Relinquish(39)

“Hello, I’m Dave,” he greets, his double chin jiggling as he talks. I swallow and nod. I can’t talk, because that means more air — and therefore body odor — entering my lungs.

“What—” I choke. “What can I do for you, Dave?” I ask, trying to hold my breath.

“Do you suck cock?” he asks, a big yellow-toothed smile wide on his face.

When I said I reached rock-bottom before, I lied. This is rock-bottom.

Before I answer him, he’s undoing his overalls, letting them fall to his sneakers which are not tied but velcroed.

“One hundred and fifty,” I inform him, holding my wrist to my nose for the smell of my perfume. Margo told me that even if men stink, you have to do it. There’s no backing down from a trick. Think of roses, suffer through it.

Dave shuffles his legs to the bed and sits down, out of breath. He starts fisting his cock, and my throat retches. I can’t do this. There’s no pretending with this guy. I’m not strong enough.

“Come on, baby,” he encourages. I look at him from the corner of my eye and try to pull every ounce of willpower I have. I slowly kneel in front of him and hold my breath. I spread his legs using his knees, and then my lungs demand air. I inhale, and the rancid smell does it for me. My gag reflex hurdles puke upward. I turn, finding the door to the motel room, and quickly open it. I crawl forward and expel my dinner on the sidewalk.

“You took one of mine, so I’m taking one of yours!” I hear beside me as I heave for fresh air. I turn to look at who’s talking, but before I can get my head turned all the way, vomit races up my throat again.

“No, wait! Claudia came to me, man. Take her ass back. She’s in room 7,” Mick begs.

“I could f*cking kill you, Mick. You stepped over a line! You took one of mine, so I’m taking one of yours!” roars beside me, like a song stuck on repeat. The familiar voice is threatening, and an odd knot forms in the pit of my stomach from its presence.

“Fine,” Mick mumbles. I turn my head to look at Mick and the familiar voice, but my vision is blurry with tears from throwing up.

“She’ll do,” the voice clips angrily. Before I can make out who the voice belongs to, the blurry image rushes toward me. Searing pain races through my scalp suddenly, making me scream as I’m pulled to my feet. My nails dig into the hand that’s laced into my hair from behind.

“Charlie!” Jayden screams, rushing out of a motel room.

“Jayden!” I cry, tripping over my heels as I’m yanked backwards. Jayden races toward me but Mick catches her, halting her movement. Jayden pulls from Mick, trying to get to me.

“Don’t!” Mick yells at her, picking Jayden up off the ground.

“You said you would protect us!” she screams, pounding against Mick’s chest.

“I can’t this time. It’s out of my hands, Jayden!” Mick roars, grabbing Jayden’s wrists to calm her.

Before I can react to what’s happening, see who has a hold of me, I’m thrown into a car. I sit up and look around, finding myself in a… limo? There are black leather seats all around, and little twinkle lights illuminating the space around me.

“Drive to the estate,” the familiar voice demands. I take my gaze from the driver in the front to the man who had ahold of my hair just moments ago.

My eyes widen, and my heart stammers against my chest.

“Landon?” I whisper in disbelief, butterflies swarming in my chest.

Landon’s green eyes shine, and his full lips part as he inhales. I can tell he’s just as surprised to see me as I am him. But as quickly as his startled expression came, it disappears. He straightens, fixes his tie and his eyes harden.

“Charlie,” he greets formally, his tone holding an edge to it. He squares his shoulders, his body taking up most of the seat.

“Landon, what is—” I stop myself, confused. I shift in my seat to get closer to Landon, and his head whips from looking out the window toward me. I notice his jaw clench, and his hands fist angrily.

“Jesus, I barely recognize you, Charlie,” he sneers, running a hand through his hair. I wince from his harsh tone.

“Landon,” I respond meekly, my chin trembling. All I want is to crawl in his lap and have him hold me, comfort me after the Hell I’ve been through lately. But the way he’s staring at me, I can tell that’s not going to happen.

“Don’t.” Landon shakes his head and starts muttering under his breath. “Whatever happened between us, Charlie, it never happened.” He looks up, his eyes piercing mine.

“You are an employee of the Blackwell Estate now,” he scoffs.

I close my eyes and shake my head in confusion.

“What?”

A smirk curls Landon’s lips as he fiddles with the cuffs of his sleeve. “Actually, an employee has the option to leave after their contract has expired.” He smirks and tilts his head to the side. “You are owned by the Blackwell Estate now.”

My nostrils flare to allow the harsh breathing to escape, and my heart races in my chest. Owned? He can’t be serious.

“You can’t keep me, I’ll—”

“What – run away? Call the cops?” Landon shifts in his seat and taps his fingers on his knee. “You don’t want to say that to me, Charlie. I can, and will, lock you in a room, never to escape again, and we both know nobody will come looking for you.” His tone is malicious. “And the cops will just bring you back to me, considering most of them are in my pocket anyway.” He shrugs.