Losing Pieces of Me (11 page)

   I feel myself growing brave as I reach between us and grasp my soon to be prize through his pants.  This is the first time I’ve actually felt it with my own hand.  Who knows, maybe soon I’ll get to taste it and see if it's not as bad as I think it will be.

   His mouth leaves mine and trails down to my ear, causing me to giggle as his stubble rubs against the side of my face.  “My girl ready again so soon?” he asks, gently nuzzling my ear.

   Instead of responding, I moan causing him to bite my ear.

   He surprises me again by flipping us over so I am sitting on top of him.  He smiles up at me when I settle myself down on top of him.  For now, we still have his pants between us keeping us from joining as one, so I have a few moments to figure out how to do this.  He’s never allowed me to be on top before and I don’t know the first thing about being in control of this situation.

   When I don’t move to take him out of his pants, he shifts so that he can reach down and pull his pants down and out of the way so they are now down near his knees.  He produces his hand from around me and waves the condom in my face.

   I just stare at it blankly.  Why is he waving the thing in my face?  Isn’t that for him to wear?

   “Put it on me,” he states as he shoves the condom at me.

   He makes no move to help me, so I stare down at it for a beat, the blue packaging mocking me, daring me to open it and see if I can put it on him.  I finally tear the corner open with my teeth and remove the first condom I’ve ever touched.  I stare down at it like the damn thing is an evil monster, I’m not quite sure how to even begin to put this damn thing on him.  I am forced to think all the way back to middle school when they showed us how to put the condom on a banana.  They never actually let me do it, but I think I can figure this out.

   I smile at the memory as I position the condom over his tip and pull it down until he’s completely covered with the rubber.

   “What are you giggling about?  You won’t be laughing for very long,” he announces, sitting up so he’s right in my face.

   I go to think of some smart aleck response, but I don’t ever get that chance.  One moment he’s staring at me with a glint in his eyes and the next he’s lifting me up effortlessly and plunging me down onto his waiting dick.

   I’m forced to grab onto his shoulders when he places his hands on my hips and uses my hips to guide me up and down on his length.  He feels so much deeper at this angle, almost like any further and he’d be buried inside of my womb.  I feel myself starting to gain some rhythm as I rock along with his thrusts and soon he lets go of my hips and rests his arms down on the blanket as he leans back and stares up at me.

   I stop and blink down at him, why did he stop?  I thought everything was going great.

   “Your turn, move, you can figure it out,” he says as he smiles up at me.

   I bite my lip nervously as I stare down at him.  What if I can’t do this right?  I do it anyways, slowly rising up and down over his length and keeping my arms wrapped tight around his shoulders.  He must decide he doesn’t like this, because he lies down flat and I’m forced to let go of him.

   I start to think about what feels right in this moment and bring my hands down to rest on his chest as I grind against him.  It feels so good, that I do it again and swivel my hips as I do it.

   “That’s it, just like that baby,” he groans as he brings his hands up to cup my breasts.

   I do it again, faster this time and faster each time I return to the bottom of his dick.  He must like this because he sits up again and smashes my tits together so he can suck on them at the same time.

   “I’m going to cum,” I announce as we rock up and down together.  “Fuck me harder, Jayden,” I beg him as he returns his hands to my hips.  He takes his queue and holds me still as he rams into me from below, causing me to go off like a rocket.  Not long after, he follows and I lay on top of his body panting heavily as we both struggle to regain some control over our bodies.

   As I lay there on top of him, I have to remind myself that this isn’t a real relationship.  That he paid me to be here with him and that I only married him to find Katrina.  That’s going to be hard to remember now because the more time I spend with this man, the more I am starting to like him and get used to the idea of us.

   This is all bad and spells heartache for me at the end of all of this.  After all, he’s the one that said he can never love me because someday this will be over and done with.  I’ll just have to keep reminding myself of that, but the deeper we go into this, the harder it is for me to keep a clear head.

Chapter Seventeen

   “Are you sure this is the correct address?” I ask the driver.

   “It is, 601 Manchester like you asked for.  You want me to wait here for you?” he asks, looking from me to the dilapidated building outside.  I’m sure he’s wondering what a woman dressed like I am is doing in a place like this.

   The reality is that even I don’t know what I am doing here.  We came to New York to stay at a hotel so we can be here for the dinner meeting he has to attend and the second he left for the office to check on some things, I made a run for it.  It was hard to get away from the bodyguard he has following me around, but the second I mentioned that I needed to use the restroom in the downstairs restaurant, he let me go off on my merry way.  He doesn’t need to know that I never went into the bathroom and just kept going until I was outside of the hotel.

