Page 45 of Monster

15

Charlotte

The way I saw it,I had one of two choices: I could play the part of an obedient woman and garner Teo’s trust, or I could keep being defiant and stay locked up in this basement. This was the first olive branch he had extended to me since I found myself in his presence in the first place. So, I needed to make sure I straddled the line as firmly as possible.

Obedient enough to earn his trust, strong enough to keep him interested, and mysterious enough to let his curiosity sink him itself.

He was already showing me what he was capable of giving me. That is to say, he was about to trust me with eating somewhere that didn’t require me to be shackled, and that was huge. All I had to do was wear this pathetic excuse for a horny man’s lingerie style.

But, I had to admit, the fabric did feel nice.

“Is this silk?” I whispered to myself.

I mean, I made decent money, but not enough money to willy-nilly purchase the kind of lingerie he had stuffed in that bag. And granted, it wasn’t completely filled with thongs and push-up bras with sheer overlays. There were also button-front shirts that smelled of his cologne. Knee-high socks that somehow looked just as business-professional as his.

“Guess someone likes me in man clothes,” I murmured to myself.

I tossed the bag over into the corner and decided to play the game. If wearing this stupid ensemble got me out of this basement and in a freer scenario, then I was all for it. After all, if I could earn his trust and play the part long enough for him to give me roaming privileges, I wouldn’t need the cloak and dagger shit to escape.

I’d just wait until one of his nightly outings and leave of my own volition.

Perfect.

So, right on schedule, my door burst open and some unnamed guard I didn’t recognize walked over to me. His eyes lingered on me a great deal longer than I liked, but I knew all I had to do was mention that to Teo and he’d do something about it. I had him wrapped around my finger at least a little bit, and surely this little lunch stunt would come with a bit more favor tossed my way.

“Follow me,” the guard said as the shackle dropped from my wrist.

And despite the urge I had to dash for the door, I forced myself to walk behind him.

He led me out onto the back patio and the smell of the food alone made my mouth water. The sloshing of the lazy ocean waves against the white sand and the salty wind wafting up my nostrils reminded me of the beautiful vacation I was on.

Until I heard Teo step out onto the porch behind me.

“Nice to see you came to your senses,” he said.

Don’t fuck up. Just play nice. “I suppose this is a bit more comfortable than I gave it credit for.”

He chuckled. “Here. Have a seat.”

I turned to face him and found him shockingly casual for our lunch outing. He was wearing a pair of white linen pants that flapped in the breeze and something akin to a tropically-printed holiday shirt. Except, the damn thing was tailored to his body and accented the strong divots of his chest.

I had a hard time sitting down in the chair he pulled out for me since my knees went weak.

His lips dipped down to my ear. “You look lovely, by the way.”

I smiled. “You don’t look half bad yourself.”

He walked around and sat down in front of me. “I figured I’d get comfortable for our lunch date.”

“And speaking of lunch, what’s on the menu?”

He fluffed his napkin into his lap. “A nice brunch. Lox bagels, Belgian waffles, endless coffee and mimosas. Unless bloody Mary's are more up your alley.”

I wrinkled my nose. “I’ve never understood the appeal of tomato juice and tabasco sauce.”

He chuckled. “Neither have I. Drinks are either supposed to be sweetened or tempered. But, never savory.”

“I’m more of a straight-up wine kind of gal, though.”

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