“Crazy!” she grumbled under her breath as she pitched the pillowcases in after the sheets.
It didn’t matter how handsome he was or how incredible in bed, he was a criminal. She didn’t even know what kind. He could sell children for all she knew. He could be a killer. A rapist. An expert in black market organ trade. How the hell was she supposed to overlook that? It wasn’t as though she could ask. Even if she did, odds were he would probably lie.
But it was tempting. God, was it ever tempting. The thought of no more Arlo made her insides shiver with excitement and longing. It was all she wanted. She didn’t care about the rest. She would be Killian’s slave for the rest of her life if it meant never having to see Arlo again. It wasn’t something she would ever tell him, of course, but it was all she could think about and it was making her decision to stay immune increasingly harder.
Maybe … no!
She kicked the wad of fabric with her foot in vicious anger at her own weakness. It didn’t help, but it did send them a foot closer to her laundry hamper, which, in a way, helped.
Scooping them up, she marched to the basket and tossed the bundle in. She shoved the cart out into the hallway before ducking back into the room to finish the bathroom.
It was well after four in the morning by the time her shift finally ended. The hotel was a dark, silent place full of strangers. Juliette hated the nightshift. The dark corridors and eerie hum of phantom noises always gave her the chills. But she did her job quickly and thoroughly with the end goal being going home and getting two hours of sleep before heading to the diner for a six hour shift. Then it was back to the hotel. The endless rat race made her want to cry. But it was necessary.
Last bed made, Juliette did the one thing they were forbidden to ever do: she lay across the cool sheets and stared up at the ceiling. The knots along her spine wrenched as her back straightened for what felt like the first time in days. She didn’t dare shut her eyes. She knew they would never open again if she did.
Seconds ticked into minutes. She gave herself five before rolling to her feet and grabbing her things.
Downstairs, she took the laundry hamper to the laundry room, her cleaning cart to the storage closet and made her way to the change room. Marie was nowhere in sight, but there were a few other staff members changing back into their normal clothes. No one spoke as they went about their business. Juliette went straight to her locker and stripped out of her uniform. She hung it neatly on the hook before redressing in jeans and a t-shirt. She let her hair down from its elastic and ran a quick brush through it before grabbing her bag and making her way out of the hotel.
“Juliette.”
That voice, that loud, obnoxious drawl of her name sent an explosion of terror scattering across the length of her spine. The fear grew as the metal door locked shut behind her and a single shadow split off into five different figures all making their way towards her in a cluster. They fanned out, leaving no room for her to maneuver around them in the tight alley behind the hotel. Trapped, she stood waiting for them to reach her.
“Juliette,” Arlo said again as he came to a sickening halt two feet from her. “Where have you been, Juliette?”
“Working,” she murmured for lack of anything better.
It had been a blissful week and a half since her talk with Arlo over the phone, a week since he’d sent her to Killian’s club in hopes of her seducing him. She had begun to hope that maybe he’d forgotten about her, or better yet, that he’d been shot and was now dead.
Arlo exhaled and dropped his head to the side. In the thick shadows of the buildings surrounding them, it was impossible to see his face, but she didn’t need to. The single light over the staffroom door seemed to catch on his brown eyes and reflect like cold metal.
“You haven’t been answering my calls.”
“I don’t have a phone,” she reminded him.
Arlo chuckled. “True. True. But you should have made an effort to stay in touch. I needed you.”
She pulled her purse closer into her stomach. “Why?”
“It’s been almost two weeks,” he reminded her. “How are things coming with Killian?”
Juliette didn’t know what to say, didn’t know how to tell him she hadn’t seen Killian in three days or that she hadn’t even attempted to get on his good side. But she thought of his proposition burning a hole inside her purse.
“Okay.”
A dark brow lifted. “Just … okay? Didn’t I tell you to soften him up?”
“I did,” she blurted.
That seemed to satisfy Arlo.
“Good, because I have your first assignment.”
Juliette’s head rocked before she could stop it. “I won’t use Killian.”
“Use?” Arlo pivoted around on his heel to face his crew with his arms open. “Who said anything about using him?” He turned back to her. “I just need you to get his signature on something. That’s all. See? I even have all information written down for you.”
He pulled out a folded piece of paper from his back pocket and held it out to her.
“What is this?” she asked, taking the slip and opening it. “Ownership papers?” Her head jerked up. “You want him to sell you his port?”
“Not sell,” Arlo corrected. “I want to own it.”
“But … how?” she asked. “He’s not just going to—”
“Make it happen, Juliette.” The happy go lucky tone was gone from his voice. “Seduce him, drug him, beat him, I don’t care. I want that shipping yard.”
“I … I can’t—”
“That’s not what I want to hear, Juliette,” he warned slowly. “Imagine how much easier obeying can make your life. Get me what I want and you can have your life back. But if you so much as breathe a word of this to McClary or anyone, I will rip you open like a Thanksgiving turkey, you get me?”
Juliette nodded quickly. “I won’t tell anyone.” Else, she added silently to herself.
She wasn’t stupid enough to tell him she’d already told Killian everything.
“Good.” He leaned back, did a little bounce on the heels of his feet and clasped his hands behind his back. “Now, how did things go with you and him at the club the other night? Did he find you?”
“Yes.” The single word caught in her throat.
“My cousin said he did. He said you played your part very well.”
“I didn’t know I had a part,” she whispered. “Your … cousin, didn’t tell me who he was. He just grabbed me and—”
“Luan likes to improvise,” Arlo cut in. “It needed to look authentic.” He waved a hand. “That’s not important. Tell me what McClary said.”
Juliette swallowed. “He didn’t really say anything about … anything.”
Arlo stopped. His head tilted back a notch. “My cousin said you were up in his office for an hour.”
Had it really been an hour? It hadn’t felt that long.
“We didn’t do very much talking,” she lied.
“Oh, I see.” He snickered when she flushed. “Had you on your knees, did he?” He shook his head. “Well, whatever helps you get him to sign that paper…”
“I’m not going to help you steal from Killian,” she blurted weakly, but with a confidence she had to dig deep for. “I’ll keep paying you what I owe, but—”
She never saw the backhand coming until the crack of it resonated through the alley like a gunshot. Unimaginable pain erupted up the entire left side of her face with a fire that seemed to possess its very own heartbeat. It seared through her, filling her mouth with the tang of copper and shattering the world in a brilliant shower of stars. Juliette had barely caught her breath when violent hands closed around her throat. The wet concrete she had no recollection of meeting scrapped up her back as she was hoisted into the air and slammed into something equally hard.
“What did you say to me, you little bitch?” The foul stench of unwashed mouth cut into her whirling senses and it took her several desperate attempts before she realized she was shoved into the side of the hotel by her throat and he was leaning right into her face. “Did you seriously say no to me?” he snarled. “I own you, do you hear me? You will do whatever the fuck I tell you. You will fuck whoever I tell you. You will obey my every command without question.” The pressure on her windpipe increased until she was gasping for air. Her legs kicked fruitlessly. The heels smacked rapidly against the wall pressed into her back. She clawed at the hands holding her, but he seemed immune to the blood she was drawing. “The next time you open that mouth of yours, it had better be because you’re going to suck my cock or you’re going to say, yes, Arlo, whatever you want. This is the only warning I’m going to give you, Juliette. Next time, I will make sure they never find your body.”