Working Girl: Volume Two

by Scarlett Metal

  He paused and looked at me. “Do you want to come with me?”

  I smiled and nodded. “Sure.”

  He held out a hand and helped me off the bed. “Let’s shower quickly and go. Although it will be hard to make it quick with your sexy ass in there.” He grinned and pulled me to him, cupping my ass in his hands. “Maybe a quickie.”

  I laughed and followed him into the shower. What was supposed to be a quickie had us leaving the apartment forty-five minutes later, but I wasn’t going to complain.

  Chapter Nine

  Deacon

  Life was finally looking up. Charles was awake and looked like he was miraculously going to make a full recovery. Maybe he could give me some clues now as to who did this to him and take out the threat to my family once and for all.

  Violet was back in my arms, and although we hadn’t talked about it, I hoped she was going to stay there. I wanted to ask her to stop escorting and just teach so we could give this relationship a try. I had a feeling she was going to put up a fight, but this time I wasn’t going to let her walk away so easily.

  After a shower where I fucked her against the wall while I fingered her ass, I got dressed in jeans and a button down shirt. We took a cab to the hospital and she held my hand the whole time. I was grateful for her support; it had been years since I had opened myself up like this to someone, but it felt natural with Violet.

  Once we arrived at the hospital, we went right up to Charles’s room. We got to the door and Violet stopped.

  “I’ll wait out here,” she said, nodding to a chair nearby.

  “Okay. I’ll be out soon.” I kissed her cheek and took a deep breath before going into the room.

  Charles was sitting up in bed, the TV on. His face still looked like hell and there were too many machines attached to him, but it was a major improvement.

  “Deacon,” he mumbled, his eyes filling with tears.

  I choked back my own emotions and went to him. I held out a hand to shake his but changed my mind, embracing him despite my fear of hurting him. “Charles,” I muttered back. I finally pulled away and sat down in a chair next to the bed.

  “It’s so good to see you awake and sitting up,” I said. “Do you need anything? Do you want me to get a nurse?”

  He shook his head. “One left right before you got here. I’m good. How’s Shane?”

  I sat back in the chair and smiled. “He’s good. Bruno took him to some water park or some shit. He’ll be so happy you’re awake. I have to call him and let him know.”

  “So he’s fine. Nothing’s happened to him?” Panic was written all over his face.

  “Everyone is fine. I pulled him out of school to be safe and sent them off because he needed to be six and have some fun. I figured Wisconsin was a good place for that for a couple of days. I promise you, he’s fine,” I assured him.

  He breathed a sigh of relief. “When I first woke up I had a panic attack that something happened to him or you. They almost had to restrain me.” He gripped the blanket in his hand. “Deacon, I don’t remember much of what happened to me. I arrived at the address you gave me, and soon I found myself tied up with someone kicking the shit out of me.” He shook his head. “You have to be safe and keep Shane safe. I think they threatened you guys next.”

  My heart sank as I heard the words I had feared confirmed. I leaned forward in the chair, putting my elbows on my knees. “That is exactly what I was worried about, so I took precautions, Charles. Shane is as safe as he can be, and I’ve been careful. I have bodyguards watching at all times, including here. I was afraid someone might come finish what they started.”

  “I should have known you would be careful,” he said.

  “Do you know who it was?” I asked. “I’ve contacted everyone I can think of, and I can’t come up with anyone. It’s not the usual suspects and I’m stumped.”

  “I can’t be positive, but I think it’s that guy they call Trigger. When I was drifting in and out of consciousness, I swear I heard one of the guys use that name.” He pounded the bed with his fist. “I’m sorry I can’t remember more.”

  I shook my head and reached out to cover his hand with mine. “Don’t worry about it. I know who that is.” I had heard of him but never met him. I had heard through the grapevine he wanted to get into business with me, but this wasn’t the way to do it. I was going to have to do some major investigating.

  “Enough about that. Guess who’s here with me?” I grinned at him.

  “Violet,” he replied, deadpanned.

  My face fell. “How the fuck did you know?” I asked.

  He smiled and pointed to the doorway. I turned around and saw Violet standing there with a grin, leaning against the doorframe and her arms crossed over her chest. “Hey, you,” I said and reached for her. She took my hand and I pulled her to me until she was sitting on my lap.

  “When did this happen?” Charles asked, a smile on his face.

  “Tonight,” she said. “How are you doing?” The genuine concern on her face was touching.

  “I’ve seen better days,” he said wryly. “I won’t be winning any beauty contests any time soon, that’s for sure.” We all laughed and I was glad I had asked her to come along with me.

  We chatted for a bit longer when Charles started to yawn. “We should get going. I’ll be back in the morning,” I said. Violet got up off of my lap and I stood up. I shook his hand. “I’m glad you’re awake.”

  “Me too,” he said softly.

  “It was good to see you,” Violet said and leaned forward to kiss his cheek.

  “You too. Take care of this one for me,” he said, looking at me.

  “Oh I will,” she said, taking my hand.

  I gave him one last nod and we walked out of his room. We got into the elevator and I sighed, leaning my head against the wall. “I’m so glad he’s okay.”

