The first time I saw him was across a crowded room at a work function. I’d been invited by a member and wanted to see if there was some potential business there. I’d heard of Leo Ramsey through the years, but I’d heard that he was reclusive and not known to venture out too much socially. From the descriptions everyone gave me, I expected a hunchback. What I saw was a goddamn thoroughbred stud. I knew the second our eyes locked that I wanted him under me. I never imagined what could have happened after that first time.
I slipped him my card that night with the intention of having a little fun and letting him crawl back to his cave. But the day he walked into my office and those dark green eyes landed on me, I knew I had finally bitten off more than I could chew. There I was, thirty-four-years old, and a man had finally managed to not only break down my shield but did it in a way I never saw coming.
The first time he came to my office downtown, I didn’t play coy. I made my move thinking I would lead the show and he would disappear after I was finished. I’ve rarely been surprised by people in my life, but Leo surprised me. Not only did he give me the best orgasms of my life that day, but when I tried to brush off the experience and pretend like it was nothing, he wouldn’t let me. Those dark-green eyes have seen my game from day one.
I may have had a rough life to begin with, but I’ve earned every dollar and every favor since I started the Auction. I’ve told Leo a little about my past, but there are some things even I can’t admit out loud. There are a lot of things I’d rather forget, and bringing them up won’t change them. I’ve shared with him more than I’ve ever shared with anyone, and I think he knows enough to assume what I leave out.
My father was in the mob in Vegas and had his hands in all kinds of dirty shit. He ran a brothel, and my mother was one of his whores. When I came along, she had no choice but to keep working the house and raise me there in the back of it. I give her credit for trying to shield me as much as she could, but my father was her pimp, and he was a piece of shit.
By the time I was seventeen, I was ready to leave Vegas. I’d saved up the money I made cleaning rooms at the brothel and had a bus ticket to California. But the night I planned to leave, everything went wrong. My father showed up high as a kite looking for my mom. This wasn’t anything new. He was constantly beating on the girls and letting whoever had twenty bucks come in and do what they wanted to them. But on this night, though, he seemed crazier than usual, and he picked my mom. It was as if he knew I was on the way out the door.
At first he had tried to make her put me to work, but she convinced him that I made a better maid than a whore. It was one of the kindest things she ever did for me.
The brothel was pretty much empty that night, so when he took my mother out back and started beating on her, I went to the kitchen and grabbed a knife. By the time I got to her, it was too late. He had gone too far, and I wasn’t there to save her. The one thing I was able to do was make sure that he never did it to another woman again.
When the cops showed up, they didn’t ask a lot of questions. My father was a wanted man and was in and out of jail for years. The brothel was registered in Nevada, so it was all legal, and after the dust settled, I was declared the owner.
Becoming at madame at eighteen wasn’t my first goal in life, but it turned out to be something I was good at. After a few years, I sold the place and made a good profit, getting into the high-end business, which paid much more.
I’ve spend the last ten years building my empire, and now I rule the world. If you’re anyone who is anyone, I know you and you know me. If you’ve got more money than you know what to do with, I’m the woman to help you spend it. I deal only with women who are willing, ready, and discreet. But above all else, I keep them safe. I give them safety nets, security, and a way to do what they want, while making a killing. Some women enter into one contract and are set for life. Those are the success stories I love to make. Sex is natural, and women love it. If they can get paid millions to do it, then why not? I’m in the business of providing the elite to the elite, and I don’t make mistakes.
I roll over and bury my face in the pillow. How could anyone love someone like me? Leo tells me he loves me, and I desperately want to say it back to him. But I feel like if I give him that last piece of me, then I’ll have given him everything. What will I hold on to when he leaves me? What will be left of me when he realizes that I’m not worth the effort and he’s out the door?
Things are changing between him and me, and it’s time to come clean.
I push myself from the bed, go to the shower, and try to wash away my fears. I’ve got an Auction tonight, and it’s a big one. I try not to think about the event and instead focus on what I can control. Like shaving my legs and washing my hair.