Page 55 of Take Me (Dark Odyssey 5)

“Okay…I have an offer for you.”

“An offer?”

“Yes, but I’ll be completely transparent with you so you can make that choice. You stand to make a lot of money by the time the show ends. I can’t say how much, but it would be a fuckload more than what you thought you’d make,” he sets out and my pulse skitters in anticipation of what he’s going to say next. “My offer is this: A million dollars to be with me.”

A bolt of shock flies through me at such an intensity it brings me to my feet.

I rivet my gaze to him and try to steady my breathing so my heart won’t leap out of my chest.

He stands too towering over me with his height.

“One million…” I croak, disbelief lacing through every fiber of my being.

“One million dollars. Anxious to sell your body? Sell it to me. Doanythingwith me for the next two months. Nothing is off limits. When it’s over we walk away. No strings attached.”

Numbness fills me and I can’t move. I can’t believe what he’s saying to me.

“Why would you make me such an offer?” I have to know.

“Because, while I want you dancing in my club. I don’t want anybody else touching you besides me. I want you for myself.”

We stare at each other and I mull over what he’s saying to me. It’s a no brainer. I don’t know anyone who wouldn’t accept one million dollars. Definitely not anyone in my situation.

Rosie would never want for anything ever again.

“Well what’s it gonna be, Lilly St. James?”

I look at him making me this unbelievable offer and I see another path to freedom. But I see something else too that I never expected.Him.

“Yes,” I answer.

Chapter Eighteen

Christian

“I got the name of the cop,” Gibbs announces and that’s the first thing today to take my mind off Lilly.

Both me and Salvatore straighten up and stare on at him.

“Holy fuck,” Salvatore beams and lowers to sit in the sofa. I remain standing. “Gibbs you never cease to amaze me.”

“Me too,” I agree.

We’ve known him for years. He was referred to us by Claudius Morientz, another boss and close family friend. It’s enough of a reference since Claudius only uses the best. More importantly, Gibbs is a man who goes above board to find anything you need. He can work with even the most difficult of things, and if he can’t find exactly what you need, he’ll have some kind of lead. Having the cop’s name is more than a lead.

“Great to be appreciated,” Gibbs says with a smirk running a hand over his salt and pepper beard. “Office Wyatt Tanner is our guys name. He’s supposed to be a long-standing member of the Chicago Police Department with his twenty year service. But believe me when I say this guy is dirty as fuck.”

Gibbs takes out a document and hands it to me. I sit next to Salvatore so we can both look over it.

Within seconds I see exactly what Gibbs means and my is Officer Tanner one dirty motherfucker.

Links to drugs, prostitution rings, and human trafficking seem to be his favorite past times. Along with illicit arms dealing.

I don’t know how Gibbs finds this shit out, but he has his ways.

“Fucking hell,” I say. “This guy is crooked as fuck.”

“And still on the force like he’s one of the patron saints guarding the gates to heaven,” Gibbs answers. “You’re gonna have to be careful with this guy. because he’s working with Kar Pleshov and arms dealer from the Ukraine. That’s where the guns are going. The end destination. Boys, take my advice and do not strike yet. Not until this.”

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