He smiled and shook his head as if he found my outburst amusing. “It soon will be, Clara. You must understand; even if I wanted to relent, I could not. I can’t give into you because if I did, I’d seem weak. Weakness is a trait that is never tolerated in my line of work.”
I smiled despite myself. “So you’re saying now that you’re on to me, you can’t let me go? That you have to see this through because if you didn’t, then you would seem weak?”
“Exactly.” His sexy smile made me fidget in my chair a little.
“You’re a piece of work.”
His smile broadened as I found his eyes dance over my cleavage. “That I am, beautiful.”
I thought my stomach was about to blow with the knots in my stomach. He called me beautiful. I couldn’t remember the last time someone called me beautiful. Sexy or sometimes fucking hot, but never beautiful.
“I… I…” Did I just stutter?
“I require payment for our services,” he finally said, breaking my trance.
Remembering why he was here, I became angry. “That is what I do here—not the other way around.”
“So, you are refusing payment?”
“Err… Hold up a second, and let me think—YES, I bloody well am refusing payment!” Rolling my eyes at him, I swiftly got out of my chair and walked towards the door. I had my hand on the knob when I felt his hand around my wrist. He spun me around and before I knew it, he was inches away from my lips. He was so close I could feel his hot breath invading my own.
“Do you let your clients fuck you, Clara? Answer the question.”
Through my erratic breaths I managed, “It’s none of your business.”
Within an instant, his hand was at my face as he slid his finger down from my eyes to my chin. Gently lifting my chin up to meet his eyes, I shuddered underneath his touch.
“I’m not going to let you go unless you tell me.”
Fuck me; I wanted him to kiss me. I hated him with such intensity that it made me want to push him towards my desk and fuck his brains out. I didn’t want to answer him, but I somehow found myself doing just that.
“No. I never sleep with my clients. I only run the business.”
His hands were suddenly at my shoulders as he trailed his fingers down both arms before gently squeezing them ever so seductively.
I didn’t know what had come over me, but an incomprehensible sound escaped my lips. I was unable to hide my wanton desire for this complete stranger who was supposed to be my enemy.
“That’s a good girl. Let’s keep it that way.”
I instantly became rigid beneath him as my anger resurfaced. I was not only angry with him, but with myself for giving so much away. He said he was a man who got what he wanted, and now he was making damn sure he could prove it to me.
“Let. Me. Go!” I gritted my teeth, making sure I glared into his caramel eyes as I accentuated every word.
Smiling, he let go and pulled away slightly—leaving me to catch my breath.
“I will go for now, but you have not heard the last of this, my beautiful Clara.”
It amazed me how he could threaten me and call me beautiful all in one wrapped up, cute little sentence.
Finding my senses, I pulled away from the door and let him pass. “I don’t know why you’re going to bother. It’s a no now, and it will be a no the next time you visit as well. You’re not getting a penny from me. Plain and simple.”
He smiled, nodded, and walked straight to the door. “Until the next time.”
The moment he left, I found myself at my desk and taking deep breaths. He didn’t frighten me one little bit, but I was scared beyond senseless by my feelings towards him. I had never experienced anything quite like it.
In my delirium, I found myself looking forward to the next time he turned up just to see what he had up his sleeve. Whatever he threw at me would be a challenge. A game almost.
Before I knew it, a smile began to replace my look of shock.
“Bring it on, buddy! Show me what you got.”
I was still trying to recover from our little encounter when I heard a knock at my door.
“Come in!” I shouted.
Belinda, Rachael, Jane, and Samantha practically skipped through my door with excitement.
“New client?” Samantha had more than a little glint in her eye.
I knew why they were here. They caught sight of the evil sex monster and wanted him to be theirs.
“Sorry, ladies, but no. He’s our enemy. Mr. Belatoni.”
“Agh,” Jane said. “And to think I was even going to give him a blow job for free.”
I don’t know why, but that bothered me.
“Are you okay, Clara? He didn’t try to hurt you did he?” Belinda’s concern made my heart flutter a little.
“No, he was fine. He just won’t let this lie. I’ve told him in no uncertain terms that he isn’t getting a penny from me, but he also refuses to take no for an answer. He will come back, and when he does, we will all need to be prepared. Please ladies, keep a close eye out during the next few days.”
They all nodded their heads in worry. “Of course, of course,” they all said.
Looking at their worried faces made the guilt flourish. I knew I could handle this myself, but Mr. Belatoni was a dangerous man. That was a fact that couldn’t be ignored. These poor girls were probably frightened witless.
“Listen, no matter what takes place over the next few days, I will never let anything happen to you. I’m sure I will be able to think of something. Don’t worry. I’ll take care of it.” Nodding their heads, they smiled as I sat back in my chair.
“We better get going,” Belinda said. “We all have clients coming shortly.”
“Yes, it would seem we have a busy day today. All the horny bastards are coming out to play.” I chuckled a little, but soon remembered that that was exactly what I was only moments ago with the sexy beast.
