Mark
“Your boyfriend and I have been talking,” I started, working my way into an explanation of why the blonde was being asked to sit in my office and talk to me.
“I figured as much,” she said.
I chuckled. She had a mouth on her. I figured I’d be learning the real talents of that mouth soon enough.
“You’ve been talking. What about?” It was impressive how quickly she’d turned the fear and concern I’d seen in her eyes into snarky remarks.
“Ryan has been telling me about his troubles with his supplier,” I said slowly, drawing it out to see if she knew anything about it.
If she did, she didn’t seem to react. She didn’t say anything, either. I wasn’t sure how to read her steady expression, but Ryan’s nervous shifting by the door told me he hadn’t actually talked to her about what was going on with the business.
“It seems he owes money to his people in Canada,” I continued. “So, he has come to me to ask for an advance on his next delivery, a kind of loan. Basically, he needs a gift of a significant amount of money to be able to pay them off so he can continue making his deliveries.”
I sat back to see how my words hit them both. Ryan seemed to be growing more and more distraught the longer I talked. Nora didn’t seem bothered at all. She’d seemed pretty shaken when she came in, but she had fully recovered now that we were talking about business.
“Now, your boyfriend has served us well. We’ve had an agreement now for a couple of years, and he has always honored it. We’ve always paid him according to that arrangement, and we’ve never had any trouble out of him. He’s practically family.”
I cut my eyes over to Ryan, fuming by the door.
“So what’s the deal?” Nora asked, bringing my attention back to her. “Why are you telling me all of this?” Her blue eyes stared at me coolly as she asked her questions. She wasn’t afraid to push me to get to the point. That was good. That was real good.
“Well, as I’m sure you’re aware, the Reapers is a business, so even family and friends are merely associates at the end of the day. I can only give for what I’ve been given. I can’t give on promises or feelings. But,” I added before she could say anything, “I can be flexible when it comes to business. I can always cut a business deal.”
She looked over at Ryan, and then back at me. She seemed to panic, finally showing some emotion. I had no idea what thoughts were rolling around in that head of hers, but it seemed she was starting to catch on.
“I’m not asking for any fucking favors,” Ryan snapped all of a sudden. He pushed himself off the door and took a step towards my desk. He stared down at me with the intensity of someone who thought way too much of himself.
“You came to me for an advance, a loan that would basically be repaid with the next delivery, which is not guaranteed. You know we don’t do business that way. I have never provided you with an advance, and I have always maintained that we only pay when we receive the product. Now, you explain to me how asking me to step outside of our original agreement is anything but a favor,” I said calmly, relishing in the contrast between our voices.
“We’ve been doing business a couple of years now. Every few weeks, I deliver faithfully. I carry large quantities of goods across the border through the woods for you, risking worse than jail time, and I never fail to bring you the fucking best, right?” he pleaded in an attempt to bargain with me.
“Right. You have been very loyal and dependable,” I admitted to him.
“If I didn’t feel like I had provided a good service, I wouldn’t have come to you for help. And I’m not asking a favor. My original request was that you pay me at least some of the money ahead of the delivery. Now you’ve asked for something far more valuable,” he whined.
I held up my hand to stop him. I wanted to be the one to break it to Nora that she’d been sold out by her boyfriend. That was my news to deliver, since I was the one making the purchase.
“Am I not doing you a favor by agreeing to work with you on this?” I asked him, slowly letting each word roll out.
“Yes, but—”
“No buts, boy. The fact is I could have thrown you out of here the moment you asked for extra money. I could have told you to get the fuck out, and I could have found another supplier. I could have had someone here before the night was out,” I told him forcefully, stabbing my finger onto the desk.
“I understand,” he said in a defeated tone, looking down at his feet.
“Do you?” I asked him. “I’ve got people closer than you, people who can make deliveries more often. The markets in New Hampshire and Vermont are becoming more lucrative, and the dealers there are starting to branch out. So don’t tell me how trustworthy you are or how good our relationship is. If I didn’t already know those things, you wouldn’t be standing here today.”
“Right,” he said in the same sad tone. He sounded like a child who had been scolded by his father.
