In Service To The Billionaire

by Heather Chase

  But maybe this was all just a game to him. Maybe he would just choke her and use her and throw her away. Or maybe he’d actually go through with it—maybe once he found out she'd do it whenever he liked, he’d actually kill her next time?

  It was a stupid, stubborn, terrible thought to have. But she couldn't make it go away. Maybe it would be different if he loved her, if he would tell her...but that wasn't the case.

  God, what if Todd was right, and it was only sickos and weirdos who dug this sort of thing?

  Somehow she found herself with all her clothes on. Sand looked at her, scared and vulnerable. She hated herself, hated her reaction, but she couldn't stop it.

  “Okay, I'm gonna get going. I um, will call you? Right? Yes. Or you will me? Okay. Okay!”

  And she fled.

  Chapter 19

  Early Sunday morning, still groggy from the unsettling sleep after her awkward-scary experience the night before, Sophia got a call.

  She wasn't able to reach her phone in time—but after crawling out of bed and listening to the message, she found out that Elle was getting out of the hospital early. Way, way earlier, as a matter of fact, than anyone expected.

  So, an hour later, Sophia met her just at the entrance of the hospital, with the orderlies already wheeling Elle out. Her family was, of course, nowhere to be found.

  Not for the first time, and probably not for the last time, Sophia reflected again on how she didn’t quite understand Elle’s family and their stodgy hatred of Elle’s alternative lifestyle. Sophia, safe within the confines of Sand’s grip, had found herself embracing it more and more.

  Even now, with Sand scaring her a bit, she found that Elle's courage to embrace new adventures sexually was a gift much more than it was anything else.

  Truth be told, if she had half a second to think about it, being choked like that hadn't been that bad...

  But no. She had to focus on her friend. Overhead, the sun was shining, not a cloud in the sky. The temperature was a nice, cool seventy degrees, and Sophia felt more than comfortable in her jeans and hoodie combination. It felt nice wearing something so casual after the day before with all the pageantry.

  Greeting Elle with a smile, Sophia leaned in and gave her a gentle hug.

  “How are you feeling?”

  “Oh, I’m okay.” Elle shrugged, and then grimaced. “It only hurts when I breathe.”

  In Elle’s lap was an enormous bouquet, layered with roses, daises, daffodils—literally every kind of flower that Sophia knew a name for.

  “Where did you get those?” Sophia asked.

  She was afraid, for a moment, that Sand had sent them. One more thing to be indebted to him for.

  “Oh, these?” Elle leaned in and took a sniff. “Todd sent me these.”

  “Todd sent you flowers from Europe?”

  “Well, he sent me flowers, and he was in Europe at the time. But they’re not like, you know, European flowers.”

  “Right. But still! Wow!”

  “Yeah, he was really concerned when he heard. He said he was super proud of you for threatening to cut off so many people’s heads.”

  Sophia rolled her eyes. Then, she thought for a moment about what Elle said.

  “You talked to him?”

  Elle shrugged. “He called me. I was bored. I think he wanted to test the waters with you. You know he gets back later today?”

  Long and low, a sigh chugged out of Sophia's body. One more reason to be stressed out.

  “Ugh,” said Elle. “I guess you do. I guess I shouldn't have told him how all you talked about while he was gone was sucking his cock?”

  “I did not!”

  Elle laughed mischievously.

  “You're such a troublemaker.” Sophia shook her head. “Okay, let’s drive you home. Do you need the wheel chair?”

  “No, no. They said I would be fine without it. It’s just...getting back in a car.”

  “Oh,” said Sophia, nodding. “Right. I’m sorry. We can um...”

  There was really no getting around it. There was no way they could walk, and every way back to Elle’s home involved lots of highway.

  “It’s all right,” said Elle, seeing the concern swelling on Sophia’s face. “Really. Just drive slow, okay?

