Motown Breakdown (Motown Down #4) (22 page)

I wanted to meet the guy and get myself sold.

But not forever, just for like a month.

You know, for research.

And if I got some travel, good sex, and a book out of the deal? I wasn’t complaining.

The guy I mentioned? The one who interviews you? Yeah well, I’ve seen him around, right? He’s scary pretty. He’s also the real deal. He kills people and he
likes
it. He struts when he walks like he left his conscience at home with the babysitter. It’s a struggle for me to even walk straight let alone strut but this guy with his good hair, designer clothes, and fleet of cars is my ticket to a new life.

Just for like a month though because I had a thing about commitment.

This morning Luna’s personal items were delivered to the home she now shared with Crews. Even though it was only two days ago that I dropped my wife off at another man’s home, it felt like a lifetime and it was oddly freeing. For once, I did something decent, for someone else, for Luna. I promised myself this wouldn’t become a habit. Since our marriage wasn’t legal, I wouldn’t have to do any court bullshit but I did set her up with enough money to live comfortably on for the rest of her life. Fuck knows she bled for it, earned the right to every last fucking penny of it, and did it all to set me up to take over.

In my world, a brand and a few words are all it takes to make the bond official. Unless you pulled the stunt I just did, you didn’t divorce. Get murdered (it happens), die (never know) or are given to another (rare, but it’s always on the table) you stayed together regardless. The issue was, my wife didn’t love me. Not that I made it easy for her, I didn’t because I treated it, her, like a business. I had to treat it like a business. If I had truly loved her, we’d have never pulled it off. I’d have been too focused on her to be effective. Sadly, her entire life had been ruled by Marco and then myself. Figures that I set her up for freedom, to live away from her father, allow her to breathe, and she falls for the construction worker across the hall.

In my world there’s loyalty and then there’s Luna Bella. The tiny hellion would have stayed with me; she would have made me happy too. But it was I who would ruin her and I couldn’t do it. She’d sacrificed a lot for me to run a business she hated, so I gave her to the man who would make her happy. Letting her go wasn’t easy because I genuinely loved her. For a guy who never loved anything, that said something. But I wasn’t
in
love with her and I knew it.

Giving her to Crews was such an honorable thing for me to do, I decided it made up for never going to church. And when I gutted a traitor after dinner tonight, it would be overlooked because I was absolved. Seriously, I should do shit like this more often.

30 days starts now…

Who tries selling themselves on a Saturday? Checking my calendar for author related events like takeovers, virtual release parties and edits, Saturday worked best for me. I had a feeling this guy worked seven days a week, so I had the cab drop me off two blocks down. With one computer bag and a duffel with my things, I walked the rest of the way to the building that wasn’t really a building at all. From here, I could see it was at one point a factory of some sort but it had a house off the back, garages and possibly offices. It was a mix that didn’t make sense, but then again, it didn’t need to. Behind those walls was my inspiration, which meant I gave not one shit about its architecture. Passing the junk yard next to it, the second I stepped foot on the asphalt I knew I was being watched. That’s fine, I mean its good business, right? Better safe than stabbed to death.

I liked this side of town though, it had history. The apartment I rented faced the Detroit River and day after day of staring at water was just that. Staring at water I couldn’t swim in.
Oh look a boat, wow
… My muse hated the river, it made her queasy. So a break from a stomach ache and her bitching was more than welcome. When I made it to what looked like a door, but might have been a decoy because the knob didn’t match the hinges, I raised my fist to knock. A deep voice came over the speaker startling me but I played it super cool. Hoisting my bags up, when he asks me what I want I tell him simply, “I need to speak with the man in charge of setting me up with a new life.”

“We’re closed, fuck off.”

“No can do,” I tell the speaker. “I brought my overnight bag and everything, I’m afraid you’re stuck with me. Have you had dinner yet? If not, I’m hungry.”

“Woman,” he says annoyed. “Leave, before I make you leave.”

“It’s you, isn’t it?” I say sticking my face in the speaker as if that would help me see him. “You’re the guy I saw shoot Deuce between the eyes, that was righteous by the way. He was an asshole. Let me in, we can talk about it.”

“You are either exceptionally dense or extremely brave.”

“Those are my choices?” I roll my eyes. “I’m not dense or brave, more like creative and clumsy. Listen, I want to make you a deal. At least hear me out before shooting me. It’s fucking epic, I promise. And, I’m super
fun
.”

