Void (17 page)

FOUR DAYS.

I haven’t heard from Andris nor Link in four fucking days. The last images I had of either of the men were of them walking away from me, and I didn’t like it. Had Link decided he no longer wanted to fulfill the terms of the contract? Surely he would have called Alexandra and let her know, wouldn’t he?

I got dressed methodically this morning, working in robot mode like I normally did, trying to go about my days like I would under normal circumstances, but it was damn near impossible. Every time my mind had an idle moment, which was a lot lately, my thoughts strayed to my two men.

Ha.

Two men.

Well, if I weren’t already a fucking escort, people would think I was a whore. The thought made me laugh.

I ventured downtown to the flower shop to meet with Lexie. We had a weekly meeting where all of the girls came together to discuss clients, tips, tricks, and etcetera. Ten women in one room resulted in a lot of hen talk and too much clucking for my taste, so I usually sat back and just let it all go by. If I spoke up, that meant that we would be there longer, and then we would be there until nightfall.

I had my bi-weekly appointment today with Andris. If I said that I wasn’t nervous or excited to see him that would be a fucking lie. That was the thing. Most of the time, my appointments were just another robotic thing I did during the week, now, they gave me something to look forward to.

“Jericho,” Kiki said coldly as she hobbled in on crutches and took a seat next to me.

We all sat around an oblong table, something that Lexie found necessary, saying that it helped us all to “connect.” Well, more often than not, I wanted to “connect” my foot with each of their asses. The meetings were basically a bitchfest, with each girl having to complain about their clients. If you didn’t like the business, get the fuck out.

“Kiki.”

Kiki was shorter than me, by several inches. Where I had long, blonde hair, she had shorter dark hair. Whether Kiki was her real name or not, I didn’t know. Hell, I didn’t even use my own name to my clients. They all knew me as Jericho Lane. Only Andris, and probably Link, knew that I was Nicola Forbes. Kiki’s last name was chosen, because only a girl who had tits that looked like they would consume her face would call herself “CHESTfield.” The dumb bitch probably fell forward from the weight of her medically enhanced frontal balloons and that is why she was on crutches.

“I hope you are taking care of my client. I will be back to normal soon and he will want me back. I appreciate you filling in for me, even if it isn’t what he is used to.”

She tried to make her comment sound pleasant, but I heard the disdain dripping from her voice. She was always one to try and get a rise out of me, but once again that was a benefit of not giving a fuck.

“I’d take all the time you can to recover. He’s covered for the next twelve weeks.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“I’m under contract with him for twelve weeks.”

She huffed out a disbelieving breath as she let her crutches slide down to the floor, landing in a metal thump.

“That’s absurd. He only pays a session at a time. I should know. He’s been my client for the better part of two years.”

“Maybe you don’t know him as well as you think you do.”

“Whatever.”

Lexie started talking to the group as we all sat and listened. I was restless, eager to get out of there so that I could make it to Andris’s office on time. I still had plenty of time to get there, but the thought of being close to where I knew he was made me feel better. The closer I was to Andris, the closer I felt to Link.

After our meeting, Lexie retreated to her office and I watched Kiki follow her. I made small talk with some of the other girls who I didn’t really mind being around while I gathered my things. As I ventured down the hall to prepare to head to Andris’s office, I heard Kiki’s voice coming from Lexie’s office.

“But he’s my client, Lexie! She was supposed to only fill in for me until I recovered. The doctor said I would be fine in another week, and you are telling me he has her for another eleven?”

“It’s out of my hands, Kiki. That is what he wanted. I can’t go against the client’s wishes. He wants Jericho, so she signed a contract with him for the next eleven remaining weeks. We can renegotiate after that, but until then, what’s done is done.”

“This isn’t fair. Why the fuck does she get all the good clients?” Lexie’s door burst open and Kiki came stumbling out on her crutches, giving me an evil glare before she retreated down the hall. I tried to walk past Lexie’s door unnoticed, but I didn’t have that much luck.

“Jericho.”

I turned around and smiled brightly at her, sarcastically of course.

“Cut the shit, Jer. Antagonizing Kiki is uncalled for. That contract was supposed to remain quiet and you told Kiki about it.”

“Well, she was the one who started in on me. I was just putting her in her place.”

“Well, stop. Now she knows and if she goes running back to your client, he may nullify the contract. Do you want that? Do you want to lose out on all that money?”

“No.”

“Good. Now go to your appointment. Maybe your therapist can talk some fucking sense into that head of yours.”

I left, wishing that were true. The last thing on my mind was
talking
to Andris, and more among the lines of fucking the hell out of him.

I GROANED.

My fucking ten o’clock appointment would be here in a few minutes and the last thing I wanted to deal with was Barbie Cardinelli.

The clinic was now mine. I owned it. Signed the papers and sent my dickhead uncle on his way to happy retirement. Now, I needed to get things together. I had to pull this clinic out from under the Cardinelli family if I wanted it to be a respectful, moral environment for my employees as well as my clients.

