirl way, I mean she's way past that.

But maybe that’s why she does it. Maybe that’s why she's so good and why they've got me filming with her.

Filming . Christ, I'm filming a fucking porn.

I was broken in Afghanistan. We all were — me, Gray, and Roman. I've been putting the pieces back together ever since — well, trying to at least. But I think it's safe to say I've been failing at that. A debt to the mob, more blood on my hands, and now I'm shooting a fucking porn movie.

My resume gets better by the day.

Gray keeps telling me I should go back to law school and join him. He means well, but fuck, he works for the Moretti's too. Not necessarily out of pure choice, but still. And I wish I could say he's what got me here in the first place and into this fucking mess, but that's just an easy, bullshit excuse, and I know it.

I'm here because of my own sins, and my own choices. I'm here, and however fucked up this situation is, it's not going away.

Nico and Joey and their guys head out of the room, and the big metal door slides shut with a clang behind them. I turn back to the angel in front of me and clear my throat.

"Hey, Dylan."

She ignores my outstretched hand, looking away.

"So, how long have you been doing this?"

She says nothing, and unlike before when her eyes were locked on me from across the room, up close now that we're alone, those big baby blues are anywhere but me. Mine still take her in though, drinking in every damn detail — the soft skin, the pink, pouty lips, the chestnut hair that tumbles over her shoulder. The ripe, full tits that the dress she wears pushes up so fucking temptingly, and a tight little ass that gets my dick hard in seconds.

She looks even younger up close — a lot younger, actually, but I guess that's probably part of her appeal as this kind of actress.

"Been in anything I might've seen?"

Her eyes close softly, and she slowly shakes her head side to side.

I frown. The fuck is going on here ?

I don't like this anymore than she does, but I could also do without the attitude. I'm betting she wants to waste her time shooting something with a guy who's not even in the industry about as much as I want to shoot something at all , but the sooner we get over that shit and just get through this, the sooner I can get out from under all of this.

"Look," I growl, stepping closer to her. "I know I'm the new guy here, and that you're a professional, and you're probably pissed that you have to do this with me. But it's not like I'm into it either, alright? So how about we help each other out, okay?"

The girl bites her lip, still avoiding my eyes and looking away.

I change tactics. Humor always diffuses shit.

"And hey, I know I'm the new guy, but trust me, he's not gonna disappoint." I grin, reaching down and grabbing my cock through my jeans in this big animated way that I hope gets her to loosen up the ice queen act. I mean, shit, the girl is a professional after all. If she can see that I'm not a scumbag and that I'm going to do my best to make her look good, maybe she'll drop those walls.

"I mean, with a knockout like you?" I whistle cartoonishly. "Zero problems staying hard, I promise."

The wall doesn’t drop. The ice doesn't crack. Actually, the more I talk, the more she seems to shut off, to the point where she's now physically closing in on herself.

…Something's not right here.

But suddenly, the door slams open, and Nico barges in, along with a small guy with a camera and a tripod.

"Alright, we're doing a test shoot," Nico announces. "Spielberg over here is gonna take some practice reels of you two. So, sweetheart," Nico grins at the girl. "How about you get on those knees and suck him, alright?"

Her face pales, her eyes going wide as the color drains from her skin.

"W-what?" she breathes. Her voice is so soft, and so fragile, and a part of me clenches tight at the way she looks so scared.

And I hate this. She's too pure, and Nico’s being so fucking crude about this. And I know she's a goddamn porn star, and that the innocent thing is just her "look," but still. There's something about her that makes me want to protect her. To save her. It's my constant problem, wanting to save the unsaveable. I mean this chick's a porn girl — she probably got all sorts of shit that needs fixing but can’t be.

But, I don’t want him here, or anyone, really. I am going to do this, and fuck if just being near her doesn’t make my cock rock hard. But if I'm going to take her, for some reason, I want it to be just the two of us. I want just her , no other bullshit. No other man seeing her like that. It's a fucking ridiculous thought, since she literally fucks on camera for a living, but it's how I feel.

She freezes up though, and when Nico steps towards her, she trembles.

Something is very fucking wrong here.

"C'mon, sweetheart. Take it out and suck his fuckin dick."

"Chill," I growl, my eyes narrowing at him. Something about the way she's so shut up tight and the way her body language screams terror has my hackles rising, and Nico getting closer to her is only making it worse.

"Shut up," he snaps at me before turning back to her. "On your fuckin' knees, baby."

"Cool it," I hiss.

But Nico ignores me this time, and before I know it, she's gasping in horror as he grabs her and shoves her to her knees in front of me,

"That's enough ," I roar. I take a step towards him with my hand closing into a fist when suddenly, his gun is out and leveled right at my chest.

"Step it back freak show," he hisses, eyes narrowing at me. "We up and running?" he mutters over his shoulder at the camera guy, who nods.

"Yep."

"Good." His eyes dart between me and the girl, still kneeling on the floor and trembling. "I'll give you lovebirds some fuckin privacy, but the camera stays. Remember, this is just test footage stuff, but make it good, alright?" He jabs a finger down at her. "Do it ," he snaps, before he and the camera guy turn and head out of the room.

The door shuts with a bang, and I exhale.

"Kind of a prick, isn't he?" I mutter. "Look, I'm sorry it's my first time in all this shit. I—"

The girl sobs, and something twists inside of me. Every instinct I have says something’s wrong here, but I can't put my finger on it. But I also know that as much as I hate doing what Nico says, if we don't do this, there's going to be a whole lot more going wrong.

"I know, angel," I say softly. "He's a fucking asshole. Look we'll go quick and just get it over—"

She starts to cry. Big, wet tears roll down her soft cheeks, and something breaks inside of me.

"I'm—" Her voice hitches as she sobs, and my jaw tightens.

"Look, we—"

"I'm not a porn star, okay?!" She suddenly snaps, looking right up at me with those big blue eyes so full of fear and fury and fierceness. "I'm not a porn star," she says again, quieter this time as her shoulders slump and her eyes look right into mine.

"I'm a virgin ."

Oh, fuck.