by Sophia Gray
Nyssa became hyperconscious of her breathing, afraid that Katrina might be able to hear her even through the door, but she still couldn’t force herself away. She strained her ears as hard as she could, hoping to pick up on every word from Katrina’s mouth.
“Daddy, you already know what it’s about,” she said in a whining tone of voice. She’s on the phone, Nyssa realized. She’s on the phone with her father.
Nyssa forced her head closer to the door, pressing her ear right up on the wood, desperately trying to hear the noises on the other end of the phone conversation, but she couldn’t quite make anything out.
“He’s the worst! I can’t handle him anymore, Daddy. He’s so mean to me,” Katrina whined. She was practically groveling at this point, her voice coming out as a high-pitched moan.
There was another short pause, and then Katrina’s voice changed, turning dark and almost menacing even though she was addressing her father. “You need to handle him. Or I will.”
Nyssa forced her ear harder against the door, knocking her knee noisily against the wood accidentally. Her whole body tensed up, terrified that Katrina heard her and was about to find out that she was eavesdropping, but then Nyssa picked up on the sound of Papa Giustini’s voice booming from the other end of the phone. “You won’t do anything. You know why? Because we need him. Don’t do anything to fuck it up.” There was a short pause where Nyssa could only hear the hard heavy sound of Katrina’s breathing. Then her father spoke again, his voice piercing through the air like a dagger. “At least not any more than you already have. Don’t bother me again with this.” There was a faint clicking sound, and then silence.
Nyssa backed away from the door and returned to her bed, but before she could sit down again, her door blew open, and Katrina was standing there, her chest rising and falling rapidly and her face screwed up into a snarl. “What are you doing, just sitting on your ass?” Katrina spat, crossing the room until she was towering over Nyssa.
“I don’t have anything to do today,” Nyssa said to defend herself. She tried to keep her voice steady rather than letting her tone become defensive. I can’t let her think she’s scaring me, Nyssa thought. I can’t let her have that power over me.
“Then you can clean up around the house. Come on, get up. Get moving,” Katrina said, snapping her fingers repeatedly until Nyssa got to her feet.
“Should I do the bathrooms? Your room? What do you want me to do?” Nyssa asked as she followed Katrina out into the hallway.
“Everything!” Katrina snapped at her, pointing toward the opposite end of the hall, away from the stairwell. “Clean every fucking surface in this house or so help me God I’ll have you out on your ass before you can say ‘streetwalker.’”
Nyssa’s whole body flushed in indignation, but she just balled her hands up into fists and let her nails dig into her palms, if only to have something to distract herself from the anger that flared up from deep in her belly. She marched past Katrina and headed in the opposite direction, but before she could make it to the communal bathroom at the end of the hall, something crashed over her head. Nyssa jumped a little, adrenaline flooding her veins as she looked around to see the broken pieces of Katrina’s new phone on the floor around her.
“What are you fucking looking at?” Katrina screamed at her. “Get to fucking work!”
Nyssa had to fight every instinct in her body in order to follow Katrina’s instructions. It was so fucking tempting to just say, “Screw this,” grab her stuff, and march out of the house entirely. She wasn’t entirely sure why she wasn’t doing exactly that. Nyssa knew it was smarter to do sex work with physical protection like the kind the Giustinis provided, but it wasn’t like she couldn’t survive otherwise. She didn’t need to take this shit. So why was she putting up with it?
Maybe it’s because of him, Nyssa thought as she took the cleaning supplies out of the side closet in the bathroom. Maybe because I might not ever be able to see him again if I leave now. Maybe it’s because that’s what she wants me to do. She wants to get rid of me. Well, she’s going to have to get over it. Because I’m not going anywhere.
Chapter Twelve
A few days later, Nyssa was sent back to Sebastian’s condo. She was barely in the door before he was on top of her, slamming her against the wall and pressing his mouth against her neck, biting into her skin and making her moan out desperately. “Oh, shit,” she groaned, instinctively gripping at the back of Sebastian’s head and encouraging him to bite her harder.
