Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 70716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70716 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 354(@200wpm)___ 283(@250wpm)___ 236(@300wpm)
I go right over to the bar after shuffling past a crowd of incredibly well-dressed people. I look great, no doubt about it, but these people make me look like I’ve come in off the streets. I stick out like a sore thumb, which is kind of the point but also may attract a bit too much attention. Either way, I’m here, and there is no backing down now.
I order a drink, ignoring the stares of women who walk by and give me a once over that shows, very clearly, their disapproval with what I’m wearing.
Like I give a shit.
I’m not here for their opinions, I’m here to get a job done.
Besides, my short, tight, red dress is beautiful, and I know I look great in it. Just because I’m not wearing what likes like the equivalent of a fucking ball gown doesn’t mean I don’t belong here.
Bitches.
“I wonder who let the trash in,” a woman says as she walks past.
I have a drink of vodka cranberry in my hands and she has a gorgeous white dress on. I spin around quickly, letting the drink fly out and land all over her perfect outfit. She squeals immediately, waving her hands around like I’ve thrown hot acid on her.
“Oops,” I say innocently. “Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”
“You whore!” she wails. “This dress cost me thousands of dollars. You’ve ruined it.”
Whoopsie.
Oh well.
I give her a smile and say, “It must have been the trashier side of me that simply didn’t see you. Sorry.”
She scowls at me and, with a turn and a huff, she and her friends disappear. I grin and face the bar again where the bartender is smiling at me. “That was ballsy.”
I shrug. “What can I say? I don’t like being called names.”
He chuckles. “Been a while since I’ve seen a woman with such spunk in here. They’re all stuck up,” he extends his hand. “BJ.”
“Aviana.”
“Nice to meet you, Aviana. Can I get you another drink considering you lost the last one?”
I grin. “Please.”
He serves me another drink and then gets back to work. I sip it, pretending to bop away to the music and act like I’m fitting in. I don’t want to draw attention to myself so it looks like I’m here for Benedict, but I also want him to notice me.
My little plan works.
Mid-way through my third drink, a deep, rugged voice comes from behind me. “Aviana, a face I never thought I’d see again.”
I turn slowly in my stool and look at Benedict, who is standing behind me in his sharp suit, his perfectly slicked back brown hair, those blue eyes and that face that’s terrifyingly calm at all times. He’s aging, but my god he’s making it look good.
“Benedict,” I say softly. “I wondered if you were still the owner of this place.”
“Did you come to see me?”
I laugh. “No. I just ... wanted to come back to this place. I guess you could say I never got a chance to look around before.”
“I heard you ran away. That wasn’t a very smart thing to do, now was it?”
I meet his eyes. “You know me, I never did like to follow the rules.”
“A man’s possession is very valuable to him.”
“Well, good thing I’m not a possession then.”
I give him a smile and he returns it, only his is slower, far more dangerous. “May I sit and have a drink?”
“It’s your bar,” I say, waving a hand at the stool beside me.
He takes a seat and the bartender immediately serves him a whiskey on the rocks. Benedict nods and then glances at me. “Tell me where you’ve been, and what you’ve been doing.”
“I’m not sure that’s wise. I don’t want to go back there, Benedict. I’m free now.”
“Completely your choice,” he says slowly. “You’re doing well, then?”
“Well enough,” I tell him with a shrug. “It’s hard, you know, out here ...”
I’m playing a game, telling him whatever he wants to hear without making it too obvious that it’s an act. I was always strong willed and sassy, because of that he would know if I was too submissive.
“Have you found work?”
I shake my head. “No, I have literally no skills. Money is hard to come by. I’m just crashing on couches at the moment, but I’m free. I can’t complain.”
“I could help you out,” he says, sipping his drink.
“I’m not going to be anyone’s pet again, thank you very much.”
He chuckles, low. “I don’t keep pets, Aviana. I build them a house and let them live their own lives.”
“Except you own them, control them ...”
His eyes are piercing when they meet mine. “Precisely.”
“I’ll be okay, thanks.”
“I can offer you far more than you were given before. A home, a job, money ...”
I take a sip of my drink before answering, “I can find those things on my own.”