Page 57 of The Don

“You said you’d pay for me to do anything.”

His intense stare cuts to my very soul. A part of me wants to squirm in the seat, but another part wants me to push him and see how far Ruben will go. I know I’m playing with fire, and I know what he says, goes. “If you want pole dancing lessons, then I’ll have a pole installed in my room and I’ll get you private lessons. By a woman. A heterosexual woman who isn’t looking at your body. I’ll buy every fucking outfit, every fucking pair of shoes, I’ll buy everything you fucking need, but you’ll never dance for anyone but me.” My heart jumps, and my mouth dries at his serious words. “Do you want to learn pole dancing, Amorina? If you do, I’ll have a teacher for you by the end of the day.”

I wasn’t expecting such a colorful and vivid response from Ruben. “Well.” I clear my throat and look down at my hands. I can feel my cheeks flush with heat, because now I think I want pole lessons. A wayward idea to challenge Ruben has become something I might actually want to do.

“Can I think about it?”

“Sure, but if it was up to me, I’d already be arranging for the pole.”

The smile on my face grows wider. I have nothing more to say. Instead, I stand from the chair and head out of his office. That certainly backfired on me. I close his door and hurry up to my room and lock myself in the library Ruben had built especially for me.

I sink to the oversized round sofa, and bury my face in my hands. “Oh my God,” I whisper to myself. Never in a million years did I ever think I’d ask for pole dancing classes. Heck, it’s never been something I’ve wanted to do.

But now, maybe it is.

I’ve spent the last three hours in the library, sitting by the open window with the sun streaming in and the air kissing my skin, enthralled with the book I’m reading.

Storm is asleep on the round sofa beside me. From time to time he turns to lie on his back, his front legs sticking out in front of him while his hind legs are spread open.

The door creaks open and Storm jumps to his feet, protectively standing in front of me. He instantly relaxes when Ruben enters the room. “Hey,” I say as I shove the bookmark into the book and close it.

“You have a phone call.” He holds the phone out to me.

Hesitantly, I take it. “Hello?”

“How’s my big sister?”

Relief floods me when I hear Rose’s voice. “I’ve missed you so much.” I look to see Ruben’s left the room, leaving me to speak with Rose in private. “How’s the honeymoon?”

“We’re cutting it short, so guess who’ll be home in two days? That would be us!”

“You’re coming home already?”

“Yeah, something about work. I don’t know. Dominic said he needs to be back for some meeting somewhere. I don’t know. I don’t ask questions.”

I laugh aloud. “You don’t ask questions? Really? You? The queen of wanting in on everyone’s business?”

“Pffft,” she scoffs dismissively. “Anywho, get your shit together because we’ll be home soon.” Oh, right. I wasn’t expecting that to happen yet. I guess I knew it was inevitable, but not so quickly. “Eliza?” Rose says when I don’t verbally respond.

“Ah-ha?” I squeak as I try to think about my choices. “Yeah, of course, I’ll be ready.”

It makes sense for me to leave; I was only ever a guest here. Ruben was doing Dominic a favor by allowing me to stay while they were on their honeymoon. “Yay!” she cheers enthusiastically. “At least I’ll be back before your birthday!”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.”

“Dominic’s hurrying me up because we’re going out for dinner and I need to get ready.”

“Oh, okay.”

“And he wants to have sex first.”

I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose. “Not what I wanted to know, but thanks for that.”

Rose laughs. “Love you.”

“Love you too.” I end the call and place the phone on top of my book. Storm is lying beside me, and I pet his dense fur. “I think I’m leaving soon, Storm.” He turns to look at me and nudges me with his wet nose. My shoulders slump and a feeling of sadness overtakes me. I spend a moment looking at nothing while I think about how I’m going to feel leaving Ruben’s home.

There’s a tight tingling in my chest and an ache in the back of my throat as I force myself to stand so I can let Ruben know that I’ll be leaving. I grip the phone in my hand and head down to his office. Storm follows behind as I nervously stand in front of his office door. With shaking hands, I knock once and wait for Ruben’s okay to enter. “Yes,” he says in his authoritative voice.