Dree had never even thought of having that much money in her life. She was pretty sure her parents’ entire ranch, their livestock, and five generations of her family’s labor weren’t worth that much.
She could get better therapy for Victor for years.
And even after helping Mandi and Victor, Dree could get a new, better apartment, furniture, clothes, and a car, replacing all the things that Francis had stolen from her.
And pay back her 401(k).
She was still aghast. “What would I have to do for that?” A thought came to her. “Butt stuff. It’s butt stuff, isn’t it? You want butt stuff.”
He raised one eyebrow and smiled a little wider.
“Oh, my God. You freaky rich people are all alike. You can’t be satisfied with what normal people like, and so you want butt stuff.”
“You seem to like that term, ‘butt stuff.’ You keep repeating it.”
“You do, don’t you?”
“And what if I do? I promise not to damage you.”
“How do I know you’ve even got that much money? You could be lying to me, and then I’ll still be broke and have a sore butt.”
“You seem fixated on anal sex. I suspect a secret desire for the forbidden. But here.” He turned his hand over and unlatched his watchband.
Thick calluses covered his palm and fingers like a farmhand, which Dree noticed even though she was still freaking out a little.
He took off his watch and handed it to her.
The watch was an analog type with a steel case, and it had a blue face and band. Under the silver hands, there were three little dials, showing the day of the week, the date, and the phase of the moon.
Dree squinted at it. “What, you don’t have an Apple Watch?”
“That’s a Patek Philippe Grand Complications, and it’s worth about ninety thousand dollars, American.”
Dree dropped it like it burned her fingers.
The watch clattered on the counter.
“Oh, my God. I didn’t break it. It’s fine. It’s fine!”
He laughed. “I would hope it could take a fall better than that.”
She gingerly poked at the watch, pushing it across the counter toward him. She finally grabbed a clean napkin and shoved it at him because she worried that her fingerprints would decrease its value. “No. Take it back. I don’t want it. I might hurt it.”
He laughed again, even leaning over. “It’s your insurance that I’ll pay you for services rendered.”
She did not touch that overpriced watch. “Well, then what’s your insurance that I won’t run off with it, and you’ll never get butt stuff?”
He picked up another croissant and buttered it. “Because I’ll pay you more than twice that amount if you stick around until Thursday.”
She considered it. “Okay, but you don’t have to give me your watch. I’m fine without it.”
“No,” he said. “You keep it until I pay up.”
She carefully buckled the leather strap around her wrist on the tightest hole, but it still slipped up her arm. “I’m afraid I’ll lose it.”
“If you do, I’ll still pay you.” He looked up at her and smiled. “You’re worth it.”
Dree didn’t want to argue because that kind of money would change her life and Mandi’s, too. She stuffed a croissant in her mouth so she wouldn’t say something stupid.
Augustine asked her, “Are we still lying to each other?”
She nodded and swallowed the hunk of pastry. “After these four days, we’re done. I have to go home or wherever and go on with my life. This is just an interlude, not real life.”
Real life was sewing up people in an ER and keeping them alive through the night.
Real life was working hard and putting money away in her savings account for a rainy day.
He said, “I seem to know quite a bit about you, despite the lying.”
“That was all lies,” Dree lied. “I’m really a person of ill repute who works for the IRS.”
Augustine chuckled again. “Fine. As you wish. After we’re done eating, pack your things. We’re going to my hotel.”
“Oh, I couldn’t,” she said.
He fixed his dark eyes on her. “Yes, you will, because you’ll do everything I tell you, or else it’s ‘butt stuff’ tonight.”
The story of Maxence and Dree isn’t over! Half of what he told her was absolutely the truth, but there’s so much more to tell.
What is that tattoo on his back, and what does it mean?
CLICK HERE to read more ROGUE!
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Copyright 2020 by Malachite Publishing LLC
This is a work of fiction.
Names, characters, places and incidents are either products of the author’s wild and naughty imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission from the author or publisher.
1st Edition: October, 2020