  Sophia did. Forty-five minutes later, she was helping Elle back up into her apartment. Elle lived in a small house on the south side of the city. The houses were small and close together, with gravel alleys connecting the backyards of houses on parallel streets. It used to be, everyone in that area worked at the factory—but the factory had closed down. Now, Sophia had the distinct and grating feeling that she would get shot at any moment. It was sort of like the air was permanently licking a battery.

  “God,” said Elle, stepping into the stuffy air of the small three-room studio apartment. “It feels like I’ve been on a vacation, you know? Like a bad, bad vacation.”

  “I’m sorry,” said Sophia, immediately feeling responsible. “I should have swung by and turned on the air for you. I didn’t even think of it.”

  “It’s fine. Don’t sweat it. Could you turn it on now, though?”

  Elle plopped herself down on the couch as Sophia turned the A/C low, just how Elle liked it.

  “Are you going to be okay by yourself?”

  “The doctor said I would be fine. That physical therapist that you found for me...he’s just a dream. He’ll be coming over tomorrow around noon, and I should be back at work the week after that.”

  “That’s great!”

  “The funny thing is, though...every time I ask him about payment, he says it’s been taken care of.”

  Sophia put a hand to her face. It was time to come clean.

  “Elle...do you remember how I told you how I was um, fucking a billionaire?”

  Elle slapped her on the arm. “No way! You got him to pay for my bill?”

  Her lovely face lit up at the sudden juicy bit of gossip—and then another grimace of pain shot through her.

  “Oh god. Please don’t excite me like that.”

  It was impossible not to blush.

  The lovely blonde laughed and rolled her head back on the couch. “I can't believe it. You're whoring out the billionaire. Or he's whoring you out.”

  “Nobody's whoring anybody.” Her voice became very cold and distant. Elle noticed immediately, of course.

  “What's wrong?” Elle asked. “You've been like, chipper all week. Now you're down after your big date with him yesterday?”

  Uncertain, but needing Elle's comfort and advice, Sophia dished.

  When she was finished with all of it—the high society ball and all the snobbery, the choking—Elle nodded.

  “It seems like,” Elle began, “and this is me just reading what you're giving off, but it seems like you really think you just can't exist in the world that he wants to have.”

  Sophia nodded. “I think you're right.”

  Sophia took a long drink of water.

  “Todd comes home later today, Elle, and I know he wants to get back together, and I...” Sophia put her hand in her face. “I just...I don’t know what to do!”

  “Do you...do you love him?”

  Sophia didn’t know if Elle was talking about Todd or Sand. Either way, the answer was the same.

  “I don’t know. I thought so.”

  Elle was quiet for a long time. Then she leaned forward.

  “Do you want to hear something screwed up?”

  Sophia put her water glass down. “Sure.”

  “Okay, here it is. That shrapnel that went through my shoulder? The doctor told me right before I walked out of the room that if it had been just one inch to the right...I would have died. I would have been dead before I even got to the hospital. Some artery or another loops through there.”

  “That’s awful. I’m so sorry, Elle.”

  “Thanks...but that’s not what I was going for. It’s just, like, I know you’ve been enjoying seeing Sand, and as a matter of fact, I’
ve never seen you so happy, but babe...”

  “What?”

  “I mean...and I say this knowing I’m the one who told you to go for it with him, okay? I know I said that. But life is too short to break your own heart and to not go all the way with the one you chose.

  “I don't know who you should choose, really. But you've made two choices now. And only you can decide what's really going to make you happy. And I know you can do that, Sophia. I know you're smart enough for that.”

  Elle's hand slid over Sophia's.

  “No matter what,” said Elle, squeezing Sophia's hand. “I'm here for you, babe.”

  * * * * *

  Hours later, the sun marched on down the sky. In the middle of the city, there was a strange lull of activity, and distantly, crickets sounded off from the park where they had gathered.

  She met Todd at their old date place, a small cafe behind the city library.

  Already sitting down, waiting on her with his weight pressed forward on anxious elbows, he lit up when he saw her. Wearing khaki pants and a tight collared shirt, he looked ruffled and handsome, as usual.

