The Arrangement 11 (The Arrangement 11)

Mel and I ride the elevator to Sean’s floor before we step off and head down the hall. That’s when a gush of words erupts from Mel’s mouth. “I was wrong, so goddamn wrong to pull you into this. I said she wasn’t a pimp, that she didn’t do shit like this, and here she is doing it. Avery, I swear to God—”

Mel’s voice is strained and her eyes have that vacant stare that so often accompanies guilt. This isn’t her fault, no matter what happens, I’ll never blame her. I stop abruptly, grab Mel’s shoulders and look her in the eye. “There is no way you knew that Black was like this. I believe you. You’re not responsible for whatever happens next. I’m the one who agreed to come, I’m the one who signed up to be this, and I’m the one who will have to deal with the consequences. It’s not your fault Mel.”

Her gaze falls to the side, like she can’t look me in the eye, which is weird for Mel. “I took you there and said it was safe. I screwed up, Avery.” She’s mad at herself and upset for me. There’s no telling what will happen or how hard it will be to defy Black, but no matter what happens, it’s not her fault. This was my doing, not hers.

“Mel, that night you asked me to go and meet your boss, I could have said no, and I didn’t. After I found out what the job was, I could have said no. I had the opportunity to say no and walk away so many times. The fact is, I took the job and nothing you said made me do it. Everything will be fine. Don’t worry about it.” That’s a big fat lie. I have no idea how everything will work out. It feels like I have a pack of pissed off people snarling and circling. Black can lunge at me with her fangs bared at any time. With my luck, it’ll be tomorrow.

Sean’s voice comes from over my shoulder. “Don’t worry about what?”

CHAPTER 8

When I turn around, his eyes ravish me, boldly lingering in places they shouldn’t. I smack his chest and scold him, “Stop it!”

Sean grins so hard that dimples appear on his cheek. Oh God. They’re like little lickable magnets and they’re pulling me in. He could recite a poem about water buffaloes right now and I’d have no idea what he’d said.

Sean presses his finger to the end of my nose, making me blink. “If you didn’t want me to look, then you shouldn’t have worn that dress.”

“I didn’t. Black made me change.”

His smile broadens. “Then, this should be fun.” He takes my hand and presses a kiss to the back of my palm, making butterflies erupt in my stomach. It’s a school girl response and although I try to squash it, I still giggle. Sean’s smirk changes slightly, but he doesn’t take his eyes off of me. Holding out his other hand to Mel, he says, “Come along ladies. I have our night all planned out.”

Mel gives me a weird look and slips her palm into his. We follow Sean into the room and let the door close behind us. Sean drops Mel’s hand and squeezes mine once before letting go. “Avery, I need to talk to you about earlier, but from the sound of it, I already know what’s happening.”

“What do you mean?” Mel asks, as she sits down on the chair by the desk. “What happened earlier?”

“One of Black’s guys saw us together,” Sean explains. “Gabe showed up and warned Avery before things got ugly. Your employer thought you girls were dishing out on the side.”

“No, I don’t think that’s the problem,” I explain. “Black’s doing something. I tried to quit tonight and she wouldn’t let me.”

“Tell me what happened, and don’t leave a thing out.” Sean leans against the wall and folds his arms over his chest. He’s wearing a dark suit with the shirt still buttoned up to his neck and a blackish blue tie. It looks like he was at work, either that or he dressed up for the occasion, which is laughable since he said he was giving us a night off. When I get to the end of my story, Sean doesn’t move. He stares into space, and the only way I can tell that he’s livid is the tightening of his jaw. I’m pretty sure he could bite the head off of a chicken right now.

Mel sighs and looks out the window. She’s not stupid enough to mess with Sean when he’s about to blow up. Yeah, but I am. I reach for a candy from the mint dish and peg him in the chest. It leaves some powdered sugar on my fingers so I suck it off and then grab another one. “These are good.”

“Avery, stop.” Sean inhales slow and deep.

I don’t mention the last words Black said to me or the conversation with Mel in the car. That’d be too much for him, and it worries me. Sean doesn’t know what he does to me or how attached I’ve become, but Black sees it. I try to make light of the situation to diffuse some of his tension. “Sean, it’s not so bad. I just have to get out of it and make her not want me anymore. I planned on not showing up but Mel said that was—”

“A stupid idea,” Mel finishes my sentence for me.

“Yeah, so I guess I need to move onto plan B and figure out how to get fired.” I shrug and turn back to the mint jar. Where is all this false confidence coming from? Two seconds ago, I felt like I couldn’t deal with Black and now I’m talking about manipulating her into firing my ass like it’s nothing.

Sean steps up behind me. I feel his warm breath wash over my shoulder. God, he smells good. “So, you want to stop working for Black?”

