Pretty Dirty (Dirty Bad Things Book 2)(13)

He grins. “Says the girl that just dramatically dashed out of a room?”

I roll my eyes and flip him off, but he only grins wider before he pulls me close and kisses me. We pull apart, grinning at each other, when my eyes catch the clock on his wall.

“Fuck,” I hiss. “I have to go.”

“Where?”

My face grows hard. “To pay Joey.”

Gray growls under his breath and shakes his head. “What’s he got on you, beautiful?”

I look away. I’m not shy with really anything in my life. Never have been. But for some reason, I hold back telling him, because I’m scared of what he’ll think of me.

“Nothing.”

“Zoe—”

“What makes you think he’s got—”

“Oh, so you’re stripping on Heartthrob Cams and giving him the money as…what, charity?”

I roll my eyes.

“Tell me, pretty girl.”

My eyes drag to his, and when I see the heat and kindness there, my icy walls start to crack.

“I—”

“Tell me, Zoe.”

“There was this porn thing.”

His face goes dark and I cringe.

“Look, it was a stupid idea, and I never did it. He and his boss were setting up some porn studio—”

“I’m aware,” he growls under his breath, his jaw clenched.

“Yeah, well, then you’re aware I didn’t do anything with it. But I’d signed this contract and…” I sigh heavily, looking down and withering a little. “Look, I was fucking desperate. I was being evicted and I hadn’t eaten in three fucking days, okay?”

“I’m not judging you, baby,” he says quietly, pulling me close.

“It seemed like my only offer at the time, but I backed out. I couldn’t do it.

I shiver, remembering standing on that edge about to fall.

“No fucking way. But Joey?” I turn and glare out the window. “He said the contract was binding. And he’s already fronted for talent and cameras and all this shit based off of me performing.”

I take a deep breath, leaning into Gray.

“I mean, I’d done cams before, and I mean, it’s only taking your clothes off, right?”

Gray’s arms tighten around me, like he’s protecting me from the whole world.

“So he threw you in that apartment and made you strip on webcams for cash.”

I look away, and he swears.

“How much do you owe him?”

“With or without interest?”

Gray swears, his face turning enraged. “There’s interest?!”

I nod, and he growls, his teeth bared as he turns away.

“Fuck that. This is over.”

“Wait, what?”

He turns back to me, his hand closing around mine.

“When’s he coming?”

I shake my head. “Gray, you can’t just—”

“I can. When?”

“Gray—”

“Tell me, Zoe.”

I blow air through my lips, frowning. “Twenty minutes.”

“Perfect.”

He lets go of my hand and storms away through a doorway. I follow.

“Hang on, Gray, what are you—”

I freeze as I step into the doorway of what’s clearly his home office to see him standing behind his desk.

There’s a gun in his hand.

“Oh holy fuck. What are you—”

“Not what you think,” he growls. “But this is fucking over.”

“Gray—”

“Stay here.”

“Gray!”

“Zoe, stay here.”

I glare at him. “You can’t just tell me to—”

“I can, and I just did.”

I open my mouth to say something when he puts the gun down and strides across the room to hold me tight.

“Zoe, please. Just stay here. I’m not going to do what you think I am, alright?”

I chew on my lip, but when I finally meet his eyes, I can see a fire there that lights something inside of me.

“You know, I’m still paid up for three weeks.”

I roll my eyes. “You’re seriously bringing that into—”

“I’d like a show in forty minutes. Be ready.”

Somehow, his real voice is as commanding and illicitly consuming as he was in our online chatting. And like some sort of automatic response to that commanding tone, my body responds. I gasp quietly as the heat teases it’s way through my body, my skin coming alive, my nipples hardening to points under my shirt, and my pussy growing wet between my legs.

“Okay,” I say quietly, melting under the fierceness of his gaze.

He kisses me slowly, and the teasing heat from before turns into a fire, my whole body aching for him before he pulls away. He turns and grabs the gun off the desk.

“Just…” I frown. “What are you going to—”

“I’m just putting a stop to this, that’s all,” he growls as he leans in and kisses me softly.

“I’ll be back for you, pretty girl.”





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