The Arrangement 14 Read Online Free

shocking is she seems to care about Sean, like they’re friends. Looking at the carpet, I say, “Thank you for talking to me.”  
    “Sure! Call any time.” The line goes dead and I hand Sean his phone.  
    For a second I feel horrible, but it fades. I’m still angry with him. “Come clean, here and now. Everything. Dump it on the table and let’s see if we can pick up the pieces.”  
    Sean nods solemnly. “All right, but not here.”  
    At that moment, Black walks in and takes in the scene. There’s a ton of tension and I’m standing in front of Sean, wearing his leather jacket, looking up into his beautiful face. She rolls her eyes and sighs dramatically. “Well, Avery, let’s have your answer.”  
    Miss Black smirks at Sean after she’s seated behind her desk. A dark eyebrow lifts when Black takes in Sean’s confusion, and her ruby lips spread into a smile. “Didn’t she tell you? I offered to make her a madam.”  
     
     
     

CHAPTER 4
     
    Sean just stares at me and then stares at Black. “We had an agreement.”  
    “This doesn’t violate our arrangement in the slightest. She’ll still live in New York, but her occupation will be somewhat different. If you two are no longer engaged, I don’t see how it concerns you anyway.” Miss Black thinks she’s won. The confidence in her gaze says as much. Tapping her fingertips together, she looks over at me.  
    As I stare at Black, things click into place. She’s been telling lies, but they’re always seeded with truth. Sean is engaged to someone else, and he is, but the woman is an employee. This entire time Black has been trying to get me to turn on Sean. For a second, I think about screaming at her, but it’s better if she underestimates me, so I play along. “What happens if I say no?”  
    Miss Black drops her hands and sits straight up. “That wouldn’t be a prudent move.”  
    I laugh. “Nothing about this job is prudent, and the one you’re offering is even worse on the moral scale of life.”  
    “You already broke the scale when you took money for fucking Mr. Ferro, so I doubt that’s a sincere concern. What you should be asking is, ‘what happens if I say yes?’”  
    Folding my arms across my chest, I tug Sean’s supple jacket tighter. “If I say yes, you have an easy out when the police come looking for the owner of that bracelet. If it leads back here and you’re gone, they’re going to blame me for the dead girl in Sean’s room. I may look stupid, but believe me, I’m not.”  
    Sean moves behind me and sits down so that only Black and I are standing. He’s fuming, but he doesn’t speak. This is my mess and he lets me fight my battle.  
    Miss Black’s lips curl into an amused grin. “I think you’re juvenile and naïve, but not lacking in intelligence. The bracelet in the hotel room wasn’t your friend’s. It belonged to the dead girl. I sent her over to check on things and something went wrong. No one will track that bracelet back here, and if they do, we’re all screwed anyway. Although I try to leave no trails that point back here, there are still signs.”  
    I need more time to process the information. This is news to me. “And if I say yes?”  
    She grins broadly. “Then you will become my protégé and make more money than you ever thought possible. You’ll own Long Island because every politician and bureaucrat will come calling, and when they do, you’ll have them by the balls. It’s a pretty place to be, Avery. And with the girl-next-door charm you have, combined with the can-do attitude, you’ll own Nassau and Suffolk County. You’ll never have to worry about money again. You’ll always have a roof over your head and it doesn’t matter that your parents left you destitute.”  
    The comment about my parents slices through me and leaves my jaw hanging open. It feels like she sucker-punched me in the stomach. There’s no air. My parents didn’t leave willingly. They did