Wishing Well(31)

émilie was expendable while Penelope was the prize.

Three o’clock came quickly that night, and leaving my suit jacket draped over the back of my couch, I left my room, took the elevator down and retrieved Maurice from the basement.

As we rode up, I mentioned, “I’ll need you to remain hidden in the employee hall while I explain to émilie what she’ll be allowing. She’ll serve your needs, Maurice, on a regular basis as long as you keep from hurting her too much.”

“What does she look like?” he asked, anticipation carved into his tone.

“She’s beautiful. Blond hair. Blue eyes -“

A hiss burst from his lips. “Who cares? Her tits?”

“Large,” I answered.

“Her ass?”

“Divine.”

“You’ve tasted her,” he said, a statement but still a question.

Glancing his direction, I nodded, “I can’t toss you a fledgling. We must do this in absolute silence.”

“Why not just bring her to my cage?”

Sighing, I admitted. “She doesn’t yet know it will be you she’s entertaining. That’s why I need you to stay in the employee hall until I’ve had a chance to explain it to her. If it works out, if she’s agreeable, we can make alternate arrangements for next time.”

“I’ll behave,” he promised. It was the best that he could say. I should have known better than to set up this meeting in such a public place, but my mind was distracted by a brunette girl that I hadn’t had the opportunity to play.

Stepping out of the elevator once the doors pulled apart, I left Maurice in the abandoned hall while I stepped out into the night. Wind tugged at my shirt as I moved down my path, as if nature itself was attempting to stop me. Finding émilie sitting on a curved bench near the well, I took my place in front of her, moving back when she reached for my pants.

“I have a duty I must assign you,” I said, my voice soft within the twinkling night stars, just loud for enough for her to hear me. Blue eyes tipped up to find mine.

“A duty?” she asked in French, the language she preferred when it was just the two of us.

Tucking my hands in my pockets, I reminded her, “When I agreed to hire you and bring you here from France, I told you there would be conditions. You agreed to anything ,” I stressed the word, “a promise you repeated to me tonight.”

Her eyes rounded. When she didn’t contest, I continued, “Not many people know that my brother lives in the basement of the hotel. It is a secret I keep quiet for many reasons and one I’m trusting with you. If information regarding Maurice’s existence were to leak from this point forward, I would know you were the one to leak it, so I suggest you keep in mind that you should always hold your tongue.”

“What does this brother have to do with me?”

Pausing before answering, I confessed, “He has needs much like me, and I would like for you to see to them.”

Angry tears leaked from her eyes, her voice gaining in volume. “You will share me with other men?”

Locking my narrowed gaze on her face, I demanded, “Whisper, émilie. Or the guests will hear you. I have no qualms sending you back where you came from.”

“You would do that to me?” she hissed, her voice low, her rage heightened.

Inclining my head, I answered, “The arrangements have always been made. All it would take is a push of a button.”

More tears leaked, a steady stream over her cheeks. On measured steps, I approached her to lift her chin and tilt her head to mine. Softly, I asked, “What have you always told me, émilie? Since the moment I first took you to my bed?”

Her shoulders quaked with sobs. “Je suis ta petite pute. ”

“Oui ,” I agreed. “You are my little whore, so be that for me now. Maurice is not much different from me. He will satisfy you, if you’re perfectly compliant. But you must be careful with him, émilie. He has a short fuse, he takes even the smallest of insults to heart. He can strike out before you understand you’ve injured his heart.”

“Tu me fends le c?ur !”

Kneeling in front of her, I caught her red-rimmed eyes with mine. “I have not broken your heart, ma belle . I am simply demanding a favor. Never have I told you we would be exclusive, and I know you’ve slept with men other than me since living at Wishing Well. I know you accept payment. You are more like your mother than you have led me to believe.”

Her gaze darted from mine, her cheeks reddening with anger and shame. “Fine. I will make love to your brother is that’s what you want from me, but you will pay me like everyone else. It was only for you that my love was free.”

A smile tugged at my lips. “Payment can be arranged. Perhaps if you are to Maurice’s liking, we can make this a weekly thing. I’ll reward you greatly for your time.”

She continued to sob, but the agreement had been made. “Stay here. I’ll send Maurice out to you, and I’ll stand nearby should any issues occur. Stroke his ego, émilie, he likes that. And for safety reasons, just behave and pretend like you’re fucking a starving, feral dog, and you should get through this just fine. Understand?”

Ignoring the way her eyes rounded with apprehension, I retrieved Maurice from where he stood chomping at the bit and reminded him on a soft voice that we are to play nicely with our toys. One wrong move on émilie’s part, one wrong word or facial expression, and it would take a crow bar to pry my brother’s violent hands from her throat.