  She hugged my arm to her and leaned her head against my arm. “Me too. It’s obvious how much he means to you.”

  “I’ve known him since I was a kid. He was my dad’s right hand man, and when he died and I took over the family business, he became mine.” I scrubbed my face with my hand. “I’m lost without him, honestly.”

  “Speaking of the family business, Deacon, I think we need to have a chat. What exactly is the family business?”

  I turned and smiled down at her. “We have a lot to talk about, but first I want to get you naked and in my bed again. I didn’t get to eat that pussy of yours yet tonight, and I’m feeling a little famished.”

  Her mouth opened into a little ‘o’ but she didn’t say anything. We caught a cab outside, and as soon as we got back to my place, I had her naked and squirming on my bed while my head was between her thighs.

  When I finally had my fill of her, I wrapped my arms around her. “What about you?” she asked breathlessly. She was covered in sweat and I had lost count of her orgasms after the fifth one.

  “Baby, I’m good right now. That was all about you. Besides, didn’t you want to talk?”

  “I did,” she brushed her hair from her damp forehead.

  “Good, because so did I. You first. What do you want to know about what I do?” I asked, planting a kiss on her shoulder.

  “How about we start with that? What exactly is it you do?” she laughed.

  “Well, I do a lot of things, but my main business is selling guns to people that want them. I have a feeling you knew that already from Leslie.”

  “I know about her history with you and with your father, so I had an idea. I just wanted to hear it from you,” she replied.

  “Does it bother you?” I asked softly.

  She shook her head. “I’m an escort, so I’m hardly one to judge. I will say that after seeing how fiercely you protect your son and what happened to Charles, I’m not so sure I like how dangerous it is.”

  “It can be,” I said. “But I work hard to make sure those I love are protected.” She hugged me tighter but didn’t say anything, so I decided to cha
nge the subject. “What about you? How did you become an escort?”

  She untangled herself from my arms and turned to face me, propping her head up on her hand. “It’s a long story.” She took a deep breath and started playing with the edge of the bed sheet nearby. “It was just my mom and me growing up. My dad was killed in an accident shortly after I was born.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, my heart aching for her.

  “Thanks,” she flashed me a smile before continuing. “Mom struggled so much to take care of us, working two jobs. Then she met a man who she thought was her prince charming. Let’s just say he had us fooled. She finally ended up killing him, but before we could start over, she died of cancer.” She sat up in bed, and hugged her legs to her chest, covering them with the sheet.

  “Oh my god, Violet,” I said softly. “You don’t have to tell me any more.” Her voice was strong when she talked, but I could see the way her hand was trembling.

  “It’s okay. No one really knows about my past except Leslie.” She rested her chin on her knees. “I got thrown into the system. I was a teenager and no one wanted to adopt me, so I got moved from one foster home to the next. It wasn’t all that bad until the last one I was put in when I was seventeen. The foster mom was nice enough. She made sure we had food and clothes, but that was about it. Her husband was in jail, and when he got out, that’s when things got bad.”

  I didn’t say anything, but I was beginning to understand her need for independence and why she had the walls built around her. I couldn’t say I blamed her.

  “There was another kid my age at this house with me. His name was Eric, and we were inseparable. When our foster mom’s husband got home, he would look at me like I didn’t have any clothes on and make lewd remarks. Eric never left my side and we were starting to plan our escape. We were going to run away together.”

  Her eyes filled with tears. “It was a few nights before we were going to leave, and for some reason I was home without Eric. I can’t even remember why now. The asshole came home from the bars drunk and attacked me.” A tear slid down her cheek. “He raped me in the bathroom. Eric got home as he was climbing off of me and went crazy. He beat him so bad. We left that night, and to this day we don’t know if he lived or not.”

  “I hope not,” I muttered, clenching my fists. I had no tolerance for men who hurt women.

  She wiped the tears from her face. “We came to Chicago and it was really hard. It was cold and we had no money. No one wanted to hire us, and Eric suddenly became really controlling. I don’t know if something broke in him that day or what. I was young and dumb and felt like I owed him my life, so I went along with anything he wanted with no question.”

  I didn’t like where this was going. Eric sounded like most of the men I did business with, and I saw what they did to the women who they were with or who worked for them.

  “One day we were hanging out in an alley with a bunch of other homeless kids. Some guy in a suit came wandering down and stopped to talk to me. He asked me how much for a blow job. Eric didn’t let me answer but made me go with him.” She shrugged. “After that, I guess you could say he was my pimp. I never saw the money, but I had food and clothes. We even got an apartment.”

  Violet paused. Now I really didn’t like where this was going. I sat up on the bed next to her. After taking a deep, trembling breath, she continued. “Eric started getting in deeper and deeper. He got more girls and started selling drugs. He had me on the street every day, and if I didn’t come back with a certain amount of money by the end of the night, he would beat the shit out of me. Leslie found me one day. Let’s just say it was a trick-gone-bad and she rescued me. She took me back to her place, and the rest is history.”

  “Eric let you go that easy?” I asked, a sick feeling settling in the pit of my stomach.