When the door clicked I knew it was a decoy when the side opened and not the front. Like a secret passage and very Bond. When the speaker appeared I swallowed hard. He was bigger in person,
way
bigger in person. Whoever did his hair probably had a license and everything.
Too beautiful
, that’s what my head was saying.
Ride him
, that’s what my body was saying. I’m tall, he’s really tall. Dark everything. Eyes, hair, aura… he even smells dangerous. Momma liked danger and my muse liked cock, personally I didn’t see how we could lose. Smiling big, I stick my hand out while he just stares at it. “Your bags,” he says in a deep menacing voice. “Give them to me.”

Oh, that’s easy enough. Tossing them, I sent one flying with too much enthusiasm and hit him in the stomach. He looked down at it then up at me and says, “Pick the bag up and
hand
it to me.”

“Are your hands broken?”

“Excuse me?” he says rifling through my computer bag uncaring of its contents.

Lifting up my brand new MacBook Air, I panicked. “Please,” I rush out. “Be careful. You literally have my life in your hands right now.”

“Do I?” he says casually but there was nothing casual about it and we both knew it.

“You want to do this here then,” I mumble. God, he was flipping it around like he expected it to turn into a Transformer… “You match women up with compatible men, don’t deny it because I do thorough research. Outside of your name, I know pretty much everything about you and this business.”

“Then I should probably kill you now,” he says stuffing my laptop back in the bag. To kill me, he’d need both hands free, got it. Actually, this was good material and stored it away for later.  Man, this guy was a pro!

“Or,” I offer, moving closer, you know to show him I’m serious and not sniff him. Catching the lip of the step pitched me forward into his arms but sent my bag to the ground. Crawling over to get it, I sling it back over my shoulder and start again. “Or, you can get to know me and find me my match. But only for thirty days though, I have a deadline and I’m not looking to make this a career choice.”

“Question you?” he asks staring down at me. “Thirty days?”

“Yeah, I’ve got thirty days to spend with someone. My muse works fast, just a month, right? If he’s attractive we’ll hook up, I get it. It comes with the job, plus it’s been a while for me, if you catch my drift.” So the snorting was a bit over the top but most everyone found me hilarious, minus this guy of course. “I’ll even pay the commission if that spices up the deal but she’s bitchy and I need this to happen
now
.”

“Who’s bitchy?”

“My muse,” I annunciate slowly. Was he listening at all?

“You want to be matched with the male of
my
choosing,” he says and I nod. “And you’d fuck him?” nodding again I was wondering if should ask for his manager. “For thirty days?”

“That sums it up.”

“Come in,” he says smiling. It really was a nice smile. If you’re into the sinister grin, this guy had it on lock. When the door clicked, I had a strong feeling that thirty days was about to become non-negotiable and stored that tactic away for later too.
 

Escorting her into my office, I relieve her of her luggage and show her to a seat. She actually fucking packed a bag…Unreal. When I saw her clumsily walking up the drive, my dick started to swell. There was something about her, forget that she was smoking hot… That wasn’t it. No, she had an agenda. I liked women with an agenda. Luna always had one and I liked figuring out what it was. At first, you’d think she was honest to God stupid, but she wasn’t. Whatever that computer held is what drove her. She was tall, five nine easy. Not thin, but toned. Her face, flawless with very little makeup. Tits, big and heavy. Her eyes, no bullshit they saw everything and they were a deep brown. She was a woman to watch so she didn’t knife you in the gut. Because I knew a crazy when I saw it, and this female was nuts.

She also wanted to belong to someone for thirty days. She was willing to fuck for thirty God damn days, no questions asked. She needed a male, turns out I was a male and I would make sure we were compatible. One thing this mystery woman would find out was no one walks away from this. Once you’re sold, your life is no longer your own, unless your owner says otherwise. Letting Luna go to find her own happiness was a serious blow to my ego, even if it was the right thing to do. This woman would be the perfect distraction and the timing was excellent. This situation was further proof that not only was there a God, but that he clearly liked me despite my aversion to holy places.

“Give me your wallet,” I tell her. Tossing it to me was her intent but she threw it wild like it was the first pitch at the fucking Tiger’s home opener going right over my head. Picking it up from the floor, I flip through it and freeze up at her name.

“Your name is Sunshine?”

“Call me Sun, or we’ll have words,” she says crossing her long legs. “I
’m an open book but not really. I’m an author, but no one close to me knows that.  Anyway, I write romantic suspense and I want a best seller. To do that, I need an adventure, something my readers will know is all me and totally over the fucking top. My previous books have done well but plenty of authors write similar stories. I want the story that hasn’t been written. Like I said, I’ve got thirty days to spare. I’ve got a passport, I can relocate, but I have to be able to write. Do you have anyone in mind that would fit the bill?”