What's Your Price
“Hey, my apartment is lovely.”
“Your apartment is lovely, but it’s tiny and no way will I allow you to raise my kid there.”
“You grew up in places like that.”
“Exactly. I know how bad it is.” He touched her cheek. “I don’t like you going home at all.”
She smiled. “But I happen to love my little piece of heaven.”
“With my baby, you’d have to compromise.”
“I could do that, so long as you did.”
“You’re so fucking stubborn.”
“And you mister, are too used to getting everything you want,” she said, dropping a kiss to his lips. “It needs to stop.” She cupped his cheek.
“No. Nothing needs to stop. You need to learn to give me what I want, and in return, I’ll give you what you want most.”
She tilted her head to the side, smiling. “Oh, yeah, and what do you think I want?”
“I see you. That, for you, is enough.”
Her heart started to pound as he lifted up from the sofa. He picked her up, and she didn’t fight him as he carried her through to his bathroom.
He was the first man to really see her, and she knew the longer she was with him, the scarier it got for the safety of her heart.
****
“At least you’re not pregnant,” Gabe said. He carried the pizzas he’d just purchased to the small table.
“Ha ha. Aren’t you going to complain?”
“What do I have to complain about?”
“You should send me home because this totally messes with your weekend and your policy of no clothes.”
“Not at all. You owe me. I get to have another weekend.” He opened the boxes and grabbed a slice of pizza.
“I don’t know if I trust this.” Laura pointed at him.
“You don’t trust me?”
“Not you exactly, but this. You’re … nice.”
“I can be nice.”
“With the reputation you have?”
“You do have to keep this to yourself. I’m not a nice person.”
“How many people have you killed?” she asked.
He chewed on his slice of pizza. “I don’t count.”
“You don’t?”
“There’s no reason to. Death is pointless, and it’s dirty. The men and women who have disappeared deserved it.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” she asked.
“You ask a lot of questions.”
She leaned forward and grabbed a pizza slice. “Exactly. Someone in your position shouldn’t be so trusting of a woman like me.”
“And what kind of woman are you?” he asked.
“I’m not important. I’ve told you that.”
“You’re not important to everyone else. I didn’t say that. I consider you very important.” He took another slice of pizza.
Laura finished off her first slice, wiping some grease that had dropped onto her breast. He’d allowed panties, seeing as she’d started her period, but nothing else. One of her hands was on her stomach.
“Are you in pain?”
“Just some cramps. It can get quite painful, but I can deal with it.” She leaned in to grab another slice of pizza. “It must be lonely being on top.”
“I’m surrounded by people.”
“Who fear you. The only reason you noticed me was because you pissed me off. Unlike the others, I didn’t back down.”
“Now that is true. I found you interesting.”
“And now?”
“I still find you interesting.”
“But?”
“I also happen to love fucking you.”
She wrinkled her nose.
“You don’t like the word fuck?” he asked.
“Love.”
“You don’t like the word love?”
She shook her head. “I think it gets thrown around too much.”
He finished off his pizza. When he thought he knew everything about Laura, she’d say or do something that would just blow him away. Like now.
“Okay, I’m going to bite. Why do you hate it?”
She shrugged. “It’s used all the time and it’s been completely abused.”
He chuckled.
“Hear me out. I love to fuck. Fine. You enjoy fucking me. People say it all the time. I love shopping. I love reading. I love to cook. I love this and that and everything else. Love is this word that is supposed to be sacred, right?”
“You’re overthinking it.”
“I’m not. I’m being serious.” She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess when you live in a world where love is thrown around for every little thing but you’ve never had a single person in your life say the words I love you, I get a little irritated. No biggie.”
He looked at her now and completely understood.
No one had ever told Laura they loved her.
“Do not for a single second think I’m trying to manipulate you into saying the words. I’m not. I don’t believe in love. With everything I see, I believe most people only have the power to love themselves, no one else.”
He reached out, playing with a curl of her hair. “I think it’s sad you don’t believe in love.”
“Do you?”
“I believe it’s possible to love someone so deeply. I’ve seen it.” He’d seen it in a couple of his men who’d married the love of their lives. True love was rare. For a long time, he’d doubted it existed.
“Really? You’ve seen true love?”