Diamond by Tigris Eden

like the last girl, and she definitely wasn’t interested in Lavarious Diamond. Not in that way. He was a means to an end. She’d do what she needed to do in order to secure a patron for Anna and her daughter. Diamond saw her as his possession. A thing to get whatever it was he wanted. She was to be used for profit. He’d made his desires very clear, and if he thought for even a moment she’d fall for him, he was wrong.
    “That won’t be a problem. What kind of training.”
    “Depends.”
    The door swung open and Diamond walked in with Emerald and Lindy.
    “Change of plans,” he snapped. “The girl needs street clothes, and I want her to have at least a knife. We’re going out.”
    “Out? Why are we going out?” Nadya questioned. Why did they need to leave the Quarry? Something must have gone wrong. The hair on her arms stood on end. It was a clear sign bad things were about to happen.
    “Amethyst is busy at the moment. Lindy wasn’t able to catch up with her, so we’re heading out to Inwood to retrieve your mother and your sister. But if they hold no value to me, I don’t care if you have a hundred patrons lined up and ready to sponsor your pussy and your family. They will not have the protection of the Quarry, and you will not only owe me, you will be permanently employed with no chance of release.”
    There were words she wanted to say but couldn’t because her mind had gone completely blank. Diamond believed he would own her. She could see it in the way his eyes tracked her movements. Who the fuck did he think he was? She was so having that heart to heart with him. Soon. It wouldn’t happen yet, she had to stick to her plan—get Anna and Dominika a patron. But after, she could go about her business of systematically taking down the Towers one building at a time, saving the Quarry for last. It was the only lasting memory she had. A directive. Take out the Towers. She didn’t know why, but it kept her moving forward.
    “I didn’t agree to those terms.”
    The air in the room changed temperature with his attitude. Diamond’s eyes narrowed. Nadya was aware she had nothing to protect herself with. She wasn’t weak by any stretch of the imagination, but Diamond didn’t know that. He didn’t need to know that. But if she had to defend herself, she’d take his ass out now and deal with the repercussions after.
    “Never asked you to agree to anything. You came to me, not the other way around. I already explained this once, and only because you’re new, I’ll explain it one more time. I get what I want, or you can turn your ass around and beat feet back to Inwood. My job is to turn a profit, not run a family institution complete with pick-up service. Any other girl that came in here with that sad sob story would have been out on their ass faster than you could say, ‘I remember when corn tasted like sunshine.’”
    Corn tastes like sunshine? Huh?
    Diamond’s eyes traveled the length of her body. Slow at first. If she didn’t know better, she would have assumed it was lust she saw in the depths. It wasn’t. Diamond was exploring his investment, making plans for her body. His eyes roamed from the top of her head to the bottom of her feet. Nadya realized she was only wearing a towel. It barely covered her chest and the thatch of hair between her thighs. The lower portion of her new ink was on full display. His eyes lingered there the most. Something warm slivered around her waist and squeezed. She didn’t know what the feeling was, but she didn’t like it. It was foreign and awakened her nerve endings with a jolt of electricity.
    “Nordas, get her some street clothes.”
    “Right. She’s petite but muscular. I think we have something to fit her.”
    “I want her in boots too, no heel.”
    “Got it.”
    Nordas, who was the girl with the pink hair, nodded and left to find Nadya some clothes that matched Diamond’s description. All they needed to do was give her back what she’d come in with