Chapter Twenty-Five

Quinn

I stare at my reflection in one of the full-length mirrors of the hotel suite.

Red lipstick? Check.

Weird earrings that look like a pair of handcuffs? Check.

Black leather arm warmers? Check.

Fishnet stockings that I swore I'd never wear again? Check.

Black leather boots? Check.

Camera with recorder hidden in my belt buckle? Check.

Looks like I'm all set to play this game. Now, all I need is someone to play with.

As if on cue, the doorbell rings.

He's here.

I draw a deep breath before walking to the door. I take off the latch and turn the knob. Isaac Banks stands outside wearing a green sweatshirt and khaki pants. I can feel his gaze travel over my body through the gap in the door. He grins and I suppress a shudder.

"Good evening, Ms. Hardy."

"Evening, Mr. Banks." I frown as I see the two men with him. "I thought I asked you to come alone."

"I'm afraid my life is in constant danger, Ms. Hardy. These men are here for my security."

Coward. But of course a lot of people do want him dead given all the things he's done.

"Well, I can assure you that your life won't be in danger here," I tell him. "I'm alone."

He places his hand on the door and opens it wide. "Forgive me if I don't believe you. It's not personal. Just a precaution."

He nods at his men and they enter the room. I'm forced to step aside. They check inside the closet, in the bathroom, under the bed and behind the curtains, even inside my suitcase. They even turn the sheets and pillows over and check the drawers and the pictures hanging on the wall. What are they looking for? Weapons? Cameras?

One of them comes to me and starts running his hands over me as well. I frown but put my hands up. I try not to throw up as those big hands cop a feel between my legs and over my breasts while Isaac watches in amusement.

Dickhead.

I hold my breath as the man touches the buckle of my pants, but he leaves it alone.

"Clear," he finally announces.

"Clear," the other man echoes.

I let out a sigh. "Now, can we be alone?"

Isaac gives me a grin. "After you, Ms. Hardy."

I walk towards the bed and he follows. The two men leave.

"Wait just outside," he tells them.

He doesn't lock the door.

This isn't just precaution. It's paranoia. Then again, I should have expected it from a man neck-deep in his own shit.

I sit on the edge of the bed and cross my legs. "Please call me Quinn."

His gaze falls on my stockings as he sits on the other bed. Then he meets my gaze and gives another grin.

"Well, Quinn, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"I won't beat around the bush, Mr. Banks," I tell him, reciting the lines I've rehearsed. "I want to make a deal. I want you to leave my family's farm alone and help my brother. In exchange, I'll help you bring Elijah Strauss down."

For a moment, he doesn't answer. Then he lets out a laugh.

"You'll bring Elijah Strauss down?"

"No. You will. I'll just help."

His expression turns serious. We're talking business now.

"You really think you can do that?"

"Yes," I answer. "I know more about him than you do, information that not even your best spies can get their hands on."

His eyes narrow. "And how would I know your information is real? How can I trust you? You're his lover. I saw the way you looked at him at the party."

"That was before I slapped him, I believe." I wrap my hands around my knee. "Before I found out that he wanted my family's farm for himself. And also before you let that teeny bit of information about my brother slip."

Isaac places a hand over his chest. "Me?"

"Oh, come on. We both know it was you." I stand up and begin pacing the room. "Thanks to that, Eli doesn't want to be with me anymore. You were right, after all. I was only with him because I needed his money so I could find my brother and save him from whatever he's gotten himself into."

"So he threw you away and now you're throwing yourself at me."

I turn to face him. "Me? Throwing myself at you?" I shake my head. "You're wrong, Mr. Banks. I'm making you an offer, one you can't refuse."

He snorts. "You sound like I've already accepted."

"I'm sorry. I know most men don't like being told what to do. I just... Well, I do hope you'll accept."

Isaac stands up. "You forget, Quinn, that I, too, am after your family's farm."

"That's why I'm asking you to leave it alone." I step closer to him.

"And you think I will?" His gaze angles down the neckline of the sports bra beneath my sheer blouse.

Not one bit.

"I'll take the risk of trusting you if you take the risk of trusting me," I answer. "At least I knew your intentions from the start. Eli hid his from me. He made me fall in love with him and he broke my heart."

He grins. "So this is the fury of a scorned woman."

"Oh, I have a lot of fury. And I may be scorned, but that's not all." I walk to the window. "I'm afraid Eli's done something else to me that he must pay for."

"What?" I hear the curiosity in his voice.

I turn to face him. "Since we're business partners now, I'll tell you. Like you said, I was his lover, but that's not all. You see, Eli has a certain... preference."

His curiosity turns to eagerness. "Which is?"

I look away. "He liked being... spanked. And getting tied up sometimes."

