Page 49 of If You Give an Artist a Killer Muse

I make myself look beautiful and seduce the target. I’m the group’s secret weapon because I’m not known enough for people like Dylan to recognize me. Also, they see an innocent, wide-eyed shorty like me and immediately assume I’m harmless. So, I play the virtuous, sometimes clueless girl who begs to be corrupted. Then once I get them to trust me, I get them to fess up, and my favorite part — fuck shit up if they refuse to cooperate.

Hopefully, Dylan is smart enough to cooperate so I can go home and stalk Rurik’s profile again.

Nat pats my shoulders, “Now remember, the target is Dylan. Get him to tell us where he got his money and their contact info.”

“Got it. Get in there. Seduce the shit out of him – But not actually fuck him. Then, get him to talk.”

“You got this.”

I smirk, “Hopefully, this won’t take long.”

I turn to go inside the room where our target and his friends were busy playing card games. As soon as we enter the room, they look up in alarm and immediately stand up.

“Hi, boys,” I wave, cocking my head to the side. “What are you guys up to?”

“Who are you?” the target, Dylan, asks. I don’t miss how his hand wraps around the gun he’s hiding behind him. I fight the urge to roll my eyes at his obviousness.

“Oh! Sorry,” I giggle, batting my eyes at him and his friends. “I’m Stacey! I’m here to dance for…” I feign confusion, my face flushing with redness. Damn, I should have been an actress instead. I can blush and cry on cue! His friends glance at each other, their shoulders dropping as they relax and fall for the ditzy character I'm playing.

“Yeah,” one of them says, pointing at Dylan. “It’s his birthday. Why don’t you show him a good time?”

I gasp and whirl to Dylan, “Oh! Happy birthday, sexy!” I rush to him and shove him back on the couch. He falls back with a grunt, but I don’t give him time to move as I climb on top of his lap and smile at him. “Sshh, let me give you a very happy gift, please?”

“Yeah,” One of his friends chuckles stupidly. “We’re paying her by the hour, so don’t waste time.”

“Oh! Before I forget,” I turn around and nod toward Nat, who looks nervous and cute in the corner — the character she’s going for tonight, I’m assuming. “She’s currently in training. But I trust you boys to make her feel welcome?”

His idiotic friends stare at Nat with lustful eyes. I focus on Dylan again, knowing Nat’s got them.

“Hi,” I grin down at him. His eyes flash with anticipation, and I almost roll my eyes. Why can’t I just tie him up and demand he answer us? I feel his fingers digging through my hips, and I clear my throat.

I open my mouth to distract the shit out of him, maybe stroke his ego a bit until he tells us the names of the assholes stealing from Mr. Rogers. But before I could do that, my pocket starts vibrating.

Fuck. I forgot to silence my phone.

“You okay?” Dylan asks, not at all looking like he cares. He leans down and skims his nose over my cleavage.

“Yeah,” I discreetly pull out my phone and feel my heart jump with excitement.

RURIK MY ANGEL:

-Why the fuck do you feel the need to text me such bullshit constantly?

I have yet to text him today, so, interestingly, he has decided to reply now.

I grin.

He misses me. He can’t stay away from me.

“You’re sexy as hell when you smile like that. You gonna ride me, sexy?” Dylan's words make me want to punch him in the face for ruining my good mood.

So I did.

What? He interrupted me while I was about to text Rurik back.

I pull my arm back, satisfied that my punch may have broken his nose. Dylan shouts, and I can hear his friends shouting back, along with the sounds of grunts and gunshots, knowing Nat is dealing with them.

“Really? Briar,” Nat groans after shooting Idiot Two in the dick. “Whatever happened to give him a chance to answer and then maybe let him go?”

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