“Fuck, Candy! You are a whore. Do you hear me? Nothing more than a fucking whore.” He put his hands around her throat and pushed her up against his car. His grip was tight, but he did it carefully so as not to damage his paint job or to leave marks on her. “If I tell you that you are going to see a new client then you damn well do as I say. You only get to leave the business when I say you can and not a moment sooner. I’ve always been good to you.” His voice softened. “I’ve never hurt you or pumped you full of drugs. I’ve never sampled the goods myself.” His fingers tightened ever so slightly, making it a little hard to breathe. “All that can change, little Candy. I think someone has forgotten their place.”

One of his hands unfurled from around her neck and closed on one of her breasts. He squeezed her flesh while making a moaning noise. “I’ll pump you full of heroine. I’ll get you so addicted that you’ll be begging to suck any cock I put in front of you for a hit. Is that what you want?” He moved closer to her, his hot breath all over her face.

Ellis wasn’t a bad looking guy. He was tall and built, covered in tattoos. The guy could pretty much crook his finger and women would come running. Candy had never been attracted to him. In recent months she’d gone from thinking of him as her boss, someone who had helped her when she really needed it, to hating his guts.

“So tell me. Do you want to be a crack whore, Candy?” He squeezed her breast, harder this time.

“No,” she managed to push out. It was barely a whisper.

“I don’t want that either.” He released her. “You would have to service at least ten guys a day and you still wouldn’t make half of what you do now. In short…” He fixed the lapels on her jacket and straightened out her pearl necklace. “You are worth way more to me now. One more client. That brings the total up to three. One or two dates each a week. Your new client is much younger, he’s a prominent figure.”

He said it like it would change her mind. She was done in this business. It wasn’t something she’d ever been comfortable with. Candy hadn’t had an actual boyfriend or been on a real date since working at Kitty’s. She wanted her life back. She wanted to be able to look at herself in the mirror again.