Isaac doesn't laugh. Just as I thought, he finds this amusing but not funny.

"Well, that's... interesting."

"Of course, I had to do it, and the thing is, I didn't want to at first, but well, it gets kind of exciting and then now, it's just..." I look into his eyes. "Now, whenever I see a man, I just feel like tying him up and spanking him."

His eyes grow wide.

Time to shift my acting into another gear.

I slap my forehead. "It's just so frustrating. I hate this. I hate what he's made me into."

Isaac walks towards me. "You said whenever you see a man?"

I put down my hand. "Y-yes."

He grabs my hand. "Then do you feel like doing it to me now?"

He's bitten the bait.

I look away and pretend to blush.

He takes that as a yes. "Then do it."

I feign surprise. "What?"

"Show me how you usually do it."

"W-Why?"

"So I know you're telling the truth."

Liar. I can see the tent in his pants. He just wants me to bring him to his knees.

Gladly.

I shake my head. "But I'll hurt you, Mr. Banks. I - "

"I can handle it." He takes off his shirt.

Still, I shake my head. "Your guards. They might think I'm trying to kill you."

Isaac glances at the door. "Fine."

He goes to the door and I hear him send away his bodyguards before he closes the door and locks it.

I take a deep breath. "Are you sure, Mr. Banks?"

"I'm sure." He takes off his pants so he's in his boxers. "Now, tell me what to do."

I try not to grin. Instead, I go to my suitcase and take the collapsible riding crop and the fluffy pair of handcuffs I've hidden among the clothes. Thank goodness those thugs didn't find them.

Isaac's eyes grow wide when he sees them.

"I'm afraid I've acquired a habit of carrying these babies around. You don't mind, do you?"

He smiles. "Not at all."

Now comes the more serious role.

I whip the crop against my palm. "Not at all, what?"

"Not at all, Mistress."

My lips curve into a grin. "Good."

I pull his arms back and wrap the handcuffs around his wrists. "Now, down on your knees, Mr. Banks."

He obeys. Now, wasn't that easy?

I run the tip of the riding crop against the back of his shoulders and then hit his back. He lets out a moan.

He's enjoying himself already? But I'm afraid I'm going to be the one enjoying this more.

"Was that hard enough, Mr. Banks?" I ask him.

"Harder."

I whip the crop harder across his back. Then I take a crack at his fat ass. Isaac moans again.

I pull his hair. "I didn't hear if you liked that, Mr. Banks."

"I did," he says. "I liked it very much."

"It seems like it." I go around to the front and touch the tip of the crop to the tent in his boxers. "You're a slut, aren't you?"

He doesn't answer.

I grasp his chin. "Say it."

"I'm a slut."

Damn. It feels so good to hear him say that.

I hit his arm. "Now tell me you're a bad boy who needs to be punished.

"I'm a very bad boy and I need to be punished hard!"

"Good. Now tell me you'll stay away from the Hardy farm."

Isaac's eyes narrow in confusion.

I step away. "Oh, and say that you'll never try to bring Eli down."

Confusion turns to anger. "What's going on?"

"You won't say that? Fine. It doesn't matter." I sit on the bed. "Because if ever you try to do those things, everyone will see just how much of a slut you are. Because I just recorded everything."

Isaac glares. The veins on his forehead pop. Now he realizes what's going on.

But it's too late.

I flash him a grin as I lift his chin with the tip of the riding crop. "Game over, Isaac Banks. And guess what? You've lost."

~

"Did you see that look on his face?"

I laugh as I remember it back in the Executive Suite.

It's been hours and I still can't get over it.

"I'll never forget it," Eli answers beside me. "You did a good job, Quinn."

"Yeah. I'm impressed," Janice says. "Then again, I was already impressed when you picked up on Isaac's fetish just from spending a few minutes with Laura."

I didn't exactly pick up on it. It was more of an intuition. There was just something about the way Laura was acting that made me feel she was more than Isaac's assistant. And then I caught a glimpse of the fishnet stockings beneath her black dress and her ring with its unusual insignia.

As it turns out, the symbol is that of a BDSM club. After a bit of interrogation and a bit of money, Laura confessed that she worked for it as a dominatrix and Isaac was her client. She also gave me some tips on how to handle him.

I grin. "Well, that's one way to bring a man to his knees."

Eli turns to me. "Remind me never to cross you."

I laugh.

"I don't suppose Mr. Banks will ever bother us again," Janice says.

"I doubt that," Eli says. "He'll find a way. Maybe not now or anytime soon. But he will."

"Well, we'll be ready," I say. "We've already made copies of the video. Right, Janice?"

She nods. Eli says nothing.

I grab his hand and squeeze it. "Enough of Mr. Banks. Let's go home."