Page 78 of Maxim

I shake my head.

“Okay, that’s fine. We can work with this. Can I ask you something super personal?”

“Sure.”

“Have you ever touched yourself? Made yourself orgasm?”

I shake my head again. “No, Father forbid it. It was really important that I stayed intact.”

“Okay, well, first things first, the next time you’re alone, touch yourself. Explore your body and see what it is you like. If you’re too scared to do it, I’m sure Maxim would be willing to help.”

“And the second thing?”

A devious smile crosses her face. “Do you know how to put on a condom?”

“No. They never taught me that because the man my father assumed would buy me wouldn’t want one, or if he did, it would be his responsibility.”

I still remember the sharp words he had for Madam when she offered to teach me. He wasn’t happy.

Thea tips her head back and laughs. “Then how would you feel about a little bit of sex education? All I need is a condom and a banana.”

“Why do I like you again?”

“Because I’m fucking awesome. Maxim is going to fucking owe me once I’m done teaching you my ways.”

I don’t know what the hell that means, but I’m kind of excited to figure it out.

I fucking hate this. Burning this operation to the ground won’t happen soon enough. I thought going into the club and watching was bad enough, but this is worse. I have to kidnap victims. People are going to be scared of me in a way I’m not okay with.

Then at the end of the night I’ll go home and have to put on a brave face like this never happened. What would Olena think if she knew what I’m about to do? The only thing that’s giving me any peace of mind is the fact I have trackers to place on them so that Nik and the family can sweep in and save them.

My next victim walks out of a building, and I snatch her as she starts to pass by the alley.

“Don’t! Stop!” she protests before I can cover her mouth. I drag her backward and open up the door to the van and toss her inside. I crawl in, shutting the door behind me. I fully expect her to lash out and attack me, but she doesn’t.

“You realize you aren’t supposed to go with kidnappers willingly, right?” I ask as I take the tracker out of my pocket.

When Thea told me that she had trackers for tonight, I didn’t think they would work. Trackers are usually bulky and easy to find. Not these, though. The Yakuza did a hell of a job developing these.

The woman scoffs. “Please, when the Yakuza calls and offers to pay for your time, you listen. Especially when the job is as simple as it is.”

“Wait, what?”

She reaches out and grabs the tracker from my hand and lifts up her skirt. I avert my eyes as she places it as high on her inner thigh as possible. “You didn’t know? All your marks tonight signed up for this. You don’t have to worry about us fighting back.”

I rest on my haunches and study her. “Why would you volunteer for this?”

She shrugs. “Easy money. That and they promised if we wanted to start over somewhere else, they would put us on the first bus out.”

Huh, talk about a twist that I never saw coming. Then again, if there is one thing that I’ve learned from talking to Haruaki Takahasi, it’s that he’s unpredictable and he doesn’t like losing.

Shaking my head, I chain her wrists to the hook on the floor.

“Sit tight.” I leave her in the back and head to the driver’s seat.

Five more. Just five more.

Over the next couple of hours I grab them, one by one. Four females and one male. They all come willingly as soon as we are out of sight. They take the trackers and place them on themselves, no questions asked.

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