Buyer’s Market(342)

“No, please, don’t…” he cries out, desperation turning him into something so pathetic that I almost pity him. Tears start falling out of his eyes, and he starts begging and crying like a baby. “I’ll do anything… I’ll do--”

“Goodbye, Lester,” I whisper as I show him my million dollar smile. I press the trigger and, for a fraction of a second, time stops. And then… Well, then nothing happens. I put the safety on the moment I picked up his gun.

“Oh, fuck,” he cries out, and I can’t help but laugh as I notice that there’s a dark stain on his jeans he had scrambled to put on once I burst in and after I took his picture.

Fucking tool.

He fucking pissed himself.

He should have stayed with his cock out.

“Well, don’t feel bad, Lester. Even big boys piss their pants from time to time,” I keep poking him with words, but now he has been defeated completely. He no longer has the nerve to stand up to me. He’s probably too afraid that I might just take the safety off and pop a bullet into his skull. Again, he probably deserves something like that, but I’m not a fucking degenerate like he is.

“Destiny’s club. Python’s license. And then get your ugly fucking mug out of New York,” I summarize the whole thing to him. There’s still the clincher, though. “Oh, yeah, Lester… I’ll keep tabs on you. I’ll have people watching. If I ever hear that you’re involved in human trafficking again… Forget about photographs being leaked. If you do that, I’ll hunt you down like a dog, and I’ll finish you for good.”

I throw him one last disgusted look and then turn on my heels. My security guys are already out by there, and one of them has parked the door right in front of Lester’s house. I walk to the doorway and then look from Strokes to Destiny.

“Shall we, ladies?”

Arm-in-arm with them, I walk out.





25





Destiny





The ride back to Austin’s apartment was as smooth as smooth can be. Now that the cloud of impending doom that hung over our heads had been lifted, we all felt as if we were walking on cloud nine.

Once we got home, the first thing Strokes and I wanted to do was have a shower. She took the main bathroom, and I took the one in Austin’s bedroom. I’m here now, standing under the running water and letting all memories of Lester be wiped off from both my body and my mind.

Happiness, that’s what I feel right now. Soon enough, Lester and his threats will be thing from the past, and the path will be cleared for Austin and I. And, soon enough, our family is going to grow, I think with a smile, slowly caressing my belly. It’s still flat and tight, but soon it’s going to start growing and growing. I never thought I’d be happy about growing fat, but that’s how the good things happen: they sneak up on you and take you by surprise. That was exactly how I fell in love with Austin.

I step out of the shower with a wide smile on my face and, wrapping myself in a large cotton towel, I head to the wardrobe. I reach for my clothes, but then my arm stops mid-air. No, I don’t need clothes right now. What I need is… something else.

I walk out of the room and head toward the living room with sure steps. Austin is leaning by the counter of his mini-bar, cradling a glass of whisky in his hands as he looks up to meet my gaze.

“Hello, there,” he says, placing the glass down on the counter and walking toward me. He lays his hand on my waist and pulls me into him, crushing his mouth against mine. I close my eyes and, savoring how it feels to have my body pressed on his, I push my tongue past his lips. Our tongues dance around one another in a slow teasing dance, and then we finally pull back and look at each other.

“I promised everything would work out,” he whispers, softly running one hand through my hair.

“You did. And you kept your promise,” I tell him, looking into his eyes as my heart beats a song of… love. God, I’m going to love this man until my dying days. Whatever happens, I know that nothing will ever pull us apart. As stupid as it may sound, we were made for each other and, now that we’ve found that out, nothing will ever come between us. I won’t allow it, and he won’t allow it either.

“I always keep my promises, babe,” he whispers, his eyes shining with tenderness.

“Then promise me something right now,” I tell him, wickedness dancing at the corner of my lips. “Promise you’ll fuck me so hard I won’t even remember where I am once we’re done,” I whisper, grabbing at my towel in the place where I tucked it and pulling on it. I let it fall down to the floor and stand here, completely naked right in front of Austin.