The Redemption (14 page)

Sarah smiles back at me.

He shakes my hand, but he’s not nearly as enthusiastic as I am. He pointedly doesn’t give his name in reply to my self-introduction.

“I brought our girl Sarah to Vegas for a little fun, you know, and I figured why not kill two birds with one stone while I’m here and do some business with you?”

The guy looks pointedly at Sarah again.

I glance at Sarah under his hard gaze, worried she’s going to freak out, but she’s cool as a cucumber. She smiles broadly at the guy and puts out her hand. “I’m Sarah Cruz,” she says. “I don’t think we’ve met yet.” She looks at me. “I’ve always worked remotely from Seattle, so I haven’t met everyone at headquarters yet.”

The guy looks behind us toward the front door where we came in. “Is it just the two of you?”

“Yes,” Sarah says evenly. “Absolutely. Just us.”

“Yeah, Sarah told me to just email you guys, said that would be best, but she’s not savvy in business like I am.” I wink at her. “Are you, Sarah?”

“Nope.”

“She just doesn’t have practical experience yet, you know? Smart as hell but no real world experience. She doesn’t understand you can get more done with a handshake and looking someone in the eye than with an email.” I pull her to me and grab her ass. “What a girl this is, though, I’m telling you. What a girl.”

At my rough touch, Sarah throws her head back and laughs. “Oh, Jonas.”

“Stacy in Seattle told me Oksana’s the one I’ve got to talk to about buying a block of a girl’s time, so I figured, hey, I’ll cut a deal with you aboveboard and come down here and buy Sarah from you.”

“Jonas,” Sarah says, swatting at me playfully.

“He knows what I mean. I’m buying your
time,
sweetheart—obviously, I’m not buying
you.
” I look back at the guy. “That is, unless she’s for sale?” I laugh like I think I’m so funny.

Sarah laughs, too.

“Ah, but seriously. I’d like to buy a big block of this girl’s time. She’s so busy reviewing applications for you guys day and night, she won’t give me all the time I want. And, believe me, I want
a lot.
”

I grope Sarah again and she giggles.

The guy looks wary. He doesn’t speak. “I’ll be right back.”

He disappears through a door.

Sarah and I look at each other. We’re playing our parts to a tee, just like we planned. But who the fuck is this guy? Where’s Oksana?

Die Hard
Fucker comes back out after a couple minutes. “Leave your phones and purse with Nina.” He motions to the young woman who initially greeted us.

Sarah hands her purse to the woman without hesitation, but I stand immobilized.

“Mr. Faraday, we’re more than happy to speak to you within the confines of this building, but we’re not willing to risk our voices being recorded for all posterity.”

Holy shit. This is the fucker who writes The Club’s emails, there’s no doubt about it—he talks just like he writes.

“Oh, sure. Yeah, no problem,” I say, handing the woman my phone.

Die Hard
Fucker pats us down, taking a lot more care frisking every inch of Sarah’s body than mine, I notice. Does he trust her a whole lot less than he trusts me? Or is he just enjoying the pleasure of touching her body? I clench my jaw, trying to contain my murderous impulses.

When
Die Hard
Fucker is convinced we’re both clean, he invites us into the office. A woman in maybe her late fifties or early sixties with dyed platinum blonde hair and severe eyeliner sits behind a large desk. Introductions all around reveal she’s our friend Oksana and that
Die Hard
Fucker is her son, Maksim—though he instructs us to call him Max. Sarah and I take chairs opposite Oksana while Max sits off to the side and stares like a motherfucker at Sarah.

“Great to finally meet you, Oksana,” I say breezily after everyone’s taken their seats. “I’ve really enjoyed my Club experience so far—everything’s been top notch.”

Max clears his throat.

“I’m surprised to see you here,” Oksana says evenly. Despite her thick Ukrainian accent, her English is perfect. “We don’t take in-person meetings with clients. And our address is not advertised.”

“Oh, sure, yeah. Sorry about that. Stacy in Seattle told me exactly where to find you.” I feel an unexpected pang of guilt as I throw Stacy under the bus, but I can’t think of another way to rationally explain how we’ve located Oksana. “I hope that’s okay. I don’t want to get Stacy into any trouble. She’s a sweetheart. In fact, I’d originally planned to buy a bunch of
Stacy’s
time—that girl is smokin’ hot and really talented—”

Sarah stiffens in her seat, emulating barely contained jealousy.