  “Hey!” He stood up and quickly gave her a hug.

  Strangely grateful for his presence, she hugged him back.

  “Hey,” she said.

  “Are you okay?”

  She nodded. “Yeah, yeah of course. I've just had a long weekend, and it was...” she shrugged. “Well, it was sort of made longer because this was at the end of it.”

  Before Todd could respond, the waiter came by. They each ordered a latte, and the waiter slipped back inside the cafe.

  “How was your trip?” she asked, trying to be amiable.

  “It was...it was really good. It was...” he made a face. “Look, can I be straight with you?”

  “Of course.”

  “I'd really like it if we could just skip the whole part of this conversation where we pretend not to know what we're gonna talk about, and instead we can just talk about it?”

  “Okay.”

  The waiter came back with their lattes. Steam rose up off of the cups, floating up into nothingness above the two.

  “I miss you,” said Todd. “I want to be with you. I want us to be back together.”

  And there it was.

  “I just...Todd. I don’t know. You hurt me. You really, really hurt me. Do you understand that?”

  “I do.” He nodded, clearly pained. “I think I do. I mean, I was just trying to do what was best for us in the long run. And it worked, didn’t it? I found out how I really wanted to be only with you. You’re my girl, Sophie. I’m your guy. We belong together. We were still engaged this whole time. It’s just...not dormant anymore.”

  Sophia had a hard time looking him in the eyes. He seemed so earnest and open. He seemed...changed, somehow.

  “I just...you breached my trust, Todd. Like, by a lot.”

  “I know, love. I know it, I do. And I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to you, I swear. I want to be by your side from now on, through thick and thin. No matter what. I want to be yours.”

  He reached a hand across the table, clearly expecting for her to do the same.

  She didn't know what to say. What did you really say, when someone opened up like that to you? The only thing she could really do was sip at her latte and bide her time.

  “Okay, so I was in Spain, all right?”

  He was starting a story, by way of explaining. He was fond of this sort of thing. Sophia nodded to encourage him.

  “Okay,” he said. “Spain. I was in Seville. They've got these roofs there, these crazy red-shingle roofs all over the middle of the city. And the further out you go, the less there are. But in the middle, they have all these crazy roofs, and these spindly streets, and nowhere goes where you think it's supposed to. And I was wondering through there late one night and then bam, I run into this enormous cathedral. The 'catedral.' The biggest piece of Gothic architecture in Europe, right? And there's this little old couple—and it's late, like two in the morning—this little old couple and they're just sitting down on a bench in front of this enormous freaking cathedral, staring up at it. This thing is so huge it's sinking into the ground actively. And these two little old man and wife are just looking at it, but they're not really.

  “They just want to be together. They want to be experiencing life with one another. And that's what I want with you. I saw them, and I thought about them all night long, and I bought a ticket the next day to get back here with you. And I'm sorry, I am, that it took me so long to put all of that in the right way. But it's you I want, Sophie. You.”

  It was, perhaps, the most she had heard Todd ever say without being interrupted.

  Despite herself and her hard-won cynicism, a little tear had formed in her eyes.

  Thinking of Sand, thinking of her terror from the night before, Sophia nodded.

  She gripped Todd's hand.

  “Okay,” she said. “Let's give it a try.”

  Smiling, he leaned across the table and kissed her briefly. She accepted the kiss, leaned into it.

  For a minute, they just held each other's hands. She had to blink away several tears, doing her best to refuse their existence.

  Apropos of nothing, Todd said, “And hey, so, remember our sort of, like, open door policy for sex?”

  Uh oh. Cautiously, Sophia nodded.

  “Well look, like we agreed, no questions asked. I’m not gonna ask about anything. And I'm not saying like, we have to rush home and have sex or anything. I know you need time, or whatever. I understand that. I just meant...like, you remember how like, you were sort of into domination stuff?”

  Sophia raised an eyebrow. This was a surprise. “Yes?”

