Chapter 19

CHAPTER

NINETEEN

EDMUND

Pulling into the estate, it appears that no one else has arrived for our emergency meeting regarding Detective Asshole and his snooping around one of the girls I apparently recently partied with. Grant pulls in as I climb from my Lotus.

“My cock is like one of Pavlov’s fucking dogs,” I call to him as he opens his car door. “He gets all excited as soon as I see this place.”

“It’s a business night. Keep your cock in your pants,” he huffs. “And far away from me.”

Grabbing my awaiting gin and tonic as we pass through the entryway, Grant and I head straight to our makeshift boardroom.

“Nikki should be arriving in a few minutes. Are we all up to speed so far?” Liz questions over the side conversations occurring around the room.

The bell rings for the front door, and a few moments later, the butler escorts Nikki in. Only it isn’t the blonde that I’m assuming is Nikki, who draws my attention.

Why the fuck is Harper standing beside her?

“You were supposed to come alone,” Liz scolds the blonde.

“I…I’m sorry,” Nikki stutters. “I didn’t know how to get back in touch with you. You’re going to want to talk to Harper, too, after this morning.”

What the fuck happened this morning?

“What were you doing with the man at Nikolai’s?” Grant asks.

“I met him through an app that matches men like you to girls like us,” Nikki begins, and I glare at Harper. Like us? “Only the man that arrived was not the one I was talking to. I was about to bail when he showed me a video.”

“A video?” Liz questions.

Nikki pulls her phone from the back pocket of her shorts, opens the video, and slides her phone across the table. Lifting it from the table, the small screen plays a shaky home video of her, Harper, and the other blonde I played with that night. Having seen enough, I pass the phone back to her.

“He threatened to share it with my family and all of UNC if I didn’t give him what he wanted.”

“And what was that?” Grant questions.

“Sex to keep quiet.”

“And you agreed?” Nikki’s response piques Liz’s interest.

“Yes,” Nikki continues. “To a weekly fuck.”

She continues to recount the details of the arrangement made between them, right down to how she blew him in the back room at Nikolai’s. While she talks, my eyes fixate on Harper. She stands beside Nikki, nervously fidgeting and unable to meet my gaze.

“And Harper?” Liz asks, and I wait for Harper to speak.

Instead, Nikki answers for her, “I messaged him this morning to let him know Harper was on board because he told me he was willing to expose her, too.”

The fuck she is.

The sudden swell of possessiveness over her catches me off-guard, and I grip the arms of my chair so hard it hurts as Nikki continues, “He watched us finger each other to prove her agreement, and he’s expecting both of us to pay up on Thursday when he comes to our apartment.”

“And you’re going to give whatever he wants.” Liz flashes a cheeky smile at Nikki and Harper. Upon hearing the words, I want to lunge across the table and slap some sense into her.

That is not the answer.

My nostrils flare as I try to control my breathing, pushing down the anger quickly building inside of me.

“You aren’t going to do anything?” Harper breaks her silence, and I’m suddenly met with her teary eyes waiting for me to swoop in and save her.

That’s not who I am, little rose.

“You get to keep your million dollars.” Liz crosses the room and grips Harper’s face with such force that her nails dimple her cheeks. “Is that not enough for you, princess ? Considering you fuck drunk frat boys for flat beer, I’m thinking two grand a week is more than sufficient.”

Quickly, Liz’s eyes scan over those of us sitting at the table, waiting for disagreement.

Disagreement I know Harper is waiting for.

Disagreement that doesn’t come.

“You don’t speak a fucking word about the five of us or what happens in this house. You’ll zealously take his cock in all your holes. You’ll fucking suck his toes while Nikki eats his ass if that’s what he wants. Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Harper responds as if in pain, but I’m certain her current anguish is from much more than the bruising grip on her jaw.

“We’ll be in touch, ladies.” I stare at Harper as I speak the words because they’re meant for her.