Page 41 of Rogue

From the desperation that was practically flowing off her, a threat seemed most likely.

Maxence assessed the options.

His own older brother, Pierre, was the most obvious candidate.

Estebe Fournier, the mob boss whom Maxence had pissed off a couple of days earlier, was also a good possibility.

Minor prospects included Max’s uncle

Dree sighed and pressed her lips together for an instant before she said, all in a rush, “Could I please get an advance on what you offered me?” Her eyes darted everywhere except meeting his gaze. “Just, like, a quarter of it? Of the first offer, not the second one.”

Maxence waited and watched her.

She licked her lips, and she finally made prolonged, desperate eye contact with him. “My sister needs money for Victor’s therapynow.If you can advance me a quarter of it, I’ll doanythingyou want, absolutelyanything,for the initial amount, not the second one where you said you’d double it.”

“Anything I want,” he said, more savoring the sound of it than confirming with her.“EverythingI want.”

“Yes,” she said.

He stared her down. “You know what I want.”

“Yes,Sir.”

“Absolute obedience.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“In everything.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“And your body is mine for these few days. I touch you. I decide everything about you, what you wear, what you do, and when you are allowed to come. You don’t touch yourself, no matter what. Understand?”

She hesitated, but she nodded. “Yes, Sir.”

Maxence nodded. “Done. Where do you want the money sent?”

Dree looked away and then back at him. “That’s it?Done?I can just change the conditions of the agreement?”

Maxence shrugged. He knew a good deal when he saw one, not that he had any intention of giving her merely the first amount he’d offered. Max was going to make sure his little bunny was all right when she left him. “Everything can be negotiated and renegotiated. What account should I wire the money to?”

Dree checked her phone. She walked over to the desk and, still warily keeping an eye on him, wrote a series of numbers on a piece of the hotel’s stationery. “Here.”

Maxence used his phone and online banking to transfer one-quarter of the agreed-upon amount to the routing number and bank account she gave him. “There, it’s done.”

“It is?” She sat down on the couch, breathing hard and with her hands holding back her hair. “She has the money?”

“Yes,” Maxence said. “It may take a few hours, but my bank’s generally good about transferring, even on a Sunday night. I imagine it should post sometime tomorrow morning.”

“So, it’s done,” she sighed. “Okay.”

“We need to work on your negotiating skills,” he told her. “You gave too much away. You gave up both your collateral that I would pay youandthe increased rate for the higher level of services.”

“It’s notservices,”she said, fretting. “I would have done that anyway. That’s onmybucket list. It might not be an actual line item, but the meaning of the whole thing is to try everything in the world and not to be afraid.”

He felt a slow smile growing on his face. He did want to try everything with this woman and show her the world.

“Besides,” Dree said. “I’m not a businessperson. That’s not my field of work at all. After this, I won’t ever have to negotiate again. My whole career is to give people what they need, not to take everything I can.”