  “Well I kind of toyed around with that a little bit. Anyway, if you were interested, we could do some, maybe?”

  Every cynical, hard-edged part of Sophia was screaming at her not to trust him.

  But an equally strong part—or perhaps stronger—was her schoolgirl crush of him, who wanted her first love to be her only love, who wanted to have that college sweetheart workout just like it was supposed to in a movie. This schoolgirl crush Sophia wanted to reunite with her long lost lover and make him feel home and wonderful again.

  He asked her to marry him, after all. He loved her. Could Sand say the same? Would he ever?

  It was beyond her, living in his world. All those socialites and parasites feeding off his sides. She didn’t think she would ever be able to handle it.

  And somewhere in her decision-making process was Sand, that passion-furious look on his face, his hands closing around her neck...

  ...and Todd would never, ever even think of going there with her.

  Chapter 20

  Todd spent the night at a friend's house—she wasn't quite ready to have him over yet. But they made plans to reunite the next day.

  Sand messaged and phoned her constantly. Every hour, on the hour, either a message or a phone call, until midnight on Sunday.

  Monday morning she woke up, not even able to read Sand's messages. She didn't know if she had the willpower to resist anything he said.

  Of course, she had made no mention of Sand to Todd—other than to say that's who she worked for now. Todd was impressed.

  She went to work that day dressed conservatively—black pants and a white blouse and dark jacket. For once, she felt odd drawing stares.

  And even that was odd—this new oddness. Only a few weeks ago, it would have been perfectly normal to feel odd drawing stares. Now it was extra-odd to try not to.

  Traffic managed to not be that bad, for once, and she made it into work at five past six in the morning. She was able, as a matter of fact, to beat Sand in. She knew because he showed up just a little bit after her—looking dashingly handsome as always in his suit, wearing a blue tie today—with a stern look on his face.

  “Inside,” he said, walking past her. “Two minutes.”

  For the entire two minutes, her heart wrenched. Julie walke
d by, giving her a quizzical look. Obviously, Sophie looked terrified. Almost, Sophia thought Julie would come over and talk to her—and so, hiding, she slipped inside Sand's office.

  Straight into the lion's den.

  He stood up as she approached, circling around the immense mass of his wooden desk. He was just getting off the phone.

  “Important calls already?”

  “I was informing the Gazette to move Harriet Hussman back to her editorial column. She and I were...involved, once upon a time. Her editors thought it was good move, then, for her to be in charge of gossip. But it just makes her miserable.”

  “Oh.”

  “Anyway, not important.” He put the phone down, his voice calm and measured. “I know what you’ve been doing.”

  “Y-you do?”

  He nodded sagely. “You want me to punish you, is that it? You want me to spank you for being a bad girl and not answering my calls.”

  Fuck.

  Yes.

  Oh god fuck yes she did.

  But...but no. No, she couldn’t. Her knees quivered.

  “I’ll play along,” he said with a smile. “I'll give you the spanking you deserve. But first, I’d like to get something important out of the way.”

  He sat down on the edge of his huge tree-stump desk, and for a moment he didn’t quite look her in the eyes. And then, as if he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t apologize properly, he did—his dark gaze meeting hers.

  “I want to apologize to you, Sophia. I need you to know that I understand that I must have scared you Saturday night. That wasn’t very good of me. I misunderstood your range of expertise...your willingness in certain areas. I am not disappointed in you—but in myself, for not communicating to you better.”

  “Oh,” she said quietly. Now, it was her who couldn’t meet his gaze. “That’s all right. I understand.”

  “Next time, we'll take it slower. I have no problem with that. But it is something that I think...” he pushed a hand through his hair. “It's something I want you to keep trying. That's important to me.”

  She just didn't know if she could ever make his hands wrapped around her throat important to her like it was to him. She didn't think she could ever relish the thought of his strong, strong grip holding her frail little neck harder and harder, thrusting into her harder and harder, her body being completely used by him in ways she could barely begin to imagine...