   “Please do, but if you could park around the corner that would be great,” I tell him with a small smile as I open the door and shut it behind me.  I glance up at the building slowly before looking back down at the paper in my hand.  The paper that I took from Jayden’s office.  I might have nothing to go on, but I’ve been snooping around in his office for the last couple of days trying to find out what I can about his family.  He doesn’t like to talk about his father and he doesn’t have a great relationship with his brother, so the only way I’m going to get any closer to finding Katrina is by doing some of the work on my own time.

   Imagine my surprise when I found a piece of paper hidden at the bottom of a stack of folders that had a bunch of notes on it and Hayden’s name.  I don’t know if this has anything to do with Katrina, or if I’ll ever get any closer to finding her, but anything that has Hayden’s name written on it I have to investigate.

   I stare up at the building warily and then in the direction that the cab went.  I almost turn and go back to the cab, I don’t like to look of this place –or the entire street for that matter.  This isn’t a place where a woman like me belongs, this looks more like a place where shady people do their business.

   But that very thing has me moving towards the building and up to the front door.  What would two rich men be doing involved with a place like this in this part of town?  I’m about to find out.

   I think about reaching up and knocking on the door, but instead I try the handle.  Surprisingly, the door is in better condition than the entire building.  I would’ve thought the door would be falling off the hinges, but the door has been reinforced as if they want to keep people out of the place.  I hold my breath when the knob turns and the door slowly creaks open.

   I poke my head inside, afraid that I will find a serial killer waiting for me on the other side with his ax ready to chase me back down the street.  But instead of finding a killer or a man at all for that matter, I find a reception desk and there’s a woman sitting behind it.

   I push the door open a little bit more confidently than I feel and shut it behind me.  I steel myself to remain strong as I turn and plaster a fake smile on my face.

   The girl looks up at me before looking back down at her computer, but then she does a double take and is staring at me again.

   “Welcome to Prosperity Agency, how can I help you?” she asks pleasantly.

   Prosperity Agency?  What in the heck is Prosperity Agency?  For sure this isn’t one of Hayden’s nightclubs, this place looks like a well-established business.  What on Earth is a place like this doing out here?  Obviously I don’t have time to pull out my phone and look up the company or go to the library to search them up, so I think quickly as I walk towards her.

   “I was in the area and stumbled upon this place and thought I’d check it out.  What kind of services do you offer here?” I ask calmly.  I feel anything but calm as I wait for her to answer.  This is either going to go one of two ways.  Either she’s going to kick me out of here or she’s going to fall for my lame attempt to gather information about this place and tell me all about it.

   “I’ll do you one better,” she tells me with a smile.  “Would you like a tour?  I think this place would be perfect for you,” she stands from her chair and moves around the front of her desk so she’s standing beside me.

   I don’t know why she’s agreed to show me around this place, but I’m not going to question it if it gets me closer to finding my answer about what this place is and what it has to do with Hayden.

   “I’d love one,” I tell her.

   “Great, follow me,” she says as she approaches the door near her desk and pushes it open.  I’m expecting to find an empty room or for the place to be a giant mess, but this is clearly a business that is well maintained because all the walls are done in white and the area is a wide open space.  It looks like they removed all the walls and turned this place into a giant studio.

   That’s exactly what this is, a photo studio.  So that’s why this woman is so willing to show me around this place, she’s seeing dollar signs.  I bet they told her to look for women like me who would be perfect candidates for their line of work.

   “This is such a beautiful place,” I comment as I turn in a circle and have a look around.  “What do you photograph here?”

   She gestures for me to follow her and she leads me to the very back of the building where there’s a wall separating the rest of the place.  When we walk around the wall, I come face to face with a live photo shoot.  There’s a girl posing for a shot, spread-eagle on the floor wearing nothing but bikini bottoms.  Is this a magazine shoot or something?

   “This is our newest client, she’s taking photos for her portfolio.  She wants to be a model,” she states proudly.  I almost ask her who in their right mind would pose for that shot to try and get a modeling gig, but I don’t do it.  If I seem too critical of this place, she might show me the door.

   “That sounds wonderful, how does one sign up to become a client?” I ask her enthusiastically.  I’m more confused than I was when I got here, but maybe if I continue to act interested, I might find something I can use to my advantage.

   “Let’s go up front and talk,” she tells me as she leads the way back to the front of the building.  I look back one last time and find the photographer staring at me, so I quickly turn and follow behind the girl as she heads towards the front.

She doesn’t say anything when we get to the front as she sits down and begins to type on her computer.  When she prints out what she’s looking for, she places the paper and pen in front of me.  “Fill this out, and then we’ll talk.”

   I take the paper and pen and look around me for a place to sit.  I find a lone chair in the far corner away from the door and sink down onto it, preparing myself to fill it out.  I almost get up and walk out of the place when I start to read the questionnaire.  Besides asking for my name, it asks everything under the sun about my body and my sexual preferences.  What does any of this have to do with modeling?  There’s only one way to find out right?