“Miss me?” Sebastian said into her neck, licking a line up from her collarbone to the back of her ear. He bit down on her most sensitive spot, right under her earlobe, sending sparks of wonderfully sharp sensation up and down her spine.
“Oh, Jesus, yes,” Nyssa replied breathlessly. She ran her hand up and down his back, feeling his strong muscles through the thin fabric of his shirt. She sighed happily into the front of his shirt, biting through the fabric a little to get at his collarbone.
“Get your fucking legs up,” Sebastian grunted. His hand traveled down to her waist, encouraging her to lift her legs up around his middle. Nyssa began to comply, but then she remembered the burden pressing down on her mind, preventing her from totally letting go and letting Sebastian take care of her.
“Wait, wait,” Nyssa said, pressing her hand as firmly as she could on Sebastian’s chest to push him further away from her body. She was a little nervous that she was going to piss Sebastian off by pushing him away from her physically, but he just looked confused, his brow furrowing as he stared into Nyssa’s eyes, searching her face for an explanation.
“What is it?” Sebastian whispered. His hand came up from her waist, tracing the outline of her torso until he found her neck again, cradling her face in his hand surprisingly gently. “What’s wrong?”
Nyssa cleared her throat, mentally preparing herself before answering his question. “Um… you might want to sit down,” she said. She gestured for them to go over to the couch in the adjoining room, but Sebastian shook his head, pinning his arm to the wall next to Nyssa’s head, keeping her body in place next to the front door.
“Just tell me what’s wrong,” he said firmly, but he didn’t look upset, at the very least.
Nyssa nodded and blew her breath out all at once. She didn’t know why she was so nervous, but there must have been some part of her that was worried that Sebastian truly loved Katrina. Maybe he would be too defensive of his girlfriend to even listen to what Nyssa had to say.
Even still, she had no choice. She had to warn Sebastian that Katrina didn’t care about him. He needed to know that she was going behind his back to try to get her father—Sebastian’s boss—to punish him on her behalf.
“Katrina’s been complaining about you,” Nyssa said. She inwardly cringed a little at the way she phrased that. It made it seem so simple, so innocuous, like Katrina was just complaining about her boyfriend to her friends or something like that. The real truth was much more concerning.
“Yeah, so what? She’s got a mouth on her and she loves using it on whatever captive audience she’s got to work with,” Sebastian said, smiling a little at her as his fingers began to rub over the skin of her neck, almost distracting her from the task at hand.
Nyssa kept her hand on Sebastian’s chest, preventing him from touching her even more. “I’m serious,” she said. “I overheard her talking on the phone to her dad. She was trying to get him to fire you or hurt you or do something to make up for the fact that you pissed her off.”
Sebastian grimaced then, rolling his eyes. But he didn’t look particularly surprised. “Yeah, well, that’s Katrina for you,” he said, shaking his head and sighing a little.
“Aren’t you worried?” Nyssa asked, surprised that Sebastian looked so unbothered about this.
Sebastian shrugged. “Katrina is Katrina. I’m used to her bullshit by now. She’s a sheep in wolf’s clothing. She can’t do any real damage to me.”
Nyssa hesitated, biting dow
n on the inside of her mouth as she debated sharing any more information with Sebastian. If she told him that Katrina got violent with her, would he believe her? Or would he get angry that some stupid silly prostitute thought she was worth nearly as much as his girlfriend, who was trophy-wife material?
Ah, fuck it, she thought. She had to tell him. She really had no other choice.
“She threw her phone across the room at me,” she said in a low soft voice. “It almost hit me in the head. I think she wanted to hurt me.”
“What the fuck?” Sebastian whispered, stepping an inch or two away from Nyssa. She was immediately worried that she’d pissed him off, but the deed was done. She couldn’t exactly take the words back now.
“It’s true,” Nyssa said, forcing her voice to come out more confidently. “She’s not a good person, Sebastian. And I don’t mean that in the ‘bitchy girlfriend’ way. She wants to hurt you. I just thought you should know.”
