Two Can Play (Celeste and Dominic) novel Chapter 281

Chapter 281

“Can I do something else instead?” she asked finally. “I have some money saved. Not a fortune, but I have been careful. I can pay you for your services. Whatever you would charge anyone else, I will find a way to raise it.”

I nodded slowly, letting her hope build for exactly one second before I crushed it. “Okay. Ten billion.”

Her jaw dropped. “Ten billion?”

“My services are not cheap,” I said, and I let the smile show “You came to me because I am the best at what I do, Scarlett. The best does not work for pocket change. Ten billion and I will solve all your problems. You can keep your name, keep your freedom, and walk out of this room without a ring on your finger. Do you have ten billion?”

She swallowed. Her throat worked, and I watched the hope drain out of her face by degrees, replaced by something older and more resigned. “You know I do not.”

“Then we are back to the marriage.”

Her fingers pleated the edge of the sheet, over and over, and when she finally spoke, her voice had gone low and careful, the voice of a woman who had learned to negotiate with dangerous men the hard way.

“I am not fit to be anyone’s wife, Sparrow. Even a fake wife.” She said it flatly, like a woman reciting a verdict that had been read over her years ago. “I am a whore. I have done things in my life that would make decent people weep, things I will never be able to scrub off my skin no matter how long I live. If you put me in front of people, in front of your family, they will see it. They will smell it on me. I do not have the face for innocence, and I do not have the history for it either.” She paused, and something shifted in her eyes, something careful and deliberate. “But Tasha is different.”

I raised a brow. “Tasha?”

“Then call her in.”

Scarlett pulled on her dress, her movements quick and ungraceful, and went to fetch Tasha. I pulled on my pants and stood by the window, watching the city lights blur and smear beyond the glass, and I felt the old familiar patience settle into my bones. When the door opened again, Tasha stepped in with Scarlett behind her, and I turned to look at her.

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