by Melody Anne
“I’ll repeat myself,” Max continued. “I think there’s more between you and Jewell than you’re ready to admit, and I won’t push you, but I will tell you to be careful. If you’re too cruel, you won’t stand a chance with her.”
“If I wanted counseling, I would seek out a professional,” Blake replied, and he looked at his watch for the hundredth time.
“Don’t worry; I throw in counseling services free of charge,” Max said with a grin.
“How about I pay you extra to keep your mouth shut?”
Max laughed. “You could try.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’ll soon grow weary of this woman and then I’ll send her on her way — in my own time, and without advice from you or anyone else.”
“Who are you trying to convince here, boss? Me? Or just yourself?”
“I don’t have to convince anyone,” Blake said, “and I don’t have to justify myself.”
“If that’s true, why are you getting so upset?”
“I’m not upset, Max,” Blake shouted. In any normal building, the walls would have been shaking visibly.
“Whatever you say, boss. But if you want some real advice, set her free, and then see if she still wants to be with you.”
“Set her free? Have you gone bonkers, Max? I just paid quarter of a million dollars for this woman,” Blake reminded him.
“So what? You have more money than any one person could ever possibly spend, and that bid counts as chump change to you. If you want to control her, go ahead and play this out any which way you want, but if you’re really interested in this woman, you’re going to have to change your strategy here.”
“I’m lost. What are you saying?” Blake followed Max’s lead and also began pacing the room. He shouldn’t even be listening to this, but he did have a lot of respect for this employee.
“Instead of owning her, offer her a job. Help her do the one thing she has been trying so hard to do,” Max said.
“A job?” Blake didn’t know what to think of his crazy driver now.
“Yes, a job. You have a lot of places where she could work. Give her a job,” Max said slowly.
“But she’s already mine.”
“For a month,” Max pointed out. “Are you so sure you can keep her after that?”
A month was a long time, dammit. In a month he could have her eating out of his hand. But then again, what if that weren’t the case? What if he still wasn’t finished with her in a month and then she disappeared forever? Geez; get a grip. Why was he even worried about it? It didn’t matter if that happened, right?
Right!
But he still couldn’t ignore what Max was saying.
“I’m going to get some paperwork done. Let me know when you’re ready to leave.” Max stood up and walked out of the room.
Blake sat back down, closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair. He wouldn’t need Max tonight. He would get to Jewell’s on his own. He certainly didn’t want to see the knowing look on his employee’s face again, or hear those lectures.
Yes, he knew if he told Max to stop doing it, the guy would indeed stop. But Max was the voice of reason for Blake when nothing else seemed to make sense. He didn’t want to silence the man. Well, maybe he wanted to silence him right now, and at any time when the subject was this woman. But overall, he needed one person he could talk to who wouldn’t hold anything back.
Though he’d spent only one week with Jewell, it had been a week that had affected him far more than he cared to admit, even to himself. The woman intrigued him, made him feel things he hadn’t ever felt before. But there was no way these feelings could last. He and she just had to play their story out, had to come to a satisfying ending. Once that happened — his hypothetical shrink would call it closure, no doubt — Blake would be able to let her go and never think of her again.
He hadn’t realized quite how great her impact on him had been until he’d started driving away from Relinquish Control three months ago and had seen the door she’d gone through, now closed and fading away in his taillights. The sick feeling in his gut should have made him steer clear of ever seeing her again.
But weren’t all men fools? His father sure as hell had been the biggest fool of them all, and his weakness for a woman had cost him his life. Blake wouldn’t ever be that weak. It was why he was so determined to purge Jewell from his system, and purge her he would.
Or maybe both of them were just fated for damnation.
Chapter Three
The world seemed to be rushing by in a blur. While the auction continued for the other girls, Jewell was rushed off the stage. She saw none of the money exchanging hands; she just felt her coat being placed on her shoulders as she was led out the back door to a waiting car.
“Where am I going? Who bought me?” she asked the alarmingly large man holding open the back door.
“I’m not at liberty to say,” he told her in a deep voice that was as terrifying as his size was. “Please get into the vehicle.”
He may have said please, but it was obvious the words weren’t a polite request. She had been paid for, and his boss, whoever he might be, wanted his merchandise now. Those long-threatening tears pressed even closer, and the burning grew more acute. But Jewell still fought to keep her outward composure.
She could try to run. It wasn’t likely that she’d get too far on the impractical heels she was wearing, but she could make a valiant effort. But then where would she be? Without any money or a place to live, and no closer to getting custody of her poor brother, a sensitive, grieving ten-year-old who was most likely stuck in a foster family from hell.
Yes, she could die. This man who had bought her could be a sovereign sheik from a foreign land who planned to enslave her, but wasn’t she already enslaved? Even if the chances of her getting out of this debacle unhurt were slim to none, at least she had a sliver of hope. And think how much had been bid for her! The fifty percent she’d get when the gig ended meant her beloved Justin would finally be hers.
