Syndicate of Sin

Chapter 4

In exchange for one million dollars, Sage Stonewell agrees to be a plaything for Laila and Constantino Buratti for the term of one year. She must acclimate to the Burattis’ lifestyle of travel and luxury during the term of this agreement.

In exchange for one million dollars, Sage Stonewell agrees to be a plaything for Laila and Constantino Buratti for the term of one year. She must acclimate to the Burattis’ lifestyle of travel and luxury during the term of this agreement.I sucked in a sharp breath and continued reading the lengthy contract that detailed everything that I would have to do as their toy, including a list of kinks that each of them wanted to explore with me or that they would be participating in with each other.

On the last page, they had left space for me to write my kinks.

Swallowing hard, I glanced around the office and inched closer to my desk. It was ten in the morning on Friday, and I had already finished my work for this week, which meant that I had the next six hours to stare at this contract.

Like I had been doing for the past week.

But I had been way too nervous. I hadn’t even returned any of Austin’s phone calls. Not that I even wanted to get back together with him after he left me to fend for myself at the club on Friday. He had just wanted some p***y.

I continued down the page.

Shared Kinks: weapon play, domination, oral, anal, toys, b**m of all kinds (with the exception of watersports or scat play), name-calling, degrada—

Shared Kinks: weapon play, domination, oral, anal, toys, b**m of all kinds (with the exception of watersports or scat play), name-calling, degrada—“Sage?” my boss called, peering out of his office.

After quickly hiding the contract in the hundreds of papers on my desk, I grabbed my iPad with the designs on it for the upcoming project and hurried to his office. I had been working all week on creating the best artwork for an upcoming animated streaming romance series.

But it had been hard to focus. So hard.

Once I stepped into the office, the balding man stood behind his desk and nodded to the door. I closed it behind me and walked to the chair in front of him, placing the iPad on my thighs and remembering how it had felt when Laila put her hands there.

We sat in silence for a couple of moments until he sat down and sighed.

“There’s no easy way to say this, Sage. I know we just hired you a few of months ago, but”—my boss grimaced and shook his head—“the company ordered me to lay off people on the design team.”

My eyes widened. “Wh-what?”

This had been my dream job. I had spent over a hundred thousand dollars in college to perfect my art skills and get a degree so a studio of this scale would even recognize my work in a sea of amazing artists.

Everyone had called me stupid for going to art school, but it had landed me a job here.

What would I tell my family? That I was now hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt with no job, only to hear them say, I told you so?

I told you so“Please pack up your desk and hand in your iPad by the end of the workday.”

Tears forming in my eyes, I gave him the iPad and stood. My chest tightened.

Why? Why is this happening?

Why? Why is this happening?I walked out of his office with a shattered heart and moved aimlessly toward my desk, feeling so numb. Once I made it to the small cubicle, which really hindered all sense of creativity, I gathered my belongings.

No way would I wait until the end of the day.

If they were firing me, then I would leave now. I grabbed all the things that I had brought to work over the course of the last month—all the papers and pictures of my family, the cute knickknacks sitting in the cubicle corner.

And then … I grabbed the manila folder with the contract.

I peered down at it and swallowed hard.

One million dollars per year.

That was how much the Mafia boss and his wife had offered me to be their toy. They wanted me to live in their home, sleep in their bed, and submit to them on my hands and knees at a moment’s notice. The deal was to do whatever they wanted sexually and nothing more.

But no strings attached never worked out.

It would be enough to pay back my student loans, not default on any money owed to the bank. I would be able to finally buy an iPad of my own and draw all day long without the need to sell my soul to some studio.

Of course, the money wasn’t legal, and the job came with countless cons. If anyone found out about me, I’d be harassed by the cops, targeted by rival families, and seen as nothing more than a filthy, easy slut by the Buratti relatives.

But I’d be under Constantino’s protection. And Constantino didn’t take anyone’s s**t.