All the girls laughed and rose out of their seats to leave. “I’ll be out and about in a few hours. I just need to take care of some admin. If you have any problems, please let me know straight away.”
“Sure thing,” Belinda said.
“Oh, and another thing; we need to check that the alarms are still working in all of the bedrooms. Can we do a drill before the clients start arriving, please?”
Belinda smiled. “I’ll get right on it.”
“Thanks. Just give me a call before you do, so I’ll know it’s not a real emergency.”
“Yessum, boss.” Belinda winked, and they all left.
The alarms I had installed when we were setting this little venture up were crucial for the girls’ safety. There were two alarms; one was under the bed, and one was on the wall. If ever there was a girl in trouble, she would hit that alarm and either I or my trusty night guard, Trevor, came to their rescue. Thankfully, in my five years of working here, it had only happened four times, and one of them was because a client was having a heart attack.
Still, the girls knew what to do under those circumstances. Everyone acted like clients staying in a plush hotel and no one was any the wiser for it. Acting seemed to be one of the many attributes the girls had adopted.
Looking at my computer, I spent an hour gazing through the endless list of possibilities to replace Tammy. Once I got through the bulk, I settled on five girls and asked each one to come in for an interview as soon as they could. Three said they could make it this afternoon and the other two were unable until next week. With that said, I told the other two that I would be in touch and left it at that. This was a fast-paced world with fast-paced clients—looking for some fast action. When they wanted it, they got it, and I could never tell a client to wait. That was the worst thing to do. They would end up going elsewhere. Keeping both the clients and my girls happy was my main priority.
After a brief look at my takings in the last month, I slouched back in my chair with a contented sigh. The moment my concentration was available to think on others things,
it immediately went to Luca. Beautiful, sexy, and dangerous Luca—with the most amazing brown eyes I had ever seen. Closing my eyes, I began to picture running my hands around his chest and down towards an area I was unacquainted with … yet.
Snapping my eyes open, I realised where I was and what it was I was thinking. It was almost as if I was planning my seduction in my head. Planning all the things I wanted to do to him. He was my enemy; he was not someone who could be trusted. He demanded money for services I did not and would not need.
Almost as if on cue, my phone rang, and breathing my name down the line was the one and only—the object of my thoughts.
“Clara, how nice it is to hear your voice. Have you thought anymore about my request?”
I sighed heavily down the line on purpose. I wanted him to know I was pissed. “If I told you what I thought you could do with your request, you wouldn’t be very happy.”
A raspy chuckle sang through the telephone line, making me shudder. “I’ve never met anyone quite like you.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“It was meant to be one. Suffice it to say, however, that if you were a man, we wouldn’t be having this conversation.”
I arched my back at his comment. “Is that supposed to frighten me, Mr. Belatoni?”
“Of course not. Just making an observation.”
“Well, your observations are not welcome here. Neither are you.”
Liar, liar, pants on fire!
“I highly doubt that for a second.”
Oh great. He knew he had an effect on me.
I was highly charged on sexual energy and had been ever since he walked through my door at half-past-ten this morning.
“Are you going to keep your promise to me?”
His seductive tone had my full attention. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“How easily you forget such important issues. First, you disobey me and then you forget a direct order.”
I huffed. “What am I, your Private?”
He chuckled. “No, but I can’t wait for you to get to know mine.”
“Ah, so we’re a comedian now?” I rolled my eyes at his blatant innuendo.
“Actually, I take my privates very seriously.”
“I bet you do.” I didn’t know where the hell that had come from. This was only going to encourage him even further.
A little humming sound vibrated through my ear sending erotic shockwaves through my veins.
My God, if he had the ability to do this through his voice alone, what would it be like to have him fuck me? The thought made me feel dizzy.
“You’re a little temptress. Do you know that, Clara? My beautiful temptress.”
What does one say to something like that? I knew men like him used torture on a daily basis to get what they wanted, but this guy took the biscuit. Thank God we weren’t in the same room together. “What are you trying to achieve here, Mr. Belatoni?”
Well done, Clara. Stick it to him!
“I’m trying to achieve my missions. The first is to get a part of your business. The second is to get your body underneath mine as I make you come harder than you ever have in your life. Can I put it more simply than that?”
I actually laughed at this. “You’re not getting either, so I suggest you find someone else to pick on.”
“To be honest with you, I was going to try and be reasonable with you this morning. I was going to come up with a plan that would suit both of us. But then I saw you, and it just confirmed it for me. Everything has changed.”
“Wh… What do you mean?” I was stuttering again. I never stuttered.
“You have no idea how many propositions I get on a daily basis, Miss Murphy. I would never want for anything in that department. Today, when I met you, was when it all really changed for me. I want you, and I’m going to have you. Not only that, but you will cease any sexual relations until such time as our encounter begins.”
I choked. I couldn’t believe what he was saying. The gall of the man! Who on earth did he think he was?
“How dare you try to enforce rules and commands on me? I am not yours to play with, Mr. Belatoni. I am a person with feelings and opinions. Not someone you can order about like a soldier.”