“Fucking bitch!” Sebastian muttered under his breath. He scoffed, shaking his head furiously as he stepped away from Nyssa, leaving her feeling cold and alone against the wall.
“Sorry,” Nyssa said honestly. She felt a twinge of pain in her chest at being called a bitch, which was ridiculous, she knew. Clients had called her loads of worse stuff over the years, but she hated hearing it from Sebastian. “I didn’t want to tell you, but… it’s just something you have to be aware of.”
“Did she hurt you at all?” Sebastian stepped back in front of Nyssa, his eyes darting back and forth between each of hers worriedly.
“What?” Nyssa whispered in response, confused by his reaction. He… wasn’t mad at her? Instead, he seemed concerned. He wasn’t calling me a bitch, Nyssa realized, feeling a rush of relief wash over her. He meant Katrina. Not me.
“Did she hurt you? Are you okay?” Sebastian asked. His hands hovered over her hips, not touching her directly. Nyssa stepped forward until his fingertips brushed up against the bottom of her shirt and she could feel his skin against hers.
“I’m fine. I’m totally fine,” Nyssa said, nodding in what she hoped was a reassuring way. “Really, it’s okay. I was just worried about you.”
Sebastian’s eyes softened, his hands traveling up to cradle her face again. “Thank you. That was really… nice of you.”
“You’re welcome,” Nyssa said. She felt oddly breathless, like she’d spent the last several minutes running a mile rather than standing perfectly still against the door. It was something about Sebastian’s face, the way all his features had gone soft as he stared at her. Nyssa wasn’t sure anyone had ever looked at her like that her whole life.
Soon, however, the softness on his face melted away, replaced by the scowl from before. “That fucking bitch,” he muttered again, looking like he was about two seconds away from punching the wall in his frustration.
“Well, look on the bright side,” Nyssa said. She finally pried herself off the wall to follow Sebastian into the adjoining den, even though she had to stay in one place rather than pace around like he was doing at the moment. “Giustini turned her down. I heard him on the other end of the phone. He wants her to shut up and stop complaining. He basically told her to shut the fuck up because he needs you so much.”
Sebastian stopped pacing then and smirked bitterly, nodding in agreement. “Yeah. You’re right. That old bastard doesn’t know thing one about the drug business in this city anymore. The only thing he’s got going for him is his name, the legacy of what the Giustini family used to stand for. But even that doesn’t mean so much anymore.”
“So you’re the one keeping the Giustinis on their feet, then?” Nyssa asked. She’d suspected as much, going off the two times she’d overheard Papa Giustini yelling at his daughter, but it was still a little shocking to learn that the mob family she’d feared for so long didn’t have that much power anymore.
“Yeah,” Sebastian replied. “But fucking barely. I can only do so much with that idiot in charge. Goddammit!” He collapsed onto the couch, sighing deeply and holding his head in his hands for a second before he looked up at Nyssa again. “Come here. Sit with me.”
Nyssa did as she was told, although she kept a safe distance of a couple of inches between their bodies. Somehow she knew that Sebastian would be tempted to bury his frustration and anger into her body, and although most of the time Nyssa would be more than willing to comply with his desires, she knew that he needed to talk about his problems if they were ever going to be effectively addressed.
“If you’re so unhappy working for Giustini, why don’t you find something else?” Nyssa suggested.
Sebastian shook his head and reached over to wrap his hand around the bottom of Nyssa’s ankle. His touch was surprisingly gentle, his fingers skimming over the protruding bone until tingles erupted over the surface of her skin. “I can’t do that,” he replied. “I don’t have a supplier. I mean, I have everything else. I’ve got all the connections to the elite that Giustini couldn’t even dream about touching, but it all means jack shit if I don’t have a way to get drugs into the country.”
Nyssa knew she should just keep her mouth shut. Don’t say it, she said to herself, biting down on her tongue. Don’t fucking say it.
But looking at the dejected expression on Sebastian’s face, she just couldn’t hold herself back more than a few seconds. “I could help you with that,” she blurted out. Her heart pounded in her head, but she forced herself to meet Sebastian’s curious gaze head on.
