Page 35 of Once Upon A Sale

The guy her and her friends were chasing down in Detroit. One she fully intends to kill.

The possibility that he would be at the auction that night was slim, but they hit the nail on the head.

James Smith.

Is me.

Jarrett Vale.

I’m hoping the fact that we both signed contracts will stop her in time.

Her tense muscles are still in the exact same position, knife poised in the air, white knuckles surrounding the handle, and I’m not moving either.

“Logan calls you Sunny. And yes, I have been working for The Firm.” There’s no hiding it now. If I’ve got any chance of keeping her, I need to be honest.

Ophelia lets out a growl worthy of a beast as she tries to spin in my hold, but with my grip on her arms and with her against the kitchen countertop, she’s not moving.

“Let. Me. Go.” Her anger vibrates through her body and I hate that The Firm have hurt her enough to react this way. “You’re James Smith.” It’s not a question. She’s affirming it to herself, shaking her head as she pants like a wild animal.

“Well, technically I’m Jarrett, but yeah, James Smith is a name I’ve used.” The very minimal humor does not translate well.

“Not fucking funny,Jarrett.” She spits my name through her lush lips and I hate the way it sounds.

“You can’t kill me, Kitten. You like me too much and you signed a contract.”

“Fuck the fucking contract and I’m not your kitten!” She struggles again, trying to lift her legs, but I have every inch of her pinned.

“You didn’t deny that you like me too much. That’s a start.” I chuckle, completely aware it’s inappropriate in this moment, but so is the hard-on I’m sporting.

A yell rips from her throat and she takes me by surprise, dropping her body weight and making me step back for fear she’s hurt somehow. She’s not. As soon as my hold on her is broken, she takes my legs out and knocks me to the floor, straddling me with the knife aimed at my face.

I slowly lift my hands, palms up, as I lie on my back looking up at the glorious, angry woman above me.

“Don’t fucking move.”

“I’m going nowhere, Kitten.” And I mean that in more ways than she knows right now.

“I liked my dad too, you know? To some extent. There were times when he wasn’t all bad, when he wasn’t beating my mom to a fucking pulp for putting too much sauce on his pasta for dinner. Or when he made me watch when I did something wrong, because he believed she wasn’t doing her job of raising me well enough. It was supposed to teach me a lesson, to make sure I knew my place even through the guise of freedom.”

Her story is making my blood boil. I knew she didn’t have it easy, but fuck. I wish I could take it all away. I actually feel shame for being a part of this whole thing and it’s fucking with my head.

“But do you know what? Ha, I suppose you do, seeing as you’ve spent so long fucking stalking me. But I’ll remind you anyway. Liking someone doesn’t mean I won’t kill them for being a scumbag piece of shit.Iwas the one who killed my dad. Me. Hisvery own daughter. I decided to fight back for once when I saw him hitting my mom. I thought I was saving her, but she killed herself as soon as the life left his eyes because she didn’t want to live a life of pain. She suffered many long-term effects from his regular beatings. But that’s the life of a slave. Right? You would know.”

Her thighs are squeezing my ribs, one of her hands on the base of my throat, and the other still with the knife poised over me. Her body is in kill-mode, but something else inside her is holding her back because she could’ve killed me a thousand times by now. I’m completely at her mercy.

Truth be told, I have been at her mercy since the moment I set eyes on her.

“We should talk about this without weapons. There’s a lo—”

“I’m done fucking talking, Jarrett.” Even with anger boiling through every pore, she still makes my dick twitch when she says my name like that.

Fuck!

I react quickly, grabbing her wrist and bucking her off me, flipping her over so our positions are switched when she moves to drive the knife into me.

“That wouldn’t be wise, Kitten, and I know you’re smarter than that.” I have her arms pinned on either side of her head and her body between my thighs.

She growls at me. It’s fucking cute and I have to try really hard not to smile.

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