Page 35 of A Corruption Dark & Deadly

Jericho almost shuddered. “Well,” he said slowly, trying to control his temper. “The girls here do not work for me. They have their own free will. Who am I to judge if they indulge in a little pleasure for profit?” He forced a smile, showing his bared teeth like an animal issuing a warning. “Did you have anyone in mind?”

“Oh, boy,” the buyer said, leaning back in his chair and rubbing his hands together. “Quite honestly, I’m open to any of ‘em. They’re all gorgeous. But see, the thing is, I’ve always been a fan of blondes. Had the biggest crush on Heather Locklear when I was a kid. She was the first woman I beat off to, and that’s an important monument in my life. There’s a woman sitting at a table surrounded by beautiful women but Jesus, for the life of me, I couldn’t stop staring at her. Blonde hair, pretty nice tits. Ain’t the biggest I’ve seen, but they’re perky and natural. But God, that face. Shit, that face. I want to jizz in that face, you know what I mean? I’d pay her a grand to do that.”

“Hey,” Bennet snapped, pushing off the wall from behind Bob and crossing his arms over his chest.

Jericho lifted his hand to keep Bennet at bay.

“It’s okay, Bennet,” Jericho said, keeping his eyes fixed on the buyer. There was a smile on his face, but it didn’t quite reach his eyes. It was a warning, but he highly doubted the buyer would recognize that if it punched him in the face. He was so self-absorbed, he was talking out of his ass about a woman Jericho was intimate with, the woman – whether she knew it or not – he planned to marry.

So Jericho would let him talk, let him run his mouth, because there would be a moment when he said something stupid, and Jericho could pull out the gun he had in his top tight drawer and shoot him in the head. No one would hear it except Bennet due to how loud the music was. No one would see it because the minute the buyer stepped in his office, Jericho had drawn the blinds. Jericho couldn’t explain it but he knew he would kill this man tonight. He accepted it. He was just curious as to what would compel him to actually do it.

They hadn’t even started talking business yet.

“Did I say somethin’ wrong?” the buyer asked, a smug smirk on his face at the thought that he might have offended Jericho’s sensitivity. “Did I offend you? What, I didn’t think you had a sister. I know you have a crusade against those women who got beat up by their boyfriends or husbands. But, see, I wanted to tell you about that. Maybe they did something to deserve it, you know? You don’t know. Maybe they ran their mouth when they need to be kept in line. Anyway, we aren’t talking about them, are we? We’re talking about the blonde girl in the black dress with the fuck-me lips that I want to have around my cock.” He furrowed his brow. “She your sister or something?”

“She’s something to me,” Jericho said slowly. He wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. Instead, he took his time, indulged his patience. It would come up soon. He was certain of it.

“So you’ve had a couple of go’s with her?” the buyer asked. “Why am I not surprised. You fuck only the pretty ones, right? Hey, can I ask you a favor? If I take one thousand off my asking price, would you introduce us, maybe put a good word in for me. Seriously, my cock throbbed when I saw her and I need to fuck her just to get it out of my system.”

Without warning, Jericho opened up the top right drawer, pulled out his gun which already had the silencer attached, and shot the guy square in the forehead. From the corner of his eye, Jericho noticed that Bennet didn’t even wince.

“That fucker had it coming,” Bennet said. He looked at Jericho, slight concern in his tawny gaze. “You okay, boss?”

Jericho stared at the body in front of him with a sneer. “Get this fucker out of my club,” he told Bennet. “I don’t want a single trace of him left here. Bury his body where no one will find him. Not that anyone would miss him anyway.”

“You got it,” Bennet said.

Jericho leaned back in his chair, relief sweeping through his body. He wouldn’t have to worry about Bob the Buyer again. And, unbeknownst to Annie, neither would she.

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