That was the hope she held onto. That was the reason she finally climbed into the back of the car — an experience eerily like the first time she’d left the agency, when she’d been taken to Blake. She couldn’t help but think of the man as the car revved up and headed away from Relinquish Control.
Her biggest hope — and it couldn’t be very big — was to find that the man who bid on her was like Blake. That was nothing she would have thought to hope for when she’d first been with him. But though his demands had pushed her, and though he’d made her do things far from her comfort zone, he’d also made her go up in flames, made her desperate for more. She very much doubted she’d be so lucky with her new master, or whatever the hell she was supposed to call him. Those feelings, and men who inspired them, were surely rare.
Jewell leaned back in the plush leather seat and struggled to clear her head. This was all beyond her control, so what good would it do to worry herself any more than she already had? Whatever happened would happen, and she wasn’t going to let herself lament a fate when she didn’t know yet what it would be.
When the car stopped and her door was opened, Jewell looked up at the massive suit-covered chest of the man waiting for her step from the car. Her nerves were in such a state that her stomach wanted to heave, but there was nothing in her stomach anyway — she’d been unable to eat — so what good would it do her?
She climbed out and then stood there on shaky legs as the driver shut the door. What on earth was she supposed to do next? She half suspected that the man was enjoying the tension of the moment and had decided to draw it out to torment her.
“Here’s your key. Your apartment is on the fifth floor, unit 512. Have a nice evening.” With that, he walked around to the front of the car, got back inside and drove away.
Jewell wasn’t sure how long she stood on the street watching the taillights disappear, but when her feet began screaming — these nosebleed heels were killing her — and the evening chill started seeping throug
h her thin jacket, she turned and looked at the front of the apartment building.
A doorman stood silently next to an elaborate double door, his attention on her as he waited to see what she was going to do. Was this a joke? How did the man who’d purchased her know that she wouldn’t run?
That was a stupid question. The bidder knew she wouldn’t run, because if she did, she wouldn’t be paid. And he’d get a full refund anyway, so he could buy a new woman to slake his lust. Of course she was going to go inside; of course she was going to see what fate had in store for her.
With her head held as high as she could hold it, she approached the intimidating building. “Good evening, Ms. Weston,” the attendant said as he held the door open.
That stopped her, and she stared at him in surprise. “How do you know who I am?” As soon as the words came out, she once again felt unutterably foolish.
“Your driver informed me he would be bringing you by at this time,” the man replied in a professionally polite tone.
“Oh… That makes sense…” Jewell paused for a moment. “What’s your name?” The longer she delayed, the longer she could pretend she wasn’t a whore on the way to the sacrificial altar.
“My name is Flynn,” he said with what seemed to be a genuine smile.
“It’s very nice to meet you, Flynn. You can call me Jewell.” If she were going to be here for a while, she would probably grow to like the fellow.
“It’s nice to meet you, too,” he said, still holding open the door.
When she still hesitated, he added, “Can I help you with anything else?”
“I…um…haven’t been here before,” she admitted. Though she knew where she was supposed to go — unit 512 — she wasn’t sure how to get to the apartment from where she was now. She was embarrassed to admit that to him, because now he was sure to know exactly what she was and why she was there — to be someone’s call girl.
“That’s no problem, Ms. Weston. The key you have in your hand will give you access to the elevator over there to your right. Once you’re inside, insert the key in the slot and push your floor number,” he told her, his expression unchanging.
“Thank you, Flynn,” she said, and she finally walked inside, her eyes widening at the building’s luxurious lobby.
A security desk stood tall against the back wall; a man behind it was looking at monitors. Real live plants flanked a sitting area where comfortable tan leather chairs, currently empty, sat in a circle. The gray marble floors were freshly polished and shining, and the tall windows would bathe the room in light while the sun reigned in the sky.
Once she’d made it to the elevator, Jewell pushed the Up key, then had to wait only a few seconds before the doors opened and she was inside. Finding the slot for her key was easy. The doors shut and she was riding smoothly up to the fifth floor.
She arrived before she was ready and almost didn’t step off before the doors closed her back inside the metal box. Her knees shaking even more than before, Jewell crept down the wide carpeted hallway until she found the door to her apartment. She had no idea how long she’d been standing there before realizing that the key in her hand was nearly cutting her skin open because she was gripping it so tightly.
“It’s now or never. No matter how long you stand here, you’ll eventually have to see what’s on the other side of that door,” Jewell told herself just beneath her breath.
When she slipped the key into the lock, the door slid open easily, and she walked inside. The entryway was large and well lit, and as the door shut behind her, she stopped and listened for any sounds from within.
“Hello?” she called out, and then waited. No answer.
Could it be possible that no one was there with her? Why would someone spend two hundred and fifty thousand dollars and then not collect what was owed to him? It made no sense.
Her heart thundering, she slowly made her way deeper into the apartment, her stiletto heels clicking on the marble beneath her feet. The entry opened up into a large living room, completely furnished but lacking any personal touches.
