Page 83 of Bought

This time he did smile, and I felt something in my chest shudder with delight. I loved how I could get a smile out of him. It felt like a victory.

At that moment my phone, which I’d left on the couch cushions, lit up with a call. Reflexively I glanced at it and went cold all over.

It was the Hamilton contact calling me.

Fox noticed my tension immediately and he glanced at the phone too. Then he released me, picked up my phone and without another word, hit the answer button. “This is Tennyson Fox,” he said icily. “Zara will not be completing the task you set her, nor will she be having any contact with you or anyone else in the Hamilton family. If you need anything from her, in the future you will go through me.” Then he hit the disconnect button and dropped the phone back on the couch.

I stared at him, part of me unhappy at how he’d answered my phone without even asking me if he could, while another part was secretly thrilled at the protective way he’d dealt with them. “I could have handled that,” I said. “I didn’t need you to do it for me.”

“I know you didn’t. But since I’m here, I handled it and now you don’t have to.” His expression intensified. “You’re my sub, Zara, and your difficulties are my responsibility. I will handle them as I see fit, understood?”

It was reflexive to fight him, I realized, to protest at the way he took charge. But it was an old reflex and one I didn’t want anymore. Because I wanted him to take charge, to handle things for me, to take care of me. That’s why I was here, why I hadn’t left. It wasn’t only the money, it was him. And I didn’t have to fight him anymore.

“Yes, Sir,” I said breathlessly, relaxing into his care.

“Which reminds me. I have transferred money into your account, all of what the Hamiltons owe you.”

I blinked. So. It was mine now. I could go to Greece at last. I could go to Santorini. I could leave New York, leave my past behind, leave everything behind. Start a new life.

What about him?

My heart twisted painfully. If I left for Greece, I’d leave him behind, because after all, we’d made no promises to each other. He’d said he was going to keep me until we both got sick of it and who knew how long that would be? Not long, I was thinking.

You want it to be, though.

I shoved the thought away. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“It’s money you were owed, and I paid you in good faith. It should be yours, not the Hamiltons.”

“Money I was only going to get if I did something that would betray you.”

He lifted one powerful shoulder then reached for me again, pulling me close. “But you didn’t betray me. And you had plans for that money, I bet. It’s not as if you were doing it purely for the pleasure of taking me down.”

“No, I suppose not.” I stared at the buttons of his shirt in front of me. “I was planning on leaving New York. I always wanted to go to this Greek island, Santorini. I thought, once I got the money, I’d go there.”

“Santorini? Why?”

I toyed with one of his buttons, not wanting to meet his gaze in case he saw the reluctance in my eyes, the pain at the thought of leaving him.

“I had a couple of magazines when I was a kid,” I said. “And there was a travel feature on Santorini in one of them. When Dad was shouting and smashing things, I used to go hide in my room and look at the pictures of the white houses and blue water. I used to imagine I was there and not in a shitty apartment with an evil monster for a dad.”

He was silent a moment and then his finger was beneath my chin, gently but firmly tilting my head back. His gaze was very steady. “You’ll get to Santorini, Zara. I’ll make sure you do.”

The words had the force of a vow, a solemn promise, and my heart twisted a little more. “What about you? What about the Hamiltons and them threatening you?”

“I’ll deal with them in due course.”

“But I don’t need to go yet, though,” I said before I could stop myself. “I can stay with you for a bit longer, right?”

Something flickered in his eyes, something I couldn’t read, and abruptly he released me. “Zara….” He stopped and it looked as if a weight had descended on him.

I felt cold suddenly. “What? What’s wrong?

He looked away and ran a hand through his black hair, and the cold feeling deepened. He never looked away first. Never.

“Actually… I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to stay.”

My stomach dropped away. I didn’t know what I’d expected him to say, but it wasn’t that. “But I thought we were going to continue on until we were sick of each other.”