“But then this one right here blew a gasket when I even
looked
at anyone else and my plans changed on a dime.” I smirk at Sarah and she nods. “This girl’s got a bit of a jealous streak it turns out—she’s not too fond of sharing—so a threesome with Stacy was out of the question.” I laugh.

Sarah clenches her jaw, playing her part exactly as planned.

“She’s a handful this one. A stick of dynamite.” I growl that last part.

Sarah flashes a wide smile at Oksana but gets nothing in return.

“Yes, she is,” Oksana says. “That’s our Sarah for you—quite a handful.” Oksana squints at Sarah, apparently trying to figure out her game.

“Aw, I’m sweet, Jonas, you know that,” Sarah purrs.

“That’s true. As sweet as can be,” I agree.

Max hasn’t taken his eyes off Sarah the whole time we’ve been sitting here. I swear to God, if he touches her again like he did in the other room, I won’t be able to control myself from strangling him.

“...  and he always says I work too much,” Sarah’s saying. “Isn’t that right, sweetheart?”

“Oh, yeah. This girl always has to work. Work, work, work. Poor thing’s got school to pay for, plus this horrible thing with her mom’s cancer—I’m sure you’ve heard all about that—” Oksana and her son exchange a look. “And now she tells me her dad just got laid off, too.” I exhale loudly. “How much can one girl carry on her shoulders? Jesus. Even after some wacko hauled off and attacked her at school—Sarah, did you tell them about that?”

Sarah shakes her head. “No, I didn’t mention it, sweetheart. It was no big deal.”

“Are you kidding me? It was brutal,” I say. “It’s hard to believe there are sick fucks in the world who would want to hurt a sweet girl like this. I hope whoever did it burns in fucking hell.” I glare at Max.

“Jonas,” Sarah says, her voice tight.

Shit. I’m veering off plan. My heart is pounding mercilessly. I take a deep breath.

“Sorry to hear you were hurt, Sarah,” Max says slowly. “Glad you’ve recovered.” He leers at her. “So nicely.”

I clear my throat. Motherfucker. I’m clenching my hands so tightly they physically hurt.

“Apparently, there’s been a string of rapes at the university,” Sarah says evenly. “The police are thinking the attack on me was a botched rape, or maybe just a mugging, they’re not sure. But, either way, I’m fine now.” She glares at me, warning me to stay on plan. “It was so sweet how Jonas doted on me when I was recovering, though.”

“Yeah, the poor thing was hurt pretty bad. And that’s what made me realize I want to take care of her, you know? Make life a little easier for her—take some of the weight off her if I can. How much can one girl take, you know? But even after the attack, nope, she just wanted to hop right back into school and work—said she has too many bills to pay, too many applications to review, couldn’t afford to take any time off.”

Sarah suddenly chokes up, or at least she appears to. Damn. She’s good. I know she’s acting—but, still, she’s breaking my heart.

“Hey,” I say gently. “It’s okay.” I grab her hand. “Everything’s gonna be all right.”

“I’m sorry,” Sarah says. “I’m fine now.” She swallows hard. “I’ve just had so much to deal with lately. It just means so much to me that you want to help me.”

I kiss the top of her hand. “I do.” I address Oksana. “Maybe I shouldn’t admit this to you, but I keep telling her I’ll pay her bills for her so she can just quit this intake agent job altogether and concentrate on me, twenty-four-seven, but she says it wouldn’t be fair to you guys—that you depend on her too much.”

Oksana and Max look at each other. They haven’t sent Sarah an application to process since before she left for Belize.

“You know, it’s funny. I signed up with The Club so I wouldn’t have to deal with emotional attachments but, then, damn it to hell, I got
attached
to this girl right here.” I grab her thigh. “No man could resist her. Look at her. She’s gorgeous. But business is business, and I know that—I respect that. So that’s why I’m here.”

“What exactly can we do for you, Mr. Faraday?” Max asks.

“I was just hoping I could convince you to let me buy all Sarah’s time for a maybe a month? She’s always running out the door to process another application for you guys when I want to fly her somewhere or spend some alone time with her, she’s so worried about paying her bills. So I thought maybe if I could convince her to take a paid leave of absence from the job, that would free up some of her time for me.”

“I can’t quit my job, Jonas,” Sarah says, jutting out her chin. “I’ve got too many people depending on me.”

“I know, sweetheart. But you’ve got to learn to accept my help. I just want to help you.”

“Thank you, Jonas. You’re so generous.”

