Chapters (66)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Keep Reading
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sneak Peek
- Find Me
- Books by Mary Catherine Gebhard
- Acknowledgments
She exhaled, and I yanked her closer. “Oh, but one thing, Snitch. What happens if you fail?”
She swallowed. “I’ll leave. I’ll leave Crowne Point.”
“Nah…that’s not good enough anymore.”
“I’ll leave New York?”
“I’m starting to like my original plan of shipping you the fuck out of the country and never seeing you again.”
Never think about that goddamn kiss. Wonder about what she tasted like elsewhere.
Yeah. Great fucking plan.
“If I fail…” She drew her lower lip between her teeth, then sighed, resigned. “I’ll be insurance. I’ll give you my virginity.”
The suggestion stopped me in my tracks.
I raked my gaze over her, picturing it. Her curly hair out of the bun she kept it in. How far down her back did it go? What did she look like under all those clothes? I’d cover her in bruises. Have her begging me for more, like she’d done in the antique room.
Shit.
I dropped her wrist and stepped back.
Bad idea.
Terrible.
But…I dragged a thumb across my lip, thinking. My virginity had always been a fucking anchor, another piece of me everyone wants to steal and sell. But with her? No one would get that piece.
Because I’d own her.
I exhaled. “I guess someone like you has nothing else to offer.” Her eyes flashed, but before she could say anything, I cut her off. “Sure, whatever, Snitch. I’ll take the cherry no one else wants.”
Five
STORY
I woke to the sound of muffled voices. I rubbed my head, not quite registering where I was at first. It was like a bad dream. Above me, a three-tiered chandelier glittered in the hazy yellow morning light. Its tapered crystals both modern and gothic.
Then it hit me.
The kiss.
Our deal.
I was insurance to a plan I wasn’t sure I could pull off. Maids talked, yeah, but I’d never tried to use gossip as leverage before. If I failed…
What would sex with Grayson Crowne be like?
The things I’ve seen, the things I’ve done, would wreck you.
I rolled my head, meeting the messy black sheets of Grayson’s empty bed. When I’d gone to sleep, Grayson had put me next to his bed like a goddamn dog—no, worse. Dogs had beds. He’d made it clear I didn’t deserve that. He wanted it ingrained in me that my being in his room wasn’t a privilege—it was a punishment.
At least the carpet was plush.
“Who’s that next to your bed?” a steady, deep voice drifted inside. I sat up. I knew that voice—everyone knew that voice—and a blanket fell off me. I fingered the silken threads warily. I’d gone to sleep without any blanket. It was like everything else in Gray’s wing—silky black, decadent.
Had Grayson given me a blanket?