Page 29 of Paved in Venom

“I was the last one, though. What if the other guy had gone higher? You could’ve lost your chance to get anyone.”

“That was never going to happen. I would’ve paid anything for you. He was never going to win.”

“You act like you have all the money in the world.”

“I do, and I would’ve spent it all to save you.” This time when I caress her cheek, she leans into my touch. “I didn’t have a bad night last night, just so you know. It was the greatest night of sleep I can ever remember having. I usually don’t sleep so great, but last night I got to sleep with a beautiful woman tucked up against me.” I smile up at her. “Not a bad night at all.”

“I’m guessing you could have a beautiful woman in your bed any damn night you wanted,” she says, shaking her head at me like she doesn’t believe a word I’ve just said.

“I don’t invite women into my bed, sladkaya. No one’s ever slept here but you.”

She studies me, probably waiting for me to laugh, proof that I’m teasing her, but I don’t. I keep my eyes on hers, letting her see the truth of what I’m saying.

“I find that very hard to believe.”

I give a small shrug. “This is my personal space, and I don’t like people invading it.”

“I could’ve slept on the couch,” she whispers.

“I didn’t want you to. I wanted you in here.” I kiss her inner wrist. “In my bed with me.”

Her lips part, and I can see how blown her pupils are. I’m about two seconds away from pulling her down into my lap when she takes a step back and says, “I need to get dressed.”

I watch her walk into the bathroom, groaning and lying back on the bed as soon as the door is shut. My cock throbs, and I desperately want to jerk off, but no way in fuck am I going to risk her walking out and catching me with my dick in my hand. I count the seconds, and when I hit three minutes, I get up and go to my computer. It doesn’t take long before I’m immersed in the depressing world that I’ll be more than happy to leave behind once all this is finished. On the plus side, it quickly killed my erection, so at least I can sit comfortably. I’ve just stumbled upon a new set of photos when I hear Simona let out a soft gasp from behind me.

“Fuck,” I groan, quickly minimizing the screen. I look back at her pale face and wide eyes. It’s always a surprise the first time you see photos like these. Reading about it is one thing, but seeing it? That’s completely different. You can never unsee it, and the photos haunt you long after you’ve stopped looking at them.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you come out.”

“Why are you looking at that shit?”

I sigh and wave a hand at the three large screens in front of me. “This is what I do. I’m good with computers, so it’s my job to dig around and try to find information. The others don’t know how to do it, not like I can anyway.”

“How do you do it? How can you stand looking at photos like that?”

“Because I don’t have a choice,” I tell her. “What you just saw? That’s nothing compared to the shit I’ve had to pour through over the last year, but I can’t stop. What if the next photo I see is Alina? I can’t give up until we’ve found her.”

She comes to stand next to me. “Show me the photos from my auction.”

When I hesitate, she looks down at me. “Please, Danil. I need to see them.”

My fingers fly over the keyboard, and when I’m back on the dark web and maneuvered to where I need to be, I pull up the photos. There are twenty-one now, so someone must’ve added her photo in at some point. Men can comment on them, and when I try to scroll up so she can’t see them, she puts her hand on mine, stopping me.

“No, I want to see them.”

I think about telling her no, but she has a right to see whatever the fuck she wants, so I sit back and let her look. She leans over, putting her hands on my desk, and after a few minutes, she lowers herself into my lap and reaches for my mouse, clicking on the next photo. Usually I’d rip the throat out of anyone who dared to touch my computer, but with her, I just sit back and let her do whatever she wants. It doesn’t even make me nervous to give her the control.

“They all look so scared,” she whispers, staring at the young woman’s face on the monitor. “And drugged.” She scrolls through the comments and turns to face me. “How can they like this? I don’t understand. Who could look at these photos and get turned on?”

“There’s a lot of sick fucks out there. I’ve been forced to be around these bastards for so long now, and I still don’t understand it. They like the power, but it’s more than that. I’m a bit of a control freak myself, but I don’t get off on this sort of thing. They don’t look at these pictures and see a human being. They see something they can own, something they can break, and they can’t fucking get enough of it.”

She thinks about what I’ve said as she turns back to the screen and keeps scrolling through. Eventually, she stops reading the comments, and just focuses on the pictures. She’s almost to her photo, and before she clicks on it, I lean closer and wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her tighter against me.

“Oh my god,” she whispers when her face fills the screen. When she moves for the mouse, I put my hand over hers, gently stopping her.

“Please don’t read them.”

“Do you know what they say?”

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