   I reluctantly fill out the paper with a fake name and fake answers and bring it back up to the girl.  She looks it over, humming every now and again as her eyes move down the paper.  When she’s done reading it, she looks up at me and proceeds to look me over.  I start to feel uncomfortable the longer she stares at me.  It’s almost like she’s trying to imagine if I would be willing to do some of the things on that piece of paper.

   “What now?” I ask when she doesn’t say anything for a while.

   She clears her throat and sets the piece of paper down on the desk next to her computer.  She crosses her arms in front of her as she leans back in her chair and smiles up at me.

   “The next step is it arrange a meeting between you and Mr. Leopold, he’ll be in tomorrow if you want to stop by?  The both of them will be here tomorrow to screen the new applicants.  They only choose the very best candidates and I think you have a very good shot at being selected.  You look a lot like one of the other candidates that just came through here and she ended up doing really well,” she says as she smiles at me.

   The strange thing is that I have this feeling she’s talking about Katrina.  Sure, Katrina may be taller than I am and more graceful, but we have the same bone structure and facial features so I guess it wouldn’t be far fetched to believe she is referring to my sister.

   “What happened to the client?” I ask, but realize my mistake a little too late.  Her face starts to change, so I quickly cover my tracks, “I mean, did she get far?  Did she get a modeling contract?”

   This seems to appease the girl and has her smile being put back on her face, “She did, she got the best contract of all,” she says mysteriously.  I have no idea what that means and she really hasn’t given me anything to go off of other than clearly Hayden runs this place and maybe even Jayden.  Although, from what I know about Hayden, this seems more his type of place.

   “Thank you,” I tell the girl as I start to walk towards the door.  “I’ll come by tomorrow, what time would be good?” I ask, stopping when I reach the door so I can turn to face her.

   “One would be a good time,” she says.  I start to turn back towards the door, but her voice stops me, “oh and Melanie, bring the sexiest thing you own.”

   Melanie is the fake name I gave her.  I never have any intention of coming tomorrow.  Could you imagine Hayden’s face if I showed up here? I think I’ll pass on that one.  He would no doubt use that against Jayden when it comes time for the board to make a decision about Jayden’s continuing to run his company.

   As I sit in the taxi for the drive back to the hotel, I think long and hard about what happened back at Prosperity Agency.  The girl didn’t really give me anything to go off of, but with the notes that Jayden made in combination with what I saw today, I know something more than modeling is going on in that place.  The question is, what exactly is going on, and what does my sister have to do with it?  I think they might be trafficking women out of that place.  That’s a long shot, but I have this eerie feeling that’s what it is.

   All I can really do at this point, is go back to the hotel and do some research to see what I can find out.  The girl said they would be there tomorrow, but Jayden and I have plans for tomorrow afternoon and one.  So if Jayden is not going to be the other person, then who is?  A cousin, their dad maybe?  Could be anyone at this point.  I’ll never know without asking Jayden directly.  I think I’ll pass on that one.

   Walking back into the hotel and up to the room, I know I am in deep shit.  The bodyguard Jayden provided me with when we arrived is standing outside the door glaring at me.  I ignore him and use my card to open the door, only to find a very pissed off looking Jayden sitting in the armchair near the door.

   “Where have you been?” Jayden asks getting to his feet.  “We’ve been looking everywhere for you, do you have any idea how worried we’ve been?” he roars at me, his whole face turning red in anger as I slowly shut the door behind me.

“I’m fine, I just needed a little break for myself, that’s all,” I tell him as calmly as I can, trying to keep my hands steady as I set my purse down on the dresser.  In all reality, I’m terrified, he looks angry and angry men do things they wouldn’t normally do.

   “Shit, I don’t know what I would do if something happened to you,” he says, his voice a lot calmer than it was moments ago.  I turn to face him in confusion when his voice cracks, “there are a lot of people out there that want to hurt you because you are my wife.  The only way I can keep you safe Mireya, is if you stay with the bodyguard when I’m not around.  Please make sure you stay with him, I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you.”

   Confusion fills me as he brings himself to stand before me.  He looks scared and I can’t figure out why.  No one would hurt me, no one even knows who I am.

   “It can’t be that serious, Jayden.  No one would come after someone like me, let’s be realistic about that for a moment.  Whether or not I’m married to you, no one would come after someone who looks like I do.”

   “Sure they would,” he says, reaching his hand up to brush my cheek as he comes to stand before me.  “Your beautiful and charismatic, of course they would come after you.”

   The way he says it and the look on his face tells me he knows exactly who
they
are.

   “Jayden is there something you aren’t telling me?” I ask him, hoping he’ll trust me enough to tell me.

   “I don’t want you to worry about that, you have a dinner to get ready for and a table of men to charm, let me worry about them,” he says cryptically.  There’s a lot of conviction on his face and now more than ever, I have to find out who
they
are, because that might be the only thing that keeps me safe.