Page 93 of Bought

The collar settled around my throat, the weight so good. Right in a way I couldn’t describe. I touched it gently with my fingertips. I was never taking it off.

“I love it,” I said huskily, looking at him. “But what about you? You’ve done so much for me. Shouldn’t I get you a…a flogger keychain or something?”

He laughed, the sound shocking me with its warmth. I’d never heard him laugh and right then and there I decided I was going to spend the rest of my life trying to make him do it. “Actually,” he said. “I thought you could get me a wedding ring. And then maybe you’ll take me on a honeymoon. Perhaps to Santorini?”

The joy inside me burst apart flooding me with light. “You want to marry me? Really?”

“I’m not getting any younger, Zara. And I know we haven’t known each other long but—”

“Yes,” I interrupted, even though I knew it wasn’t allowed. “Oh my God, Sir, yes!”

His smile was like the summer sun, his blue gaze as deep and depthless as the sky. “Forever, Zara Bishop. That’s what I want.”

I lifted my hands, took his face between them and looked into his eyes. “Then that’s what you’ll have, Tennyson Fox,” I said.

So that’s what I gave him.

We haven’t looked back since.

EPILOGUE

Atlas

I sat in my site office staring at my phone. It was night — my favourite time of day — and I was catching up on some work AKA playing online chess. The person I was playing now had me backed into a corner with a tricky queen move, but I could see a way out. If you looked at any problem long enough, there was always a solution.

Sure enough, five minutes later, a text came through from a contact of mine that consisted entirely of a phone number.

My solution to the problem of the Hamiltons.

Ten had been distracted by the virgin he’d bought — I still hadn’t met her because for the past couple of days, he’d been as protective with her as a lion with its kill — and Caleb had his hands full with Ten’s daughter, Isabel.

No. I had no thoughts about that pairing. Or rather, I did. They just weren’t fit for public consumption. Not usually a concern of mine, but Caleb was a friend and though I knew he didn’t give a shit what I thought one way or another, there was no point being a needless asshole.

Anyway, the problem of the Hamiltons needed to be dealt with and so here was I, fucking dealing with it.

I put the number into my phone and waited for an answer.

“Mr Blackwood,” Charlotte Hamilton answered eventually. “This is a surprise.”

“Is it? You had a second sense that I would call or something?”

“Or something. You’re not that mysterious.”

I gave a short laugh. “You know why I’m calling then.”

“I have an inkling. You want to protect our mutual friend.”

“Ten is not your friend.” I leaned back in my chair. “Last I heard.”

“No, true. He’s not best pleased with me right now.”

I couldn’t be fucked with meaningless small talk, so I got straight to the point. “I’ll do it,” I said. “You need a baby daddy, so I’m your man.”

“A generous offer, Mr Blackwood. What makes you so sure you’re suitable?”

I wasn’t suitable, not at all, which was why this would work.

I lifted a shoulder. “Who else are you going to get? If you want a kid to bring up, linked to one of us, then I’m your only option.”