Page 49 of His Property

“W-what?” She turns to him and looks like she’s searching for answers, but I can see it as the shock wears off and disgust sours her face. “What is this?”

Victor puts his arms around the woman and lifts her up, but she pries at his hands. “Get your hands off me!”

“Gabi,please. I need to get you upstairs.”

“Let go of me!” She screeches, pushing on him until he sets her down so she can sit on the second step. He stands in front of her to block me, and when she leans past him, he shifts in front of her again.

“I can explain this,” Victor says again, his voice full of desperation.

“Get the fuck out of the way.”

“No. Just let me take you upstairs, and we can—”

“I’m calling the police.” Her voice shakes, and I can’t see her, but I imagine she’s pulling a phone from her pocket with the way Victor reacts by bending and trying to grab something from her hand.

“Stop! Just slow down. Let’s talk,” Victor pleads.

He wrangles the phone from her then tosses it on the workbench.

He turns and strides to me. His fingers clasp the hem of his shirt, and he rips it over his head before presses it to my chest, his eyes pleading with me as he does.

He spins around and blocks me from his sister’s view. I pull on the shirt and squint at all the scar tissue on Victor’s back. There are too many strips of raised flesh to count, but they all stand out with being a shade or two darker than his skin tone.

I suspected scars, but I never could’ve predicted this.

He glances over his shoulder at me fully covered with his shirt hanging mid-thigh, and he turns and gently grabs my arms. He pulls me in front of him and cups my sides as he guides me over to Gabi.

She stares at me like I’m a ghost, and shame courses through me. My face is on fire, and I look anywhere but her eyes.

Clearly, this is worse for Victor. He has to be feeling ashamed right now, as well as terrified of judgment, of his boss, and of damaging his relationships. This sucks for him.

But fuck, it sucks for me too. At least he isn’t the one both of these women have seen naked.

And what the hell is his boss going to think? I’m going to have to talk to him, and that alone is making my heart beat faster, without all this other shit.

This couldn’t possibly be more awkward.

“Gabi, this is Mae,” Victor says, moving his hands to my shoulders and squeezing. “She’s my partner.”

I force myself to meet Gabi’s eyes, hazel just like her brother’s, and I lift my lips into the most awkward smile imaginable. “Hi.”

Gabi blinks and looks around again like she can’t understand this. I don’t blame her.

“Partner?” she asks, her question directed at me. She squints and gives her head a shake. “What?”

I open my mouth to explain, but I’m too mortified to know what to say. I look to Victor for help, and he’s staring at me with an expression that’s a clear plea. He’s begging me to fix this. To make his sister understand. Because there’s no way in hell she’ll understand it coming from him. No one would.

“My BDSM partner,” Victor lies. A half lie, but still. “I’m so sorry.” He gives Gabi a desperate look. “I should’ve told you what we were doing. I didn’t know how.”

“BDSM?” Gabi skeptically asks, and rightfully so. She locks eyes with me. “What is he talking about?”

“We…” I clear my throat and take a deep breath. “We have an arrangement.”

“An arrangement?” Gabi looks between me and her brother.

Footsteps pound above us, and Victor quickly lifts Gabi into his arms and carries her to the bed just in time for three men to start down the stairs.

I back up, looking to Victor for some direction on what to do, but then I decide to go sit with Gabi and will myself to be invisible. I glance at Gabi’s rigid posture and vacant gaze, and I don’t think her disposition is due to fear. She looks like she’s in shock.

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