I probably should have felt bad about tearing him a new one in front of his girl, but she didn’t seem fazed by it. Her loyalty to him didn’t seem to go all that deep. Maybe his willingness to sell her to me should have been an indication of just how weak their bond was. He seemed angrier at feeling belittled than at having to give up his girl.
“Now, accept that I’m doing you a favor and get out of my face before the deal is off,” I told him, sending him back to his place by the door.
Like a scolded puppy with its tail between its legs, he backed away from me with his head down and stood in front of the door. He didn’t even lean back like he had been.
“Okay, are you two done with your little pissing contest?” Nora asked.
I returned my attention to her again. “I’m sorry, but it seems someone had to be reminded of his place,” I told her, grinning.
He didn’t get to act like he was big and bad after coming to me for help because he couldn’t control how his money was spent. I did wonder how much of his lack of control over his money was her fault. Then again, if he wanted to keep a woman, he needed to make sure he could. He was a boy trying to be a man. And Nora was about to belong to a man for a change.
“You know, I don’t care. Like I said, pissing contest. Now what does this mean for me?” she asked. “You brought me in here for a reason.”
“I’m glad you asked, Nora, especially since Ryan doesn’t seem to communicate with you,” I told her.
She stared at me and crossed her arms. I wondered how a man like Ryan had been able to keep a woman like her unless there was something about him I wasn’t seeing. Or maybe she was more submissive around him than she was when she was in the clubhouse.
I wondered what it would take to make her submissive for me, to get her to cut out all the attitude and give in. I narrowed my eyes as I thought about making her more compliant.
“I’m waiting,” she said impatiently.
I wet my lips. “I’m sorry. My mind was drifting.”
“I could see that.” She wasn’t afraid to put someone in their place either. I liked that. I had to adjust myself in my chair, as the thought of breaking through her dominant façade to find the good little girlfriend Ryan obviously knew turned me on and made me hard under my desk.
“Ryan has agreed to sell you to me for the money he needs in order to pay off his debt,” I finally told her.
She looked at him, but he was facing the wall behind her, not looking at her. Then, she turned to me with confusion and the beginning of panic in her eyes. She grabbed the arms of the chair like she was going to push herself up to leave.
I gestured for her to remain seated. She stopped and stared at me. I already had the upper hand with her. Once she was mine, I was going to use that to my advantage.
“I don’t get it,” she said. “What are you talking about? What do you mean he’s selling me to you? I’m not his to sell.” She looked over her shoulder at him and glared.
“Let me explain,” I started, reaching a hand across the desk toward her to calm her and to keep her attention on me.
“Please do,” she urged me.
I sat back and grinned again. Her bold attitude was amusing and tantalizing at the same time.
“You see, you’re a kept woman—”
“I know, and?”
I raised my eyebrows and stared at her until she backed down. Eventually, she bowed her head a little and held up her hands to let me know she was going to let me talk.
“Ryan has paid your rent and utilities. He has kept you fed. He has supplied you with a disposable income in return for sex and company when he’s in town, am I correct?” I asked.
She nodded. “Yes, you are.”
“So, essentially, he has been paying for those services, among others I’m sure. He has paid for access to you,” I explained.
She stared at me again, and I felt like I could see the revelation dawning. The implications of what I had been trying to tell her were starting to come together. She’d had an idea before, maybe, but now she was getting the whole picture.
“So, in exchange for helping him pay off his debts, he is turning over that access to me. You will be mine from here on out. So now I will keep you.”
Her jaw dropped and she looked around at Ryan again. Then she turned and looked back at me. She furrowed her brow. Tears welled up in her eyes.
“I’m not some piece of property to be traded,” she protested. “I’m a human being.”
“A human being who allowed herself to be bought by a man. And what he bought, he can sell,” I explained.
“No.” She shook her head, repeating the word. “No. No. No.”
“I’m sorry,” Ryan muttered behind her. His voice was barely more than a whisper.
She turned on him in fury, and his eyes met hers. I sat back to enjoy the fireworks, a big smile across my face. I was going to give her a chance to lash out at him, and then we were going to proceed. It promised to be entertaining.