Page 35 of High Roller

My thoughts are interrupted by a knock on the door.

“That better not be fucking Harper,” he grumbles.

“Who is it?” he shouts as he walks toward the door.

“It’s Bellamy, Master Victor.”

He pulls the door open, seeming to forget that I’m naked. Though I don’t know why that would matter. I’ve been naked in the dungeon dozens of times.

“What is it?” he snaps when she steps into the room.

“I’m sorry to interrupt. It’s just that your guest seems rather restless judging from the sounds coming from her room. Master Luke wanted me to come and ask you to check on her.”

I frown. “I’m sorry I left her mic open.”

Bellamy smiles. “It’s fine. My tablet has just been getting a workout tonight with all the extra suite notifications.”

She raises an eyebrow and backs toward the door. “Looks like you two are getting cozy in here, so I’ll leave you to it.”

I wish I’d grabbed my dress before Victor pulled me in here. Now I’m naked and having lustful thoughts about a man I shouldn’t be thinking that way about.

When she’s gone, he turns to me and his eyes are dark with lust of his own. At least I know he wants me as much as I want him. His sense of responsibility both to me and to his family keeps him from acting. At least, that’s what I suspect.

“Stop looking at me like that, Mariposa. I’m weak right now.”

“Maybe I want you weak,” I say as confidently as I can manage.

He chuckles and stalks toward me. “I didn’t take you for a temptress, Gracie.”

He kisses my cheek and shakes his head. “I’m a fool for not just making you mine. But I don’t want to mess anything up between us. Can you understand that, butterfly? You mean so much to me.”

I put a hand on his chest. “It’s fine, Victor. I understand. Will you get me my dress? You need to check on Lili, and I promised Bellamy some help in her office tonight.”

He looks relieved that I’ve let him off the hook, and he squeezes my shoulders. “I’ll be right back.”

When he’s left me alone, I squeeze my shoulders tight and bring them up toward my ears for several seconds before letting them relax entirely.

Victor returns in record time with my dress and shoes and helps me zip it up in the back.

“You did well tonight, Gracie. I always enjoy playing with you. Stay here as long as you need and then rejoin the party. We’ll catch up again before the night is done. I’d like to talk about us a little more.”

He… wants to talk about us? Am I dreaming right now? It probably looks crazy, but there is a happy smile on my face as he walks out the door, leaving me in his office to process what just happened.

Chapter 12

Victor

“Lili,talktome.Tell me what you saw.”

Her face is still pale, and she can’t stop pacing the floor.

She looks over at me and shakes her head. “It was nothing. Just thought I saw a ghost. One of your members looks like someone I… encountered once. But it’s not possible.”

Alarm bells are ringing in my head. Who could it be? I’ll have to dig into the member and find their connection to Lili. They could be a plant. Before I can ask her who she’s talking about, she tells me.

“The man who was with the doctor. He… looks like someone who tried to hurt me once. But I doubt it’s him.”

That information does nothing to silence the alarms going off. Jacob is paid to kill people. Did someone put a hit out on Liliana? I have so many questions, but I worry that I’ll overwhelm her and cause her to shut down if I ask too many.

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