Sent Beast Mate(Beast Mates, #3)(12)
She was my prey.
Mine!
Chapter Six
Reagan
The snuggly blanket thrown over the leather chair in front of a warm brown desk and the beige paint on the walls made the Barbarian’s office cozy and warm. Still I shivered. The cold, handsome beast scrutinized me from across his desk. I didn’t hold his gaze, but instead admired the painting of three apples and a vase on the wall beside him. Maurice had said I needed to deliver useful information, and so far, the only useful thing was my access to jewelry. If I stole some of it, Maurice could sell it to the few wealthy humans on the outskirts of the Beast City.
From what I’d heard from Maurice and some circus customers in the past, the beasts didn’t build the City right after they’d landed. They’d set out to revive the planet first, and so the City was new, only about five decades old. In recent years, Alpha Beast had allowed some humans to build on the outskirts of his city. Most of them were descendants of wealthy families who survived the war by hunkering down with their gold. The gold was timeless, traded even in the days when money wasn’t.
Even so, somehow, I didn’t believe money meant much to Maurice.
“How did you find your rooms?” Mayhem asked.
Okay, so we’d make small talk. “Splendid,” I said. “I love your art.” I pointed at the painting. “Intriguing.”
Mayhem appeared bored again. Briefly, his gaze flickered from my left ear to my right one. My heart sank to my heels. I’d left the earrings on when I knew they weren’t meant for me. I swallowed, hoping my hair covered my ears. When I got back upstairs, I’d remove the earrings and put them back in the box as if nothing happened.
Mayhem smirked.
What did that mean? For the sake of pleasantries, I smiled sweetly.
Until he flipped open that fake-ass file Maurice had put together in all of two hours while I cleaned up in the showers. In fear of being discovered, I froze the smile on my face. Maurice and I had taken off as soon as I got cleaned up, and he drove like a bat out of hell so we’d reach New City in time for the auction. On the way, he’d covered my backstory. I memorized most of it, glad my name had stayed the same.
“Tell me about yourself and what you did before you came here,” Mayhem said.
I scrunched up my nose. “I served a very nice family in Beast City.”
“Served how?”
“I babysat their kids.”
“Any housekeeping?”
“That too.”
“Mm-hm. This is good news, since Alpha Beast’s mate is looking for more hands to help with their babies.”
I played cool when I really wanted to run away from here. I wouldn’t know what to do with children, let alone babies. I’d never even held a baby. If he sent me to help this woman, they’d realize I was up to no good. They’d catch me in a lie and eat me for dinner.
Mayhem expected a response, so I swallowed the proverbial rock in my throat and said, “If you bought me, does it mean we’re paired?”
“You are not paired. You are one of many women I own.”
“I see.”
“How many children did you manage when you were with the Oisen family?” he asked.
“Seven.” Why couldn’t it have been two? “Four boys and three girls.” I nodded, pleased I’d remembered those bits.
“What were their names?”
Crap. “Well, let’s see.” Names weren’t in the file. There was a bookshelf behind Mayhem. I leaned in my chair to see past him. “Tolstoy, Dante, Ernest, and Hugo. Then the girls were…” I paused while searching the shelves for women writers. There weren’t any I could see, so I said, “Jane, Charlotte, and Virginia.”
“Interesting names,” he said.
“Interesting family.”
“And how have you ended up here?”
“They left Beast City, and I had nowhere else to go.”
“Where is your community?”
“I didn’t grow up in a community.”
“Hm. Where did you grow up?”
“Oh, you know. Here and there. We sort of moved around.”
His eyebrows shot up. “A nomad? You grew up a nomad?”
“I guess you could say that.”
“The man who brought you here, did he sell me damaged goods?”
Maybe. “No.”
“Are you a virgin?”
I tilted my head. “I’m a babysitter.”
“Are babysitters virgins?”
“Who gives a shit? My pussy ain’t gonna watch the kids.”
At my tone, he matched my head tilt. “I give a shit, because if you’re a virgin, you can sell for much more than a twenty.”
A demented compliment. “I thought I was a gift to Alpha Beast.”