The King and the Courtesan Read Online Free PDF

throw us out
.
    This had to be a dream. Or a nightmare. I could not be riding in a car with someone as awe-inspiring as he was terrifying, someone who could afford every prostitute in the city, on the same night, ten times over. Maybe twenty times over. I had no clue how much Ezekiel was actually worth. I only knew his reputation.
    “Then, um, what exactly
do
you want?”
And why me
?
    Ezekiel didn’t answer for a long time, instead turning to the window and looking out until his whole face seemed frozen. Only when I began to wonder if he had turned to stone did he turn back to me.
    “Women is one vice I never understood,” he said. “Oh, I can see the allure of sex. I understand that quite completely. What I never understood were the men like Blade, who actually take the time to entertain women before and after sex.”
    Not really
, I thought bitterly. Not much entertaining went on, at least not with me.
    “Because the women who come to men like me are…intolerable. They have no objective, only to be parasites, to eat away at wealth until their bellies are full. Tell me, Melissa. How can women further my investments? My ambitions?”
    “I guess—I guess we can’t.”
    “Exactly. They weigh you down. I’ve spent much of my life separating myself from primitive desires like sex and women. They make you weak. They cloud your judgment.” He pinched his sleeve and straightened it. “The same goes for gambling and alcohol. I am a rich man because I worked at it. Rich men,
true
rich men, invest money in such things as art and businesses. I invest in sure things. I invest in beautiful things. I invest in unique things.” With this, he offered me a small smile.
    I waited for him to make his point. It was going to pop up sooner or later.
    “However, as time has passed, I’ve found that even I cannot completely reject all base desires. Lately they’ve been so strong that some capitulation is in order. So I’ve started searching for a woman who would best suit my needs. But most of the women I meet are the parasites I described—no class, no reservations. Above all else, I consider myself a man of class. And a man of…unique tastes.”
    Any time now
.
Tell me what I have to do with this
.
    “I’ve done some soul searching, and I believe I’ve identified the qualities I appreciate in the opposite sex. And you’ve got them, Melissa.”
    I blinked at him slowly.
What
? “But…what?”
    “I know my way around an investment, and I’m rather accurate in predicting its future and worth.”
    I was sure this guy was crazy, but he had money, and not the kind you sneezed at. I’d play along if it meant a big paycheck. “What does this mean to me?”
    “I think you are the diamond I’ve been looking for.”
    Definitely crazy, but I’d suffered worse. “A diamond? Are you sure?”
    “Surprised?”
    “I’m—I don’t see it.”
    “That’s part of the lure. Humility.”
    This was coming from a man who probably had less humility than Blade. But I suppose two egos
would
be a bad match. I could only stare at him speechlessly, still unable to comprehend. Maybe I should have been flattered, but I really wasn’t. He was playing with my mind. He wanted something from me, and he was too proper to ask it straight out.
But what could I give him
? He already told me he didn’t want the services of a prostitute. I was still doubtful of that one.
    “I suppose it was your physicality that interested me at first,” he said, ignoring my bug-eyed stare. “Many men prefer busts. Am I right?”
    “I-I suppose.” I was stuttering, damn it. I really had to stop, unless I wanted him to think I was an inarticulate moron. But he couldn’t be expecting much, picking up whores in the heart of Metro.
    “I don’t consider myself that kind of man. I think breasts appeal to men’s most primitive desires. And I am a man who can rise above such vulgarities.”
    “So if it isn’t my boobs, it’s…?”
    “Your legs.” He showed