Chapter 21 - Failed Negotiations

"You're not really cut out to negotiate."
Damon sat on the couch, looking very relaxed, and he pointed out my problem directly.
Compared to Damon's relaxation, I was already nervous to the point of scratching my skirt.
He was right, I really wasn't cut out to negotiate.
I suddenly didn't know how to talk.
Damon saw my dilemma and suddenly laughed out loud, "It's okay, you can go ahead and say what you think."
I was a little chagrined that I should have listed these demands first and brought them directly to him, so that he wouldn't catch a break.
"We are only in need of each other, and I don't need any commission, so I am free and I need to continue working here."
I wasn't sure if Damon understood what I was saying.
"I understand. I'll pay you, and you quit your job."
Damon was smart enough to instantly understand what I was trying to say.
"So you need to sign a contract with me." I nodded in agreement with what Damon had said.
He looked up, his eyes narrowed to slits so I couldn't see his emotions, and his tone was filled with danger: "You don't trust me?"
Not intimidated by Damon, I also upturned the corners of my mouth and asked him in return, "Do you trust me?"
"Of course not."
We smiled at each other; it's the conversation between two smart people that can make things more efficient.
"So, what about the price?"
After negotiating for so long, I finally remembered the most important point.
Damon was just about to say something when he paused while I couldn't see his expression, but felt as if he had reverted to the aura he had when I first met him.
There was a super low temperature emanating from his body that made you want to stay away.
"Here's a check for $100,000, a deposit of sorts, and the exact amount will be discussed tomorrow when we bring in the contract."
Damon pulled out a stack of checks from a briefcase, tore one out and handed it to me, once again putting the checkbook back in the bag.
I took the check and looked at it in my hand in disbelief.
"You'll meet me here tomorrow with the contract."
Damon was like a monarch who was barking orders at me.
I was disgusted by this tone of voice, which my father always used to speak to me at home.
"You're ordering me around?" I snapped up to Damon's face and looked closely into his mesmerizing eyes.
"Don't ever try to order me around, ever!" I warned him, my tone very agitated.
Damon narrowed his eyes at me and I smelled danger, but I couldn't back down.
"I pay you, you're in my employ, and you're supposed to do what I tell you."
He was right, and I bowed my head in some frustration; I needed the money, so I was at his mercy, something I couldn't deny.
"But you are special to me, so I can give you the right to resist."
Damon lifted my head so I was looking him straight in the eyes, and every word he said made me feel uncomfortable like a master treating his pet.
"I will not take orders from anyone, this is added to the contract, otherwise the negotiations end here."
My attitude was so forceful that Damon flashed his dismay, looking like he hadn't met anyone who would defy his wishes.
"Did I mention that you are interesting and I hope you can always hold my interest." Damon clearly had a strong desire to conquer me.
"What else do you want?"
I didn't want to continue the conversation and tried to steer it back on track.
"Your name."
Damon held one hand to his chin and looked at me seriously.
"Lethal."
I broke away from his grasp and sat in the other corner of the couch, answering my moniker directly without any thought.
"You know that's not what I asked." Damon was obviously very dissatisfied with my answer.
How could I tell him my real name, I returned the question to him.
"You didn't tell me your name either."
"Damon Vandomhaven." He didn't hide his last name, but simply told me the full name of his first name.
I almost jumped up from the couch and looked at Damon incredulously.
The Vandomhaven family had been in control of the economic lifelines of half the country since the Middle Ages, and the current generation's head, Damon Vandomhaven, in particular, had brought the entire family to glory again.
Their business has now extended to overseas markets.
Now I finally understand why he can spend $100,000 just to see me have a private dance.
This money is just a drop of water in the ocean for him.
But it didn't matter, his status made me even more worried that my identity would be exposed faster by his presence.
"Your name."
Damon was still asking for my name, and I was even more convinced of the need to use a code name.
"Alice." I made up a random name, after all, we only needed a code name and I was just a physical companion to him.
"So Alice, do you know Alexander?"
Damon raised an eyebrow, clearly he didn't believe that was my name, but instead of breaking it down, he asked me another question.
"No." I had only met Alexander twice, and we hadn't crossed paths more than that, so I wasn't lying.
"You used a falsetto when you spoke to him," Damon said as he stood up and walked over to face me, propping one leg between mine and holding me in his arms with both arms on the back of the couch.
"No lying to me, this needs to be in the contract too."
His breath mixed with the faint smell of tobacco poured into my nostrils, making my mind a little dizzy.
"Alice, do you know him?"
Damon's face zoomed in front of me and I felt his lips about to touch mine.
"No, I've never met him, well ......"
Just as I finished speaking, Damon bit my lower lip so hard that tears flowed out of my eyes from the pain.
"I told you, no lying to me."
Damon used his warm tongue to lick the tears from the corners of my eyes, more tobacco flavor rushed from my nostrils into my brain and I felt like I was about to lose consciousness from the excitement.
Damon's hands began stroking my chest, waist, and near my thighs over and over again, and my skin began to burn as his fingers wandered.
"No, don't touch that!"
I was intoxicated by his caresses until Damon touched the silk thread that tied the mask and I instantly came to my senses.
I saw the look of horror on my face from Damon's instantly dilated pupils, an emotion that could not be concealed even with the mask on.
Just now the ambiguous atmosphere was all destroyed by me, Damon's face was very ugly.
I watched as he sat back down, and the root of his thighs, which had been reacting, was completely gone in a second like a balloon without air.
"Give me your phone number." Damon pulled his phone out of his pocket with great annoyance and handed it to me.
"Hmm?"
I didn't react to Damon's sudden change of topic.
Seeing that I didn't react, Damon shoved the phone into my hand.
"There's no password, save your number."
I easily opened Damon's phone screen and saw the wallpaper of the phone.
It was a woman with waist-length blonde hair, turquoise eyes, and a gentle smile on the corner of her mouth.
For a moment my heart stopped beating when I saw the screensaver.