Page 60 of Promise Kept

“She’s covered based on the ownership agreement,” Ellis says.

“Oh,” Beth says, probably realizing just who I am. “Uh, yeah. One minute?”

“Thirty seconds,” Ellis says and he shuts the door.

“What’s happening?” I ask.

Ellis pulls at my hand.

I stumble toward him and he puts his arm around me.

He squeezes me tighter than he ever has.

He lowers his mouth down near my ear.

His hot breath tickles me.

“You, little brat… you’re getting to see exactly what you wanted to see…”

10

The Whole “Interrogation Intimacy Can They See Me” Thing…

ELLIS

Everyone has a fantasy.

Big or small.

Common ones. Dark ones.

I’m willing to bet that most have more than one fantasy.

What better way to celebrate those fantasies than in a controlled setting? One where everyone understands what’s happening. Consent gives calmness. Privacy gives enjoyment.

“Some of the names would surprise you, Larissa,” I say to her as we walk side by side. “Which is understandable. But it’s why we are the place we are. It’s why we have the reputation we do. It’s why we’re so unknown yet so wildly known. Understand?”

“Ellis, I get it. I can read between the lines here. All you’re doing is finding new ways to tell me to shut up.”

“Not exactly.”

“Yes, exactly. But in a business sense. A legal sense. Who do you think I am? Do you think I’m going to grab my phone, take pictures and lose my mind?”

My jaw tightens.

Larissa’s attitude has never changed.

Brat.

Yet it’s also fierce. A beautiful kind of fierceness.

I take a slow, silent breath.

Well aware of my surroundings.

Well aware that I promised her father to always keep an eye on her.

Yet here we are… less than a minute away from standing together and watching two people having sex.