Page 14 of House of Payne

Katia smirks, reminding me she’s as deeply demented as I am. She enjoys chaos, maybe even more than I do. “More than half of them. Looks like it’ll be a good harvest this year.”

We haven’t had a good harvest in more than two years. I laugh. “So it appears.”

Today has proven to be a rather good day. After the stress I’ve been dealing with the past few weeks, the continuous good news is enough to make me stop tensing my shoulders.

“Is there anything else?” I ask, noticing Katia has yet to leave.

She sends me a longing glance, as her fingers find the buttons to her shirt. “You’ve gone weeks without me,” she notes.

“I’ve been busy,” I comment, although I’m watching her every move.

“Do you have an hour or two to spare in your schedule?”

I stare at her, and a long moment passes before a knock on the door interrupts whatever she’s about to say next.

Katia watches me intently with a dark gleam in her eyes. She doesn’t have to talk for me to know what she’s thinking.Don’t tell them to come in. Focus on me instead.I don’t say anything, hoping that whoever is behind that door will leave if they think I’m not here.

She seems pleased by my choice and slips one of her hands into her bra, cupping a breast and playing with it. Then she pulls her breast from the confines of her bra, the nipple grinning at me while she rolls it in between her fingers, taunting me. She’s not screaming right now, but if it were me playing with her nipple, she would be.

We have been sexually active for the past six years, once I couldn’t find anyone else to properly satisfy my itch.

I like being in control, and Katia is exactly the woman I can do that with. It’s one of the few situations where I can let my darker, baser side take the reins.

She lets her eyes fall closed as she leads one hand down her neck, between the valley of her breasts, over her flat stomach, and between the thighs that squeeze me whenever she rides me for everything I am.

Fuck me.

Katia knows exactly how to touch herself in a way that drives me mad.

I want to push her against the wall and bury myself in her until neither of us can see.

I’m a busy man, but I’m still a man. I’ve slept with my fair share of women other than Katia, but this woman knows what she’s doing. I don’t have to teach her how to dance with the devil.

“It’s important.” It’s Carlisle. “I can hear you by the way.”

Goddamn Carlisle.

It had better be important, or I’m going to put your head through the nearest wall.

I snort as Katia rolls her eyes, stuffing her breast back in her bra and buttoning her shirt. One more look in my direction and she opens the door, plastering on a fake smile for Carlisle. “You enjoy being a pest, don’t you? Aren’t you supposed to be out doing, I don’t know, your job?”

“Oh, sorry did I interrupt something?” Carlisle grins and points at her shirt. “You forgot the top button, unless the whore effect is what you were going for?”

“You would know plenty about them considering you can’t get a woman you’re not paying to like you.”

“Oh, and to think you were one of the few.” He puts a hand on his heart as if she’s hurt him.

Carlisle and Katia have never gotten along, and I don’t care enough to ask why. Their business can stay personal as long as they’re professional at work.

“Why are you here, Carlisle?”

He’s supposed to be out on a trip and not standing in front of me, trying to bait my assassin into giving him a reaction.

He shoulders past Katia, and I expect her to leave, but she stays next to the door. I would never let anyone else stand in on a meeting, but she’s one of the few people I trust. In fact, the only two people I trust are the ones in this office.

“I just finished going door to door with all the clients who have defaulted on their payments and owe us money. Katia was supposed to give you the folders with their information, and…”

“Unlike some people, I know how to do my job without prompting or any hand holding.”