Ah, so she was intelligent. Something I already knew.
"I don't have any money," she told me. "I left there with nothing."
"I have no use for your money."
Her eyes darkened knowingly as she stared at me, and she spoke her next question as though she already knew the answer. "Then what do you want?"
"I want you."
"I'm not for sale," she answered immediately.
"You were the other night."
"That was before I knew who you were."
Never taking my eyes from hers, I took a long drink, then balanced my glass on my thigh, one finger rubbing along the rim, my other arm along the back of the couch. "I'll pay you well for the pleasure of your company, Sera. Enough so you can keep running if you want. Once I'm done with you, of course. And in return, I promise to keep my mouth shut about your whereabouts. No one will know you're here in Austin or that I'd ever laid eyes on you."
She studied me with a puzzled expression, her bright eyes searching my face, searching for an ulterior motive. "Why the hell would you do that?"
"I think it's a fair exchange."
"No. I mean, why do you pay for sex? I would think you could have any woman-or man-you wanted just by walking into a room with your"-she waved a hand in the air, encompassing me in my entirety-"aura of looks, money, and danger. Why go through all of this?" She waved that same hand back and forth between us.
"Because I don't want someone I could pick up in a bar. I want you."
She smirked. "Well, technically, you just picked me up in a bar."
I chuckled, surprising both of us. "Again, touché."
Suddenly serious again, she asked, "And if I refuse your offer?"
"Then I'll put you back in the car and hand deliver you to your father's men right now." It was a lie. I would do no such thing. But I wasn't above telling her whatever I needed to in order to get her to agree to my offer. I didn't stop and rationalize why I was doing this. I didn't want to know the answer.
She stood up and walked over to the bar to refill her drink. I noticed her wince, and I tensed, wondering if something had happened to her tonight that I'd somehow missed before I realized it was from her shoes. I relaxed back against the couch cushions and watched her as she thought about my offer.
After a few moments, she turned back to me. "I'm sorry. I'm going to have to refuse your generous offer." Her tone led me to believe she thought it was anything but generous. But her eyes... her eyes showed me how horrified she was at the thought of going back to her father.
"I meant what I said," I told her. "You'll be back home locked in your room by sunup."
"I understand," she told me.
I wasn't expecting her to refuse me. Fucking again.
This wasn't acceptable.
Finishing her drink, she put her empty glass on the bar and walked over to the door, where she stood demurely and waited for me.
I studied her, noticing the tension in her jaw and the way she laced her fingers together in front of her to hide their trembling. She wouldn't look at me, but I could see the tight way she held her mouth. Was she bluffing? Or was she more afraid of me than her father?
Slamming my glass down on the table so hard it shattered, I stalked over to her, ignoring the blood running down my fingers and the way my heart wanted to pound out of my chest. She wasn't leaving me tonight. I wouldn't allow it.
She backed up fast when she saw me coming, almost tripping when one of her heels snagged the expensive carpet. When she hit the door, she twisted around and grabbed the door handle and pulled, but it was locked. I was on her before she could unlock it and get it open, spinning her back around and shoving her shoulders back against the door. I blocked her in with a hand on either side of her head. I didn't touch her, but I could feel her fear vibrating the air between us. "Where the fuck do you think you're going?"
"To the car," she squeaked.
"No," I told her. "You're staying here. With me."
"I don't want to," she whispered.
"Why the fuck not?"
"Because you scare me!" The words fell over themselves as they rushed out of her mouth.
They didn't turn me off.
They made my fucking cock hard as a goddamned rock.
I stared down at her. Her eyes were wide and lined with false eyelashes and glitter. Her lips were pink and glossy. And the silver hoop in her left nostril glinted in the light. With her pink hair and porcelain skin, she looked as sweet and innocent as the lollipop she was sucking on earlier. I wanted to taste her. I wanted those bright eyes on mine as I shoved my cock down her throat. I wanted to hurt her. To break her. To make her beg. I wanted to make her mine. My very own little doll to do with what I would.
"I scare you?" I asked.
She kept her face turned away and wouldn't look at me. "Yes," she whispered.
"More than your father?"
She didn't even hesitate. "Yes."
Cupping the side of her face in one hand, I turned her head until she was forced to look at me, leaving streaks of blood on her skin. "You should be scared of me, Sera. You should be fucking terrified." Not because I would hurt her, not like her father would. But because once she was mine, I knew I wouldn't be able to give her up. It was the real reason I paid for the company of whores. They were something I borrowed, like a library book. They were not to be owned. But Sera...
She stared at me with pleading eyes. "Enzo, please. Just let me go."
"It's way too late for that, baby girl." Her soft lips beckoned, and I rubbed the pad of my thumb over her plump lower lip, smearing my blood into the gloss until it darkened it to red. I watched with something akin to fascination as tears filled her eyes, and I saw myself swimming in their depths.
Reaching up, I removed my sunglasses.