Turning, I look up at him, and nod. “Yeah, it turns out that I still have a heart and it’s somewhere else.”

Sean tries not to smile. “So, were you going to say yes, Miss Smith?”

“It depends on what you were going to ask me, Mr. Jones.” I’m looking into his eyes and wondering if we can have a future together. I want it more than anything, but I don’t know. There are so many obstacles in the way, and we both have so much baggage. It seems impossible, but when Sean’s with me, it doesn’t feel that way.

Mel gags herself and slams her head on the desk. Sean and I stare at her. When she lifts her head, she scolds us. “People, share that lovey-dovey shit some other time. We have problems right now.” She taps her finger firmly on the desk for emphasis.

Sean clears his throat and steps away from me, like he was caught doing something wrong. As if showing affection is a criminal offense. “So, let me make sure I understand what you want to do, Avery. You’re plan is to go into Black’s, take the clients, and be so horrible that they don’t want you again?” His dark brow lifts, but he manages to ask without laughing or strangling me.

Mel rolls her eyes and says, “Yes,” at the same time I say, “No!”

They both look at me. I sigh dramatically and kick off my heels before pacing and talking with my hands. They’re flying everywhere. “I won’t sleep with them. I’ll be so revolting that we won’t get that far. They’ll throw me out, and demand a refund. Last time someone refused me, she wanted to fire me—so it should work this time, right?”

“Last time you did that, Black didn’t think you were running your own brothel. Besides, I can’t let you do that.” Sean is staring at me. His arms are folded together and I realize that he never talks with his hands. I’m pretty sure that if I couldn’t move while I was talking, I’d fall over.

“The other option is to not show up.”

Mel shakes her head. “Black will hunt you down to make sure you’re not dead in a gutter or something. You can’t no-show. And when she finds you alive, you’ll wish you were dead.” There’s a moment of silence and then Mel finally asks, “Why’d you two add me to your little freak show tonight? I mean, I wasn’t going to ask. I was just going to wait and see, but no one has said anything and I’m out of patience.”

Jabbing my thumb at Sean, I tell her, “He’s giving us a night off.”

“No way.” Mel’s perfect eyebrows lift in surprise.

“Way.”

“Well, then…” Mel kicks off her heels, and takes off her earrings and lays them on the desk, before adding, “I’m really glad, because I wasn’t looking forward to seeing Avery’s boney ass.”

“Ha!” I turn to Sean with my jaw hanging open and my finger pointing at Mel. “I told you that she didn’t like me!”

Sean shrugs like he wasn’t all that committed to the idea. Mel watches us before blurting out, “What the f**k are you two talking about, because if you think I’m g*y because I’m a good friend, I might have to beat the shit out of you, scary Ferro reputation or not.”

Sean holds up his hands, palms toward her. “No offense meant. I just noticed how much she means to you and thought there might have been more there.”

“There’s not, you bunch of white toast with…” Mel sputters, trying to find the right insult, before giving up. Her hands slap the table. “You’re so dumb, you know that? Just ‘cuz I’m a hooker doesn’t mean I do everyone and everything.”

“What’s your type?” Sean asks abruptly.

“Rich.” Mel’s shoulders are back and tension lines her arms. It’s like she’s ready to fight, but I have no idea what set her off. She sleeps with guys and didn’t object to the idea of having a woman, assuming she’s loaded. Sean watches my friend, waiting for a real answer, but there’s no way in hell that she’ll tell him anything. Come to think of it, I’ve never heard much about her hopes and dreams, only that she doesn’t want to go back to the hellhole she climbed out of.

Mel rolls her eyes and laughs. The tension dissipates as she points at Sean. “And not you, Ferro. You’re way too f**ked up for me. And this conversation is officially over. I’m gonna eat me some noodles. What do you guys say to take-out?”

“Actually, I have other plans for Avery and I.” Sean’s voice sounds scary, the way it does when he’s anxious. He looks down at me, “We have a table downstairs.”

I can’t help it and crack a smile. “Really?”

He nods. “Yes, there was something I needed to ask you earlier and I didn’t get the chance.”

I try not to show any emotion, but I can’t. I giggle and try so hard not to jump up and down. “I love this game!”

Mel groans, “Oh my God. Get out of here. You two make me sick.”

Sean smiles deeply and tosses Mel a room service menu. “Order anything you like.”

Mel is leaning her elbow on the desk and has her head in her hand. “Can I get another hooker, so I have someone to play chess with?”

If Sean’s shocked, he hides it well. His voice is flat. “No.”

“You’re no fun,” Mel pouts.

“I already hired two call girls for one evening. Many people would say that’s more than enough fun for one man.”

“Psh, whatever White Boy. Go play house with Avery. I’m going to order crab cakes and the seafood buffet for six people.”

I lean in towards Sean, “You’re going to need to order another room since this one will smell like fish.”