“You will submit to me. I can guarantee it.”
I could feel my blood pressure rise. I hated and wanted this man with such intensity that it burned.
“It’s never going to happen. In fact, I have a date tomorrow night, and I wasn’t going to fuck him, but now that you’ve said this, I’m going to give him the best goddamned sex he’s ever had in his life. Good day, Mr. Belatoni.”
Putting the phone down, I gave myself a mental pat on the back.
He can go and stew on that all day!
The phone began its chiming again and I picked up with up with a gruff in my voice. “I thought I made myself clear to you, arsehole.”
“Clara, it’s Belinda.” I could hear the surprise in her voice.
“Oh, Belinda. Sorry. I thought you were someone else.”
“Quite,” was all she said. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to test all thirty alarms right now. No clients are here at the moment so I thought it would be a good time. We have Mr. Lopez arriving in one hour so we should have them all wrapped up by then.”
“Sure thing, go ahead.”
I sat in my chair and waited as the first alarm rang through the house. It wasn’t an oppressive sound, it was just enough to alert me. In addition to the alarm, I also had a light on my desk that would flash red if all else failed, or if I couldn’t hear for whatever reason. It would immediately alert me to the bedroom number from which the alarm was coming—a very handy device.
All in all, it took a good thirty minutes to go over each one, and I thanked my lucky stars that they all seemed to work. That would make me feel a little better later in the evening when the clients arrived and start disappearing into the bedrooms.
Ten minutes after, my first interviewee arrived. She was prompt and willing as she bounced her way through my door.
“Natalie?” I asked, rising out of my chair and extending my hand.
“Yes, so glad to finally meet you, Miss Murphy.”
“Please, call me, Clara. No formalities here.”
Smiling, she wrapped one elegant and shapely leg round the other. I knew I wasn’t into women in that sense, but I could still appreciate the female form. Natalie was no exception. She had beautiful golden brown hair and dark eyes. On her profile it said that she was originally from Trinidad and Tobago, was five foot six, and had thirty-four double D breasts. Based on this first impression, I liked her. I liked her a lot.
“So, Natalie, tell me about yourself.”
“Well, I have been escorting for a few years, but it’s really not my thing. I don’t like being put in situations that could be a danger to me. Meeting men in hotel rooms always carries an element of risk. It’s something I would like to veer away from if I can.
“Having said that, I do like the other aspects of my work. I enjoy sex very much, and I’m willing to try anything new.” Smiling sweetly, she seductively pushed her hair back. I immediately thought some of my clients would like her.
“I completely understand, and that’s good to hear. Can you tell me why you have chosen The Castle?”
She clasped her hands together and rested them on her lap. “Do you know Chantel?”
“Chantel Baxter?”
“Yes, that’s the one. She is a very close friend and highly recommended you.”
I smiled sweetly, remembering Chantel. She left a couple of years ago to pursue an acting career in the states.
“How is she getting on now?”
“She’s doing well, I think. She couldn’t get into proper acting, so I think she’s just doing soft porn. She enjoys it though, and that’s the main thing. She always talks about you. She said you helped her once.”
I smiled remembering how sweet Chantel was. She was one of
my girls of course, but she kind of lost herself along the way. She got into drugs, and when one of the clients complained about her behaviour, I had to step in and confront her. After several tears and apologies, I got her clean. I made her promise me that she would never do that again and she held to that promise. I think Chantel was so grateful that I had kept her job for her that she knew she could never return to that life. I offered her a roof over her head to cut ties with her old life and she accepted.
“She’s a great girl who deserved to be happy. I won’t tolerate bad behaviour here, but I will always help whenever the need arises. I’m sometimes like the aunt of the place.”
“That’s great to hear. I promise you that I would give one hundred and ten percent here. Not only because I’m a hard worker, but also because you deserve to have the best. Treat people with the same level of respect with which they treat others.”
I smiled at that. I was really warming to Natalie. “Exactly my motto, Natalie.” I paused briefly to take her in one last time. She was rather stunning.
“I would just like to ask two more things before I let you go.”
“Anything,” she beamed.
“Is there anything you wouldn’t do? Sometimes my clients have eclectic tastes shall we say. I don’t want you to be doing anything here you’re uncomfortable with, so I’ll need to know where you draw the line and with what things or activities.”
She regarded my question before replying. “I would say the only thing I draw the line with is anyone inflicting pain on me. I don’t mind whipping or hitting anyone else, but I won’t have it done to me.”
“That’s fair enough—and goes without saying. So, you’re happy with anal?”
“Yes. I don’t mind that.”
“Okay, excellent. Just one more thing. If I choose to have you to join us, you will have to be tested, and a background check will be done. I also have certain forms that will need to be filled out. Before I go any further, I need to know if you’re okay with all of that.” She nodded her head.
“Of course. Your application said as much. It’s all fine by me.”
“Great. I have others to see shortly, but I’m sure I’ll have an answer for you by this afternoon.”