Bound To Protect. Anya Summers

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СКАЧАТЬ someone had to get the damn job done. If not her, then who?

      Warily, she yanked the shirt from his hands and held it against her chest. The spicy scent from his cologne engulfed her. She said raggedly, trying not to cry, “Why did you do that? I’m never going to be able to go back out there after that. After what you did.”

      “Thank God for that.”

      “Why do you care? You own this place,” she said, shoving her arms through his shirt and pulling the material down over her chest. The material dwarfed her body, but then again, he was a big man, who stood at least six foot two, and was powerfully built. Dante was a man who took care of his body, and likely spent hours in the gym maintaining the level of fitness he displayed.

      “I do. And you’re not a stripper, love. If you are, if that’s what you truly want to do, then I won’t stop you. But look me in the eye and tell me that it absolutely, one hundred percent is what you want to do with your life.”

      Her lower lip quivered. She pressed them together. She wouldn’t cry. Wouldn’t let herself cry. She glanced away from the intensity of his gaze.

      “Can you, Sabrina?” His voice took on a patient, kind tone.

      She squeezed her eyes shut to hold back the tears that wanted to fall. “No.”

      “Then why are you here?”

      Because her life was circling the drain and she had no other options. She had no other way to make enough money to keep a roof over their heads.

      “I need the money,” she whispered raggedly. The enormity of her failure slammed into her. They would be homeless by the end of the week. Her brother, for whom she had fought long and hard to keep his condition relatively stable, or as stable as it would ever be, would descend into madness. And it was all her fault. She couldn’t work enough, wasn’t smart enough, or educated enough to have a job that would pay her what she needed to support him.

      “Why didn’t you come to me? You know I would help you out.”

      She shook her head. It was too much; she needed too much money. This wasn’t something that could be solved with a few hundred bucks. She needed thousands, between rent and her brother’s care. He should be in an assisted living facility, but she couldn’t afford it. Sabrina had scraped by paying for an in-home nurse so that she could work. And she wasn’t financially viable enough to get a loan from a bank. She knew that because she had tried. The bank manager had all but laughed at her feeble attempt.

      “I have to get back out there. I need to earn it.” She started to rise, but Dante clamped his hands on her wrists.

      “No, love. Sorry but you won’t be taking your clothes off here.”

      “Then I’ll find another place on Bourbon Street.” She steeled her shoulders, hating the disappointment that swamped her, that made her want to curl up into a ball and weep.

      “No, you won’t. I’ll tell them I fired you for stealing, and none of them will hire you. Come on. I have something better, something you won’t need to take your clothes off for.” Dante dangled a carrot.

      What could he possibly have to offer? She had no idea but at this point, she was willing to listen. “I need to get my things.”

      “Where are they at?” he asked her.

      “In the back with the other girls, at the station they gave me to use. Why?” she asked with suspicion. Just what was the man up to?

      Before she realized what he was doing, her hands were cuffed and attached to a loop she’d not seen before on the wall above the couch. Her wrath resurfaced in a blink. “Dante, let me out of these things. What are you doing?”

      “Making sure you don’t leave while I get your stuff. I’ll be back in two shakes,” he stated, rising. He strode out of his office without his shirt on, shutting the door behind him.

      They would all think she had been in here banging the boss after the way he had carried her out of there, only for him to head back out without his shirt on.

      “Aargh!” she screamed, and twisted, trying to yank her hands out of the cuffs, all while blinking back the flood of tears that threatened. She wasn’t going to let them fall, or let him see what this did to her. But that didn’t mean she wasn’t going to fight like hell. If she was going down, she would rather do it swinging than whimpering in a corner.

      The door to Dante’s office opened and he emerged, his arms full of her purse and clothing.

      “You son of a bitch! Let me out of these damn things and let me go!” she yelled, her internal panic rising.

      “Afraid I can’t do that, love. I think we need each other right now.”

      “Like hell we do. Let… Me… GO!” she said through clenched teeth, finding that it was far easier to bask in fury than wallow in sorrow.

      He considered her, shoving her stuff into her bag. “The cuffs look good on you. Now, I can either carry you out of here, or you can leave with me quickly and quietly. Your choice. And you’ve got ten seconds to decide, or I’ll make the choice for you.”

      “You wouldn’t dare.”

      His friendly gaze shuttered into that of a stern task master, leaving her chilled to her core. “Try me.”

      Sabrina stewed over her choices. He had her purse, which held her keys, her phone, and her damn clothes. She was chained up in his office, and he held all the cards. She doubted the police would say or stop anything if he did as he threatened.

      Still, on principle alone, she couldn’t, wouldn’t, cave to his brow beating. Her night had already been bad enough. She had failed to make the money that would keep a roof over her brother’s head. And it was all Dante’s fault. If he’d left her alone, she might have been able to get caught up on rent.

      “Screw you,” she spat.

      “Have it your way,” he replied with a deep, tired sigh, and did exactly as he’d promised.

      The only thing she hadn’t factored into her equation in thinking she might have a chance to get away from him, was that he had a reserved parking space for his big black Escalade right out the back of the club. Nor had she factored in that he was going to keep the handcuffs on her. Or that, when he got her into his vehicle, he would attach a chain to her cuffs which was connected to a loop on the floorboard.

      Sabrina knew all about his lifestyle, that he was into some pretty heavy duty kink. She cleaned his penthouse, the offices, and state-of-the-art personal gym on the fourth floor, as well as the private rooms of his exclusive kinky club. You learned a thing or two about a person when you cleaned for them. And if she was a mite intrigued by the furniture and what went on there, she ignored it, and had done so for going on two years now.

      “You’re an asshole,” she snapped as he climbed into the driver’s seat and tugged his seatbelt on.

      Dante just laughed and, with a shake of his head, said, “You’ll revise that statement before the night is over. I’ll be your fairy fucking godmother before bedtime.”

      She snorted and glanced out the passenger side window. If he was her fairy godmother, СКАЧАТЬ