How could I trust anyone who did that for a living? If I’d had any other alternative, I certainly wouldn’t have been standing there at that moment. He sold humans for a profit without an ounce of remorse. I didn’t trust him, and with good reason. “Can we please just confirm the terms of my contract?” I said with a sigh. You’re going to make me a lot of money tonight.” I might have had to send out a search-and-rescue team to track you down if you hadn’t shown up. He stood and walked toward me, not even trying to hide the fact that he was checking me out from head to toe.

I wasn’t about to let Scott Christopher think he was anything other than the middleman he was. This was my deal, and I was in control until the money was exchanged. Squaring my shoulders and setting my chin, I looked him in the eye. I wondered if you’d grace us with an appearance tonight.” He turned to look at me and grinned before sitting upright and butting his cigarette in a marble ashtray. His feet were propped on the desk while he lounged back in his chair, his fingers directing an invisible orchestra like he hadn’t a care in the world. Scott was at his desk with a cigarette in one hand and a lowball of whiskey in the other. You could put a suit and tie on a pig, but it didn’t change the fact that it was still a pig. The music and elegant décor lent the illusion of a refined establishment, which may have made the clientele feel more at home, but I knew better. Classical music wafted from invisible speakers in an attempt to lure me into a false sense of security. Plush carpet covered the floor, a beautiful chandelier hung from the center of the ceiling, lighted glass cases held various things I assumed cost a fortune, and fine art lined the walls. Scott’s office looked like something I might have expected for a Mafia kingpin.

So I opened the door and marched into that office to finalize the terms of my contract. One thought of my mother, and I knew there was no turning back. I turned toward the door, psyching myself up before I lost my nerve and backed out. “I sort of like you, too,” I said under my breath because she was already out of earshot. I saw the way her shoulders curled in and she dabbed at her eyes with her fingertips when she thought I couldn’t see her. She kissed my cheek and said, “Give ’em hell, babe,” before swatting me on the ass and turning to walk away. But remember that I sort of like you and shit.” Dez wasn’t one for the mush, but I knew that was code for I love you. I have to get back to the bar now, before I lose my job and the inside scoop on you. And you know the digits, so you better call me with status reports or I’m coming after you. If he doesn’t, I expect you to send the FBI in here with guns a-blazin’.”

You just make sure the jerk that ends up with me follows through on our deal. “Ha! Not likely,” I scoffed, and managed to smile a little before backing out of her safe embrace.

A Million Dirty Secrets by C.L. Parker