I walked out into the waiting room to retrieve my client. She sat, like she did the week before, in the same chair but with a different fashion magazine in her lap. Her grey eyes turned to me and smiled with a silky seductiveness as she placed the magazine down and retrieved her purse before rising and walking in my direction.

“Good morning, Dr. Gunn.”

“Mrs. Cardinelli. Right this way.”

She walked into the hallway ahead of me and proceeded into the direction of my office. I shut the door behind us and walked around my desk to sit facing her, trying to exude a sense of authority. I was sick of feeling pushed around by her and her husband.

“How are you doing today, Mrs. Cardinelli?” I asked in fake sincerity.

“We can skip all the pleasantries, don’t you think, Andris?”

“Then what do you want?”

“The usual. With extra this time.”

“I can’t do that and you know it. It will flag the pharmacists if I write over the amount normally subscribed. Do you want to tick them off as well as the authorities? I don’t think so.”

She tapped her overly long, manicured nails against the soft cushion of the chair in which she sat. Even though it was padded, the sound was still like nails on a chalkboard to me. Everything from her posture to the tone of her voice was irritating, like an annoying little tick that wouldn’t go away.

“I’ll just have to make sure that Antonio’s boys make an appointment then. The demand is up, and the normal supply we are getting from you isn’t cutting it anymore.”

“I can only write prescriptions for thirty days at a time, Barbie. You know that. I won’t give you anymore.”

She rose from her chair, rounding my desk, walking perfectly in her sky-high stilettoes and sat down on the edge of my desk facing me. She crossed her legs and leaned in to grab the silk of my tie and threaded it to through her fingers.

“Maybe we can work out an arrangement then. Maybe you could prescribe me a different
medication
that will help me get through my days.”

“You don’t have any medical issues and you know it, Barbie. It’s all in your fucking head. The only reason you are here is because your husband sends you to do his fucking dirty work for him.”

“Maybe so, but he is just trying to protect the family name by sending me instead. We all know women are better at negotiating anyways.”

“I’m not negotiating anything with you.”

“Oh, I think you will,” she said as she leaned in closer. “See, I’d hate for people to discover
your
little
side business
you have going one. One that involves a pretty little blonde and her
services
.”

My head snapped to meet her eyes with such force, I could have given myself whiplash. I saw determination and also victory in her eyes. There was no use in denying her accusations. Her husband had the means to find out anything on anyone. It would ruin me, and Nicola both if anyone were to find out about my side ventures.

“So, this is what is going to happen. You are going to make both me and my husband happy. We’ll send in a few extra ‘clients’ a week to you to get the extra we need, and in the meantime, you will give me what I need.”

She stood up, slowly unbuttoning her blouse and letting it fall from her shoulders before unbuttoning her skirt from the side and allowing it to fall to the floor at her feet. She stood before me in nothing but her stilettoes, bra, and panties. Her bones nearly visible beneath her overly tanned and malnourished flesh. She had nowhere near the amount of sinful curves that Nicola possessed. She didn’t have the same sexual radiance as the woman who invaded my dreams. But I had no choice right now. I was being blackmailed and at risk of losing both my clinic and Nicola.

I stood. Grabbing the skeletal form of Barbie Cardinelli, I dropped my pants, rolled a condom on, and proceeded to fuck the hell out of her there on my desk, the entire time trying to imagine Nicola long enough to keep a hard-on.

BARBIE LEFT AFTER I gave her not one, but two orgasms, sealing the deal in the fucked up hand of cards I was dealt. This game was a gamble, and the odds were against me. It wouldn’t matter so much if I were the only one affected, but the livelihoods of all my employees as well as Nicola were at stake and it wasn’t a chance I was willing to take. I had to comply with the Cardinelli plans until I found a way to get the fuck out from under them.

I sat at my desk after Barbie left, trying to calm my racing mind and my body. I was painfully hard, not able to climax into the plastic form of Mrs. Cardinelli even with thoughts of Nicola. The room still reeked of her overly floral perfume and I could still smell the sweat of her body coming from my skin. I tried to put some order back into my desk as the intercom on my phone buzzed.

“Andris, Nicola Forbes is here for her appointment.” Laura Lee stated.

Fuck.

My dick was still swollen with no relief in sight. There wasn’t any way I would be able to walk out into reception to greet Nicola, so I buzzed Laura Lee back.

“Could you send her to my office, please? I am just finishing up a few things.”

“Yes, doctor.”

I scrambled, trying to get everything back into place before she arrived. How the hell I was going to sit through a session with her with my cock as hard as granite, I didn’t know. How was I going to face her after four days of silence between us? I hadn’t called her, nor had I made any other forms of contact with her via Lexie like Link would do. I would probably have to speak to him soon. Regardless of whether he needed her tonight, I knew I was going to.