Kinley supposed that some would argue that Law had hurt her by abducting her. But he hadn’t. In his head—and heart—he’d really believed he was saving her. She kind of had to agree. Because of that, she didn’t like hurting Law in any way. The idea that she had made her feel anxious inside.
She wanted more than that unfinished experience in the kitchen and she was willing to give in order to get. If Riley didn’t want her, fine. She would go into the situation knowing that whatever passed between her, Dominic, and Law wouldn’t be long term. But she would finally ask for what she wanted. If they turned her down… she had no idea what she would do.
Riley turned and exited, leaving her alone with the cable news channels who questioned everything from her whereabouts to her morality. There was a short story on Annabelle’s law firm and how they were handling the case Greg was trying to build against the “unnamed suspect.”
So Annabelle had a hand in this. Kinley wasn’t sure of her exact role, but she smiled anyway. Of course some people would be deeply disturbed by a friend’s involvement in a criminal act, but Kinley had looked at all the evidence now. Belle had done her damnedest to persuade her to not marry Greg…and Kinley hadn’t listened. If she had been in Annabelle’s shoes, she would have fought like hell to save her friend, too, including having her kidnapped.
So Law had a good lawyer who had floated the story that she was overwrought and medicated. Legally, it was a good play. The story wasn’t totally implausible. It bought them all some time.
The doors opened, and her heart rate tripled as all three men strode into the room. Law was at least six and a half feet tall with stark blue eyes that pierced right through her. Dominic was so gorgeous and commanding, he made her heart stop. Slightly taller than Law, he was just as broad, his body lean and strong. And Riley’s face could be on a movie poster. He was stunning, not to mention blazingly smart, which was a kind of sexy all its own. Three amazing men.
She could only really make a play for two.
“Baby, you want something?” Law asked.
He’d been so easy to connect with. She’d fallen for him so quickly. He’d held her when she was scared, when she felt alone. Law was the kind of man who did what it took to protect the people he cared about. Kinley couldn’t deny she admired that.
“I have an idea and I’d appreciate you listening.” Her heart was pounding out of her chest, and she was surprised she couldn’t hear it. But she couldn’t shy away. She was done being the good girl. She was done playing by anyone’s rules but her own. She was more than ready to find out who Kinley Kohl really was and what she was capable of. “I want to trade.”
Dominic stepped closer, scowling. “Trade?”
“You need my help with your case against Greg. Fine. I’m willing, but I want something in return.”
Law’s mouth turned down. “What is it?”
“Knowledge.”
Dominic turned to both of his partners with a shrug, then back to her. “What kind of knowledge?”
Kinley bit her lip. Was this stupid? Maybe, but she was still going to do it because she wanted—needed—this. “About sex.”
The words dropped inside the room like a bomb, and the silence that followed in the aftermath seemed to go on forever.
“Sex?” Riley finally asked, his tone intimating that she had to be kidding.
“Exactly.” Kinley dragged in a rough breath. “I would like to trade information about my charity and Greg for information about sex.”
“You want to watch a video?” Riley asked incredulously.
“No.” Law shot his brother a dirty look. “She’s not asking for a porn flick, idiot. She wants to talk about sex.”
There was a bit more to it than that. Were they really going to make her say it? “I want to maybe, probably…a-almost certainly actually have sex.”
Kinley resisted the urge to slam her eyes shut and pray they didn’t laugh.
Instead, Dominic stared a hole through her. “Let me see if I’ve got this right. You want to trade information for a good fucking?”
God, when he put it that way, she felt two feet tall. And she was done feeling like crap about herself. “If I’m not putting you out too much or making you do something against your will, yes. I would like to exchange what little I understand about what’s happening with Hope House for first-hand sexual knowledge.”
“Why not just ask us if we want to go to bed?” Law asked, arms crossed over his chest.
“I want to have sex with men who know what they’re doing. And I don’t expect something for nothing. I know that everything comes with a price.”
“You said men.” Dominic emphasized the word with a hard edge.
“Yes.” She needed to make herself clear. “I don’t know anything about sex. It seems to me that I wouldn’t have been deceived by the people who are supposed to love me if I wasn’t so naïve. Maybe if I’d been more worldly, I would have realized that my sister was sleeping with Greg. Maybe if I knew what good sex was, I would have admitted to myself sooner that I had no interest in him and stopped fooling myself that marriage between us would work. Maybe if I wasn’t a naïve little virgin, I wouldn’t be here.”
Those weren’t her only reasons, but the ones the guys needed to hear. Kinley ached to know what it felt like to be in their bed. God, she wanted that so badly. The days she’d been with them seemed surreal. She’d been terrified, then surprised. They’d confronted her with realities that had broken her heart. Before she could go back and deal with the real world—where she faced the likely loss of her family and her charity—she needed a few moments of pure fantasy.
“You read the evidence?” Dominic remained still as a statue, his eyes cold on her.
“Yes. I still don’t know exactly what he’s doing, but it’s obvious that he’s using Hope House for something nefarious. If you ask the right questions, we might be able to find answers. I suspect you don’t want to go to the feds until you actually know what he plotted.”
Dominic nodded. “I don’t want to give him any wiggle room or loopholes to jump through.”