  “She sent someone to find him and tell him I was leaving him. I’m guessing now it was one of your father’s guys. She wouldn’t give me details but said he wouldn’t bother me again. She gave me a gun, though, and taught me how to shoot it. For a long time I was always looking over my shoulder.”

  “I see,” I said. She was rocking back and forth and I got the feeling there was something else she wanted to tell me.

  “A couple of weeks ago he contacted me again,” she whispered, not looking at me.

  Chapter Ten

  Violet

  Telling Deacon about my past was one of the hardest things I had ever done. I kept it buried deep inside me, with only Leslie knowing it all. Deacon had let me in during his difficult time with Charles, so it was the least I could do and be honest with him.

  I wasn’t going to tell him about Eric contacting me again, but I ended up blurting it out. The dark look that came over his face and the way the muscle twitched in his jaw had me instantly regretting it.

  “It was just a picture he sent me from back when we were together. I haven’t heard anything since.”

  He swallowed thickly. “Were you two a couple?”

  I nodded. “Yes, but it was more because we were thrown together. I thought I loved him, but I was in love with the idea of him saving me.”

  He nodded but didn’t say anything. I reached out to touch him but he climbed out of bed. I watched his gloriously naked body walk over to the window, crossing his arms as he looked outside. He finally turned to me. “Would you stop escorting for me? At least for a trial period to see if we can make something work between us?”

  I opened my mouth and closed it. I wasn’t sure what to say. I was impressed he didn’t demand I quit completely, especially after hearing about Eric.

  “I don’t know how to be in a real relationship, Deacon. After Eric, I never dated.” I had no examples of a good, healthy relationship to learn from. My mom used to talk about how happy she and my father were, but that was it. Even that ended in tragedy.

  He came back to the bed and took my hand. “All I ask is that you try. I think we have something amazing together, Violet, and I would like to explore it. I hate to ask you to give up anything, but I can’t be with you knowing you’re sleeping with other men.” He touched my face. “Be a teacher and date me. Please.”

  I reached up and touched his hand. “Okay, I will.” The huge smile that broke out across his face told me I was making the right decision. “I’ll call Leslie today and tell her to cancel all of my clients indefinitely.”

  “Thank you,” he said softly. “I know it’s hard for you, but I’m not asking you to give up any of your freedom.”

  “I know,” I nodded. Leslie always teased me that some man would come in and sweep me off my feet, causing me to stop escorting. I would shake my head and tell her she was crazy, but I guess she’d been right. She was definitely going to say ‘I told you so’.

  Deacon pushed me back on the bed and swung a leg over me so he was straddling me. “I promise I will make it worth it,” he grinned down at me before leaning down and nibbling my neck. I had no doubt he would.

  ***

  Leslie wasn’t surprised when I asked her to cancel my clients because I was going to start seeing Deacon. She told me she had a feeling about us from the very beginning.

  Still, Leslie wasn’t completely ready to let me go. She had no problems with me not taking clients anymore, but she wanted me to work with her on running the business side of things, even hinting at handing things over to me. It was hard to find someone she trusted who would also care for the girls like she did. She knew I would make sure they were protected.

  I had to think about it. I loved teaching, and now that my two worlds had collided, I had no doubt I needed to choose one. I told her I would think about it and get back to her soon. When I told Deacon, he thought it was a great idea but encouraged me to do what I wanted. He expressed some concern about it too, knowing it could be dangerous for me.

  “Are you almost ready?” he called to me from the bedroom.

  “Yes, one sec,” I replied before applying some lipstick. Deacon had a business dinner tonight
with some potential clients, and he asked me to come along. He told me to wear the black dress I had worn our first night together because he couldn’t wait to show me off in it.

  I had been to many dinners like this on the arms of my clients, but tonight I was going as his actual date. I was nervous as hell. I took a deep breath and checked my reflection in the mirror one last time.

  “I’m ready,” I said, walking into the bedroom.

  His eyes darkened with a look of lust that made my knees weak. He came over to me and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me against him. “God, you’re beautiful,” he said, before bending his head to kiss my neck.

  “Thank you,” I smiled back.

  He sighed and stood up. “Too bad we have to go tonight. I would rather get into my back room again. There’s so much more for us to explore there.” He brought his hand up and circled it around my neck. “I would love to see you with my collar here. I want to make you completely Mine, Violet.”

  I thought back to that night he had me tied up, and my nipples tightened. I didn’t tell him, but I was dying to get back in there as well. Being with him brought out a side of me I didn’t know existed. I loved letting him take control so all I had to do was lay back and feel.

  There was a knock on the bedroom door. “Deacon, we have to go,” Charles called from the other side of the door. After he woke up in the hospital, he made a record recovery. He still had a slight limp and some cuts and bruises, but he was almost back to his old self.

  “Charles, I should fire you,” he muttered, taking my hand and opening the door.

  Charles was standing there with a sheepish smile on his face. “Sorry,” he shrugged at me.

  We laughed and headed down to the car. On the way to dinner, we kept the conversation light. We talked mostly about Shane. He was loving the fact I was dating his father, and I had quickly grown to love him. He was a special little boy.