Page 50 of The Kingpin's Call Girl

“Oh no!” I gasp.

I’m more upset than I should be—on the verge of tears, in fact. I’m upset about the dress, but it’s more than that. It’s the danger and the stress and the way Luka is stealing my soul.

I raise my gaze to his. “It’s all ruined.”

Chapter Nineteen

LUKA

I give her a napkin, and she blots the dress, blinking back the tears.

“It’s just getting worse.”

“We’ll get you another dress,” I say.

“It’s one-of-a-kind,” she blurts out. “I love it, and you can’t fix it. Nobody can fix this.”

She’s going to cry. Women’s tears don’t generally affect me, but for whatever reason, I can’t tolerate Edie crying. I will not have it.

“I got it,” I say.

“How?”

I turn her by her shoulders and point her at the restrooms. “You’re going to go in the ladies’ room and take off the dress and wait for me.”

“You’re going to make me wait naked in a bathroom for you?”

“Yup.”

She blinks at me.

I wait. “Is that a no?”

She grabs her purse and heads off.

I make a few phone calls. A tray arrives with a large silver bowl, a kettle, and a small flask. I bring it to the ladies’room and knock.

She cracks the door.

“Let me in.”

She steps back, clad in a simple white underwear set. It’s just like that dress, sexy with a little bit of a good-girl edge--without even trying.

I like it, but I’m not here to fuck her. Not yet.

“Let’s have the dress.” I set the tray down on the hutch. The ladies’ room here is nice enough to have actual furniture in it.

She hands it over. I stretch the fabric over the silver bowl. “Hold it like this, stretched.”

“What are we doing?”

“Do as I say.”

She stretches the fabric over the bowl. I take the kettle and begin to pour a stream of boiling water over the delicate, stained fabric.

“Shouldn’t you use cold?”

“Cold’s for amateurs.” I continue on, pouring in a pattern, back and forth, back and forth, working my way down the stain, which begins to disappear.

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