“Though he’s likely covering his ass right now,” Riley explained. “He would have started the minute the police identified Law on that tape. I know the media is keeping his identity quiet because Kellan is handling it, but Greg knows who Dominic works with, so he knows who has you. It’s another reason we moved your accountant. He’s under watch at Black Oak Oil offices. We have some friends who can make sure he doesn’t have a convenient accident or house fire.”
“So you can see just how serious all of this is?” Dominic asked.
“Yes. Of course.”
He huffed, an oddly aristocratic sound. “And yet you want to negotiate for sex? You want to sell your body to us, like you tried to do with Greg? Is that all you know how to do?”
Shame flooded her. Somehow she’d expected them to jump on the offer. It was just sex, after all. Men were supposed to really enjoy it. Kinley didn’t know what to say.
“I won’t barter for sex, so I’m going to have to turn your offer down.” Dominic scowled. “I happen to believe that you will cooperate because it’s the right thing to do.”
Kinley had always had the impression that he’d do anything to avenge his sister, so his refusal was a blow to the gut. “Are you saying no because I don’t have any experience or because I don’t arouse you?” Actually, she didn’t need to hear them explain all the reasons they didn’t want her. She could guess. “Forget I asked. In fact, forget I said anything at all.”
Kinley closed her eyes in mortification. She wasn’t experienced, and they were men who had likely taken a lot of women to bed…as well as on sofas, across tables, and against walls. She wasn’t beautiful enough for them and knew next to nothing about being sexy. She lacked grace and height and the ability to look really good in a short skirt. Not that they were so shallow as to want only those traits. But Kinley knew that she often wore rose-colored glasses, wasn’t a fan of adrenaline, and probably didn’t seem level-headed enough. She was all the things men like them wouldn’t want in a woman.
Kinley gathered up the folders and clutched them tight to her breasts. Time to retreat and not emerge from her room again until she’d figured out what Greg was doing. After that, hopefully she could go home. She might just go to Annabelle’s and start over again. But she sure as hell wasn’t going to beg these men for anything again. She needed to salvage whatever shards of her pride she could.
“Kinley,” Law began. “Baby, why don’t we all sit back down?”
Tears pricked at her eyes, but she was determined to not shed them now. “I think I’d rather go back to my room. I promise no more running. Dominic, you’re right. I will do what I can to help you. It’s the right thing to do. Please forgive me for what I said earlier. I was just joking, badly it seems. If you have any questions, of course I’ll answer them.”
She turned away from them, acutely aware of their silence, and walked to the door.
“Kinley!” Law finally called.
She didn’t reply, simply fled to her room and closed the door as the tears began to fall.
Chapter Nine
A flaming fury kindled in Law’s gut as he stared at Dominic. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
Dominic’s whole body stood stiff, defensive. “I should be asking you that. Have you forgotten about Carrie? I guess so, since you’re completely willing to toss this operation away for a couple of orgasms with a woman who wouldn’t talk to you in the real world.”
Law scoffed. “She talked to me just fine for a week, and you know what? Never once did she hang up on me because my bank account wasn’t fat enough or because I wasn’t ‘good enough’ for her. She always treated me like a human being worthy of concern. You’re the one with the serious problem, Master Dominic.”
Dominic’s eyes flared. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Riley moved between them, his hands up as though he could stop them from fighting. “Let’s take a breather, guys.”
Law didn’t want a breather. He wanted to have it out. “Get your head out of your ass. You introduced me to this lifestyle. And the first thing you told me was to treat submissives with the respect they deserve. All you’ve done is treat Kinley like shit.”
“She’s not my sub,” he pointed out, tossing his hands in the air. “Hell, I doubt she even knows what the word means. If I’d taken her up on her offer, my need for her submission would probably send her running and screaming.”
Dominic was being purposefully ignorant. “Maybe not. She is a sub, and you know it. You knew it the minute you saw her. Just like you know the way you’re treating her now is wrong.”
“I’m supposed to respect the fact that she wanted to trade sex for information that will bring down my sister’s killer? Not going to happen. Besides, if I’d said yes, she just would have regretted it later.”
Law glared at his friend. “When did you get so stupid? Or are you just lying to yourself so you don’t have to face the fact that you want her? Kinley was asking for what she needs and hoping you would help me give it to her. She was willing to give you something in return. That was her way of negotiating with us. Why are you acting like this is something foreign? Insulting? We always negotiate our encounters with subs. You’ve never made a single one of them feel like a whore—until Kinley. Congratulations. How does it feel to be an asshole?”
Dominic sighed, then rubbed at the bridge of his nose. “She caught me off guard. Besides, this is a fling, at best. You have to know that.”
“And you think we have meaningful relationships with the subs we pick up in clubs for a night?”
“No. It’s just… Once we’ve put Jansen away, Kinley won’t have anything more to do with us. You’re kidding yourself if you think otherwise, Law. And I’m not sure if she can handle a short-term affair. Why give her another reason to hate us?”
“You don’t know her like I do.” He had Dominic on the ropes. “But you need to make up your mind. Is she a whore or an innocent we need to protect?”
“Back the fuck off and stop thinking with your dick for two seconds. We’re close to nailing Jansen. I’ve worked for years to get Carrie justice, and I can’t let Kinley stop me.”
“Is your whole life about revenge, man? I’m not telling you to give up on bringing Jansen down. He deserves it. But isn’t there more to life? Are you really such an empty shell that you can’t see Kinley is everything we could possibly want. She offered herself to us on a platter, dumbass. Look me in the eye and tell me you don’t want her.”