“I think we could accommodate you, Mr. Faraday,” Oksana says. “Sarah’s one of our very best intake agents, though, and we rely on her heavily on a daily basis. But, of course, we always want to make our clients happy, whenever possible.”

“Fantastic. I’d like to buy her for a month to start with. I can’t commit beyond that, at least not yet.”

“Exactly the reason I won’t quit my job,” Sarah says to Oksana like they’re best girlfriends. “He won’t commit.” Now she looks at me. “If you can’t commit to me, Jonas Faraday, then I can’t commit to you.”

Oksana’s eyes sparkle. She obviously appreciates Sarah’s gamesmanship.

I roll my eyes. “This girl’s tough, I’m not gonna lie. Keeps me on my toes.” I smile at Sarah and she smiles back. “Obviously, I could have any other girl in The Club—or any girl in the world, for that matter, if you want to know the truth—but I can’t seem to get enough of this particular girl. It’s crazy. She’s just...  man, she’s a pistol, I’m telling you.”

Sarah smirks. “I’m just honest, that’s all. I am who I am—take me or leave me.”

“Yep, that’s what she keeps saying—and I just keep taking her.” I laugh like a total letch. “But she won’t quit the job and she keeps insisting I have to pay you directly for her time if I want her undivided attention, and I respect that. She’s loyal, this one. A straight shooter. I always say in business you’ve got to be aboveboard and lead with integrity.”

Sarah shrugs. “I’d never leave these guys hanging.” Sarah lowers her head and appears to become overwhelmed with emotion again. She takes a minute. “Sorry. I was just thinking about my mom and dad again. They’ve got so much to deal with.”

Damn, if this show isn’t convincing these fuckers that Sarah’s the jewel in their crown, I don’t know what will. Give this girl an Oscar.

“Don’t you worry about anything, Sarah,” I say. I peek at Oksana. Yeah, she’s buying what Sarah’s selling. “I’m going to help you with all your expenses, sweetheart, I promise. But first things first. What’s it going to cost to release this beautiful girl for a month into my care? I want to
own
her—twenty-four-seven.” I lick my lips.

“Oh, Jonas,” Sarah says. “You’re so sweet.”

“Twenty-four-seven?” Oksana looks up at the ceiling, apparently calculating something. “Three thousand a day should suffice.”

“Ninety thousand for a month?” I say, incredulous. “That seems high.”

Sarah bristles and crosses her arms. “That seems
high
to you, Jonas Faraday? For a
month
with me, twenty-four-seven, whenever and wherever you want me? That seems awfully
low
to me.”

I put my hands up defensively, trying to appease my impossible-to-please girlfriend, but she looks away, pissed.

Oksana smiles. Oh yeah, she loves Sarah. “We rely heavily on Sarah, that’s why she’s been so busy with her job. She’s our brightest star. You understand she’s not one of the girls in The Club, right? She’s a highly specialized member of our team. You were never supposed to have her—she’s not normally for sale. Someone like that comes at a high premium.”

“Oh, yeah, I know that. By the way, sorry I broke The Club’s rules to get with her—I just couldn’t resist.” I smile broadly. “She was just too tempting.”

Sarah nods emphatically.
Damn straight.
 

“If I understand what you’re asking for,” Oksana continues, “you’d like us to hold her job for her—guarantee her job will be waiting for her in a month—
and
you want us to continue paying her throughout the entire month she’s gone, right? Like a paid leave?”

“Exactly.”

“Which means we’ll need to hire another intake agent to take her place, at least temporarily—and train that person, too. The whole situation is a huge inconvenience to us. We’re running a for-profit organization here, you realize, not a charity.”

I remain silent, acting like I’m thinking it over.

Sarah looks at me with pleading eyes. “What if I take a pay cut to make it work for you, Jonas? Because I’d really like to be available for you, every minute of every day and
night,
for the next month.” She bats her eyelashes.

“I wouldn’t ask you to take a pay cut, Sarah,” I say. “Never. You need the money.” I sigh. “I wish you’d just let me pay you directly. Wouldn’t that be simpler?”

“We’ll do it for eighty,” Oksana blurts. “But not a penny less. That’s my final offer.”

“Oh, thank you, Oksana,” Sarah says brightly. “You see, Jonas? Oksana’s willing to work with you. So will you do the deal?” She gets up from her chair and places her lips right on my ear. “I’ll make it worth your while, sweetheart,” she whispers.

I know she’s just play-acting, but she just turned me on. I turn my head and kiss her mouth. She runs her hand through my hair. Damn, even when we’re faking it, she’s my crack.