Beiges and soft greens seemed to be the theme of the apartment. If she could decorate any way she wanted, it wouldn’t be what she chose, but she’d also never be able to afford a place this luxurious, and she wouldn’t complain about staying there. Well, she wouldn’t complain until she had to find out what the price — the barter price — was for her room and board.
“Hello?” she called out once more, but again only silence answered her.
She found a fully appointed kitchen, the stainless-steel fridge full of soda, juice, and perishables, the cupboards stocked, the newest and best small appliances sitting atop granite counters. An intimate table sat in the dining room, the welcoming seats of the chairs covered with a light green fabric.
She saw a hallway and moved down it, sure that it led toward the bedrooms, and instead encountered a set of open double doors with a soft light coming from the room behind them. Stepping inside, she froze.
She’d called out twice with no answer. But Jewell now knew she wasn’t alone.
The figure took its time turning toward her, and the color drained completely from Jewell’s face. She’d almost have preferred some sadistic sheik to the man now facing her, his eyes hard and unreadable, his muscles tight. He looked ready to pounce, and her throat closed with nervous tension.
“Good evening, Jewell. We meet again.”
Chapter Four
Shock…fear…relief…
Why was she feeling relief? No. She didn’t want to be with Blake Knight. Just the sound of his voice colliding with her already fractured nerves, and she was barely able to stand. A week she’d been with the man, just a week, and she had barely survived the ups and downs.
And now her sentence with him lasted for a month. Why had he bid on her? Why did he want her again when he’d dumped her so coldly and with such finality? He’d told her she was a liar, that he never wanted to see her again. Why would he have paid a quarter of a million dollars to take her back when he’d been the one to return her — as if she’d been defective?
Yet here he was, standing before her in all his dark glory, his custom suit molded to his shoulders, his gray eyes boring into hers, his very presence overwhelming her, making her knees shake.
Jewell finally managed to tear her gaze from his, and she looked around the room, a room that he seemed so out of place in. For a mere mortal like her, this place was elegant as sin, but the Blake Knights of the world lived on a far higher level.
Still, she had no chance of forgetting he was there. Without moving a muscle or saying a word, he commanded a room — commanded her — though she hoped to the highest reaches of heaven that he wasn’t aware of that fact. The man was so raw, so powerful. His presence seemed to suck all the air from the room.
When he took a step toward her, Jewell found herself riveted to the floor. Yet every instinct inside her told her to run, told her that retreat was her only option. She’d thought she’d seen the last of him. No matter how much she had tried to prepare for the new person who would be entering her life, she couldn’t have ever prepared for it to be Blake.
Her heart thudding violently, she watched his slow but deliberate approach and wondered whether she would pass out. It wouldn’t be surprising if she did; after all, she couldn’t breathe.
When his eyes caressed her body from the tips of her toes to what seemed like every last strand of her hair, a shudder passed through her. She was his property and he was assessing the merchandise, and though his expression should have frozen her, it did the impossible and heated her to her very core.
“Why?” She couldn’t seem to get any other words past her closed throat.
His lips turned up in the tiniest of smiles as he invaded her personal space, seeming to drain her very essence from her as he lifted a hand and ran a finger along her cheekbone. Looking into Blake’s eyes became way too much for her, and she briefly closed her own as she took a breath and tried to gain
some semblance of strength.
“May I offer you each something to drink?”
It took a moment for Jewell to realize that another person had entered the room. Opening her eyes, she turned to find an attractive woman in her early thirties at most, with a neutral expression on her face.
“No. You’re dismissed for the evening, Elsa,” Blake said without glancing in her direction.
Jewell watched as the woman disappeared. What in the world was going on?
“Blake, I don’t understand this,” Jewell said, the shock beginning to wear off as agitation took its place. “I’m in a strange place with some woman mysteriously popping in, and you…and…I don’t understand,” she finished quietly, twisting her fingers together.
“Sit down, Jewell.”
She waited a moment for him to continue, and when he didn’t, she looked around. Should she obey like the puppet she was supposed to be? She just didn’t know.
“Unless you’d rather walk straight into the bedroom,” he added.
There was no mistaking the desire that was burning in his eyes. Though this room was new and strange to her, Jewell thought it a safer zone than the room Blake had proposed. So she moved backward, somehow found a chair, and fell into it.
“I don’t know why you came back for me. I don’t know why you paid so much money for me when it was you who dumped me back off at the agency. None of this makes sense, Blake. This isn’t what you want — not really. This has to be about power…or revenge…or something I can’t even fathom.”
He walked up to her and leaned down, caging her against her chair, making the breath she’d finally gained rush back out of her tight throat.
She couldn’t read the look in his eyes, couldn’t figure out what was going on inside his head, but she knew that, no matter what he was thinking, it couldn’t be good. A man who paid so much money for a woman would certainly get his money’s worth — one way or another.
“We have things to discuss, Jewel. The two of us began a journey three months ago, a journey that we haven’t yet come close to finishing,” he said, his tone smooth, his eyes on fire.
