Page 76 of Brutal

I sigh and settle in against his side. “Where would I go? Over the yacht railing and into the ocean?”

“The other bedroom,” he says, tugging me close to him like he thinks I really will go into the other room. He’s not wrong to assume that I might do just that, but I stay anyway. “But I’m glad you’re staying.” He yawns. “Fuck, I’m tired. You tired?”

“I’m tired,” I agree, reaching for some tissues so I can wipe myself clean. He reluctantly lets go of me so he can do the same.

When he’s done—and I’ve removed my nice sundress—I lay down half on top of him and stare him in the eyes. “Drake… I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m not making any promises. I can’t stop you from doing anything.” I stop, stumbling over the words in my mind. “But I was serious that if you want… if you want me, and not some nebulous idea of who you think I am, you have to listen to me. Respect me. Treat me like a real fucking person and not a toy.”

He looks at me, and I can see the conflict in his own expression. I’m not sure he even knows how to do what I’m asking, but he nods anyway. “I’ll do better,” he promises.

I think he means what he’s saying, but I’m not sure he can actually do it. All I can really do is wait and see.

CHAPTER 19

Drake

I pull Mimosa closer to me and kiss her neck. I’m still groggy, and with the curtains fully closed, it’d be easy to pretend that there are days left of my vacation instead of a short couple of hours.

I can’t believe how fast these two weeks went by.

I wish we were still on the yacht, and that there was nobody else in the world except for the two of us. I sure as fucking hell don’t want to get out of bed now and go into the office. I’d peeked at my emails last night, and there are three hundred new messages.

At least Caroline did take care of most of them, as she’d promised, but there’s a mountain of work waiting for me.

Mimosa makes an adorable little sound and rolls her shoulders.

I kiss her bare shoulder and place my hand over her breast.

Maybe there’s time for a quickie, or I can just blow off work entirely, or?—

“What time is it?” Mimosa asks. “Don’t you have work today?”

“Way to be a buzzkill, Mimi,” I mutter sourly, but I still massage her breast with my hand. Maybe she’ll forget about work, or she’ll think about something else entirely. I haven’t been forcing her to do anything she doesn’t want to do — which means we aren’t having sex as often as I’d like — but she’s not refusing me either.

Mimosa rolls over so she’s facing me, and I take the opportunity to kiss her. I can’t get enough of her lips… or her eyes, or her adorable nose, or the way her blue hair falls across her face, or…

She kisses back, and I sigh happily, pushing unpleasant thoughts aside.

Until she breaks the kiss and gives me that piercing look of hers. “What time is it? Just so we know how late you’re going to be, and how many people you’re pissing off.”

“I’m going to piss them off no matter what I do,” I mutter, but I know she’s right. I can’t afford to annoy anyone else, not when I’ve already pushed them this far. Caroline had made herself pretty fucking clear when she’d said the shareholders weren’t thrilled with me, but I don’t know how I’m going to get through the day without Patrick’s drugs.

Fuck.

I might have a few left, though.

I get out of bed, going to my safe and punching in the code.

“What’s the combination?” Mimosa asks from the bed.

I startle, looking up at her. “Why?” I ask, feeling self-conscious as I input the last digit. “You don’t need to get in here.”

She shrugs. “Just wondering if you’d give it to me.” She gets out of bed and pulls on my robe, which has been hanging on the clothing stand next to the bathroom for probably the past year. Then she walks over to the window and pulls the curtain open, letting in the morning light.

The sun is only just beginning to rise, which means it’s not as late as I thought it was.

We could definitely fuck around for a little bit. It’d be nice to start the day like that.

I reach into the safe, but the bottle is empty. I curse, but I realize I haven’t been needing it, which is… strange. Something about Mimi has a calming effect on me.