Page 27 of Her Patron
Now what?
“I want to give you time to think this over, anyway.”
“What is there to think about? I’m queen of the world! Miquela is offering way more than Sette! Why wouldn’t we give the winnings to her?” June gestured to herself. “Me! I’m the winnings!”
Still no change.I hate her sometimes.Monique was the best at her job for a reason. June needed to learn more from her before one day running her own pleasure house for a reason. Nobody could compete with Monique Warner’s poker face. Whatever she was thinking… June would not know unless Monique decided to share.
She could be lying. It was not beneath Monique to lie when she thought it pertinent, but she would damn well make June think it was the truth!
“I don’t think either Dr. Christie nor Ms. Bolivar thinks of you as ‘winnings,’ June.”
She slapped her hand against the back of the couch. “What are you talking about? Of course they do. They’re rich, and they think with their pride. If there’s one thing this business has taught me, it’s that I will be a body first and foremost. That’s fine. I’ve got it, so I’ll freely use it if I want! If some European playgirl wants to throw a fifth of a mil to fuck me whenever she desires, then I’ll damn well let her! Who the hell are you to get in the way of that?”
They stared each other down. June knew she had crossed a line, but her honor prevented her from immediately apologizing. She could be impertinent like that.
She could also be really,reallydefensive, even if she didn’t know why.
“I’m your boss,” Monique 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 woman’s… wallet.”
“I sure can, but is it worth the fallout between you and these two?”
“What are you talking about? Sette needs me to be her muse before anything else.”
The façade surrounding Monique finally wore 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 ladies are both fantasizing about marrying you.”
“What are you talking about?” June flung herself against the couch, the energy transference jostling Monique where she sat. “Miquela is a playgirl who fucks anything that turns her on, and Sette is… well, she’s Sette. She’d rather lock herself up in her studio than ever deal with a wife. She saw enough of that shit in her old practice.”
“If you can’t at least see that Dr. Christie wants you more than she wants her own life, then you are seriously delusional.”
“Fine.” Back me into a corner, why don’t you? “Whatever you say.”
Monique 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, June.”
“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.” June stormed across her room. Not that she knew where the hell 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 anyone, let alone them. They’re clients. Full stop. My job is to make them think I love them so they pay me more money. See? It works.”
Monique slowly folded up her paper, head bent. “Starting today,” she said, “You are to serve no clients but Dr. Christie and Ms. Bolivar.”
The room turned so still that June thought she had died.
“What?”
“You heard me.” Monique’s voice remained soft even after June’s outburst. “Until the wedding. At the wedding, I will inform Ms. Bolivar of her good fortune, if you want.”
“Of course it’s what I want.” June couldn’t let go of the other thing. “I want the woman 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 Monique again. “Don’t you know I need the money?” Her parents’ debt wasn’t going to pay for itself.
“I said no services. You can still entertain. Just no sex of any kind.”
“Why?”
