Total pages in book: 39
Estimated words: 36216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 36216 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 181(@200wpm)___ 145(@250wpm)___ 121(@300wpm)
We arrived, and I got us a couple of plates, staring down any of the men who shot glances our way or hollered out catcalls to Rose. To her credit, she didn’t rise to the bait. Instead, she kept her gaze down and her hand either in mine, or in the waistband of my jeans.
I found a spot on a picnic table next to the bonfire in the back of the yard. Instead of having Rose sit beside me, I positioned her between my legs on the ground. At first she got a disgruntled look on her face, but she kept her head down and didn’t so much as flinch when I pressed on her shoulders until she was seated.
“You can rest your arms on my legs if you want. I’ll feed you while you watch everything around you. Learn the men in the area. The women. Figure out who the most dangerous person in the place is. Do all that and still be demure. You don’t make eye contact. Remember?” She nodded, glancing up at me with a determined look.
Fuck me. That look hit me like a baseball bat to the balls. I knew by the expression on her face and in her eyes, she would do exactly what I told her to. She’d also be accurate in her assessments. For the first time since I’d realized I’d have to take Rose with me back to this hell hole, I had hope that I could complete this task. I could wait out Dutch and the men he was trying to work out a deal with just like I’d planned.
The thought had just crossed my mind when I saw the man in question stalking toward me. Bozz wasn’t far behind. I handed Rose a bite of hot dog and gave her a steady look as she bit the dog from my hand.
“Show’s on, sweetheart. Make me proud.”
And there went that look again. My cock ached like a motherfucker as Rose continued to stare up at me like an adoring pet. It made me the worst kind of bastard, but I held the hot dog to her lips again, encouraging her to take another bite. As Dutch and Bozz stopped beside us, she took one slow bite, never breaking eye contact until she started to chew. Then she lowered her gaze and laid her head on my thigh, facing the two men. Yeah. She was good.
“Well, I see the appeal of your little pet now.” Dutch leered at Rose, licking his lips like he was dying for a taste. “Might have to sample her charms for myself.”
“Not if you want to keep your dick attached to your body.” I gave Dutch a level look. The man just chuckled.
“I must say, I never thought I’d see you in this position. Never thought you had it in you to care for a woman, Atlas.”
“I never said I cared about her. I said she was mine. No one takes something that belongs to me.”
“Watch your tone, motherfucker,” Bozz snarled. “He’s the president. Not you.”
“I was doing him a courtesy by warning him. Most men I’d simply cut for coveting what’s mine. I don’t share. Ever.”
“Much as I’d like to… negotiate with you on this, I have more important things to discuss. Once this is over, we’ll revisit your willingness to let me have a taste of your little pet.”
“What do you want, Dutch? I want to get back to my cabin and fuck.”
He shrugged. “So? Fuck her. We won’t mind.” I just glared at the other man. “All right, all right.” Dutch put his hands up in surrender with a light chuckle. “Don’t get your panties in a wad.” Then he sobered. “I heard back from my source today. I’m supposed to talk with Swede in two weeks. If all goes well, we can offload the cargo we have within a month. I need you to be ready to help with the transport, and the negotiation. Get me top dollar for them.”
I shrugged. “You want top dollar, they can’t be used and beaten. They’ll need to be fed regularly and allowed to rest. You can’t let the men fuck them at their whim like you been doin’.”
Dutch narrowed his eyes. “You tellin’ me how to run my club, Atlas?”
“Nope. I’m tellin’ you how to get top dollar for your cargo. I could give a good Goddamn how you run your fuckin’ club. Or how you treat your cargo, for that matter. You’re payin’ me to get the most bang for your buck, so I’m tellin’ you how to do that. Makes no difference to me if you take my advice or not. I just want it known that I warned you.”
Bozz had been studying me the whole time, and he nodded “Ain’t sure how much of his horseshit I believe ’bout him not caring how we treat the women, but what he says makes sense.”