“What? How?” Sebastian asked. He sounded totally dubious, but he still shifted in his seat to face Nyssa more fully. She clearly had his full attention now.
“I used to sling, back in the day,” Nyssa explained, feeling her cheeks burn a little with embarrassment. “Right when I first started working on the streets. I still have friends who are in the business. One of them is responsible for bringing heroin and weed and coke, all high-quality stuff, directly into the country from Mexico.”
“Holy shit,” Sebastian said. His jaw literally dropped, his mouth hanging open as he stared silently at Nyssa in shock for several long seconds. “You’re fucking serious?”
“I am,” Nyssa said, straightening her spine to sit with more confidence. “I can help you. If you’re interested.”
“Jesus Christ,” Sebastian huffed out before sputtering into laughter, turning to beam at Nyssa with a renewed light shining from within his eyes. “Holy fuck, you’re my savior!”
Nyssa shrugged, but she felt a surge of pride rise up within her chest. She could really help Sebastian, and maybe he wouldn’t have to deal with Katrina anymore. Maybe neither of us will have to, she thought, feeling hope bubble to life inside of her for the first time in years.
Without any further warning, Sebastian scooped Nyssa all the way into his arms, forcing her to wrap her hands around his neck just to stay upright as he staggered to his feet and headed further into the condo, deeper than Nyssa had ever gone before.
“Come on,” he said into her ear before licking her lobe, sending shivers down her spine. “I’m going to fuck you in bed tonight. Do it right for once.”
Chapter Thirteen
Nyssa grinned into Sebastian’s shoulder as he carried her the rest of the way into his lavishly furnished bedroom, tossing her down on the bed so hard that she bounced on the mattress, unable to contain the squeal that forced its way out of her throat.
Sebastian growled deep in his throat as he attacked Nyssa, jumping on her and fitting perfectly between her legs. “You’re so fucking sexy,” he said in a low gravelly voice, every word filled with overt desire as he dragged his hands up her legs, pushing her short skirt up to reveal her thong panties.
“Thank you,” Nyssa whispered in response. She spread her legs further apart to let Sebastian crawl up her body before closing her legs around his waist, tugging him in as close as she could. Still, Sebastian kept a little bit of distance between their chests, leaning up on his elbows so he could stare down at her. His face seemed alight wit
h wonder, like he was seeing her for the first time.
“You’re more than that, though,” Sebastian said. His throat worked visibly as he swallowed, looking at her with the most serious expression that Nyssa had ever seen on his face. “You’re beautiful, too. In more ways than one.”
Nyssa shivered a little in Sebastian’s grasp, her whole body starting to tremble as she maintained eye contact with him. She didn’t know what to say, exactly, bowled over by the surprising amount of sincerity she heard in Sebastian’s voice, so she just stayed silent, letting her fingertips trace their way along his chin up to the seam of his lips.
“I should have brought you to my bed weeks ago,” Sebastian said, smiling down at her for a moment before crashing their mouths together, slipping his tongue in between her lips so smoothly it was like it had been a part of her body all along.
Nyssa groaned out gutturally and clung to Sebastian as tightly as she could, encouraging him to kiss her harder. God, it had been so long since anyone had properly made out with her. Usually clients just skipped straight to the sex, and for the most part she was content with that, not wanting any of the random tricks in her life to get the wrong idea and become emotionally attached in any way. But with Sebastian… she just couldn’t help herself. Some part of her hungered for him, needing his touch like water or air or food, but it was more than that. Feeling him brush up against her skin gently for a change, she realized what had been missing between them up to this point. I want him to treat me like he cares about me, Nyssa thought as she wrapped her arm around Sebastian’s neck, gasping into his mouth as his tongue danced with hers. Maybe it was just Nyssa being stupid, wanting some rich guy to sweep her off her feet, to treat her like she was more than just a random sex worker. But despite every single instinct in her brain telling her to be more careful, to protect her heart from Sebastian’s wonderfully blazing touch, she couldn’t stop feeling like she needed more of this in her life. She needed to feel cherished, to feel taken care of for once.
