Jessica’s body was a tight coil of panic and numbness. This is it. All the fear, the shame, the desperate justifications she had rehearsed in her mind had led her to this moment, to this floor, to this man. The air she had fought to steady in her lungs felt poisoned. She was here, a piece of meat bought to solve a debt.
Across the thin strip of carpet separating them, Alex simply watched her. The curiosity that had momentarily replaced his cold assessment was now mixed with something far simpler, far more ancient. A slight, predatory curve tugged at the corner of his mouth, the arrogant, confident look of a man who had won the game before the first move was played. He stood perfectly still, his patience a form of absolute control, his gaze heavy and expectant.
Ninety thousand. The figure
