The Cunning (18+)

38

A layer of smoke made the living room look foggy.

"Where's Janine?" Madison asked. No one had said anything in the few minutes she had been downstairs which put her on edge. Jase's demeanour was different, he seemed bored. All the alarms were going off but she couldn't pinpoint what was making her so uncomfortable. This was not the Jase she had woken up next to.

"She's not coming," he said. Madison swallowed, bringing her feet up on the sofa, tucking her knees under her chin. He was too calm. The knock on the front door made her jump. Jase didn't take his eyes off Madison as Sam went to answer it, inviting the caller in.

Sam told the stranger to sit on the other side of the sofa. He wore an ill-fitting grey suit, appearing both young and old, with tiny ice-blue eyes behind square glasses and skin pitted from years of acne. Madison looked at his hands; he was wiping sweat on his thighs. She wondered if Jase made everyone this nervous or if it was this guy's first time in a brothel. Either way, she was glad she wasn't the only one suffering the intimidating heat of Jase's gaze.

"Hello, I'm Toby-" the stranger introduced. Jase finally looked away from Madison to Toby.

"I know who you are. What are you looking for?" Jase leaned forward, tapping ash in the tray on the coffee table. Toby laughed uneasily, rubbing the back of his neck. This was definitely his first time around someone like Jase, Madison decided. It was written all over his leaking face.

"I'm not actually here for me. It's for my boss." No one said anything, and he proceeded. "He wants a girl, a young girl. Preferably blonde, small..." His eyes drifted down to his hands. Madison's stomach twisted at his choice of words.

Jase sat back. He liked the silence between them. He liked watching people squirm. The hit of dopamine from the power trip reminded Jase why he had initially enjoyed working for Benny, relished in it even. He hadn't felt that in a while.

Those moments with Madison had started to make him question whether he still wanted to do all of this. Jase had felt nothing watching the body drop to the floor last night, blood pooling beneath the man's head, his ankle spasming. But he was no longer bored. Last night had confirmed that he did indeed want to continue his role in the house and he couldn't risk that by being too involved with Madison. The boundaries needed resetting.

She had almost had him and the worst part was - she knew it.

"What about her?" Jase asked, nodding at Madison. Her eyes widened, the colour draining from her face. She was unsure if she'd heard him right, the blood had rushed to her ears, and a painful pressure built in her forehead. The shock on her face confirmed Jase's suspicions; she thought she was no longer on the shelf.

He was beginning to think the question she'd asked that morning, about when she started working, wasn't out of fear or an acceptance of her fate. It was to gauge his reaction, and he'd told her exactly what she wanted to hear.

Jase's face remained impassive as all the dots connected. On the inside, he was burning with rage, at himself or Madison, he was unsure. There was a lot of second-guessing.

She wasn't celiac, he'd already figured that. And she had obviously befriended Janine in a bid to syphon information out of her, but there was nothing Janine could tell her that was helpful. That he was aware of, at least. What else had she done to fool him? How far had he allowed the deception to go? Who was Madison, and why did she know how to pick locks? Why was she not worried about the fact that no one was looking for her? Why had he not considered these questions more seriously when they had first arisen?

The paranoia goaded his temper.

Toby turned his attention to Madison, looking every inch as guilty as he was. He frowned. "Could you stand up?" She looked at Jase.