Page 119 of Their Courtesan
“What the fuck is there to think about? I’m queen of the fucking world! Miguel is offeringwaymore than Seth! Why wouldn’t we give the winnings to him?” Judith gestured to herself. “Me! I’m the winnings!”
Still no change.I hate her sometimes.Monica was the best at her job for a reason. Judith needed to learn more from her before one day running her own pleasure housefor a reason.Nobody could compete with Monica Warren’s poker face. Whatever she was thinking… Judith would not know unless Monica decided to share.
She could be lying. It was not beneath Monica to lie when she thought it pertinent, but she would damn well make Judith think it was the truth!
“I don’t think neither Dr. Christens nor Mr. Bolivar think of you as ‘winnings,’ Judith.”
She slapped her hand against the back of the couch. Monica did not flinch. “What are you talking about? Of course they do. They’re men, and they think with their dicks. If there’s one thing this business has taught me, it’s that I will be a body first and foremost. That’sfine.I’ve got it, so I’ll freely use it if I want! If some European playboy wants to throw a fifth of a mil to fuck me whenever he desires,whereverhe desires, then I’ll damn well let him! Who the fuck are you to get in the way of that?”
They stared each other down. Judith knew she had crossed a line, but her pride prevented her from immediately apologizing. She could be impertinent like that.
She could also be really, really defensive, even if she didn’t know why she felt so compelled to be.
“I’m your boss,” Monica coolly said. “And your friend. Or at least I like to think so.”
“Then shouldn’t you be celebrating with me? My pussy made you bank. You can hire all the extra girls you want now with my cunt going into overdrive milking that man’s cock.”
“I sure can, but is it worth the fallout between you and these men?”
“What are you talking about? Seth will deal with it. He needs me to be his muse before anything else.”
The façade surrounding Monica finally began to wear away. She bit her lip, furrowed her brows, and plainly said, “They’re both in love with you. I don’t mean infatuated with the idea of you and in lust with your body until they find someone new. I mean those two gentlemen are both fantasizing about marrying you.”
“What are youtalkingabout?” Judith flung herself against the couch, the energy transference jostling Monica where she sat. “Miguel is a playboy who fucks anything that turns him on, and Seth is… well, he’s Seth. He’d rather lock himself up in his studio than ever deal with a wife. He saw enough of that shit in his old practice.”
“If you can’t at least see that Dr. Christens wants you more than he wants his own life then you are seriously delusional.”
“Fine.”Back me into a corner, why don’t you?“Whatever you say.”
Monica was quick to fire back, “They’ve both said they love you, haven’t they?”
“What if they have? They’re not the first.”
“Don’t make me say it, Judith.”
“Say what? Go on. I’d love to know what you think. You’re offering your opinions for free anyway.”
Don’t you dare say it…
“You love them both too.”
“You. Are full. Of shit.” Judith stormed across her room. Not that she knew where the fuck she was going. She was trapped in her den of flesh and sin with the one woman who knew her better than anyone else. “I don’t love any man, let alone them. They’re clients. Full stop. My job is to make themthinkI love them so they pay me more money. See? It works.”
Monica slowly folded up her paper, head bent down. “Starting today,” she said, “You are to service no men but Dr. Christens and Mr. Bolivar.”
The room turned so still that Judith thought she had died.
“What?”
“You heard me.” Monica’s voice remained soft even after Judith’s outburst. “Until the wedding. At the wedding, I will inform Mr. Bolivar of his good fortune, if that is what you want.”
“Of course it’s what I want.” Judith couldn’t let go of the other thing. “I want the man with the most money.” A lump formed in her throat. What was wrong with her? Was she getting emotional over this shit? “No clients for two weeks? Am I on some sort of probation?” She turned toward Monica again. “Don’t you know I need the money?” Her parents’ collective debt wasn’t going to pay for itself.
“I said no services. That doesn’t mean no clients. You can still entertain. Just no sex of any kind.”
“Why?”
“Because you need to distance yourself from this job!”
