by Claire, Ava
I shook my head effusively. "You don't have to answer it."
"I do," he insisted. "She tried to start a scandal with you at the center, Leila. I owe you an answer."
He wouldn't get any further protests from me. If he was ready to talk, I was ready to listen. "Alright."
"It was about a year ago. And it was over before it even began." His eyes were blue as the sky, ever changing, like he was reliving those moments. "I lost someone very close to me. Lost him before I could square things between us."
I wondered if it was his father, but didn't want to interrupt this rare moment of seeing the man behind the curtain.
"She was coming out of some fresh crisis herself and needed almost constant supervision,” he continued. “We spent a lot of time together."
I bristled at the idea of them being this intimate. Her body strapped in the swing. Beside him. In this very bed.
A smile softened his face as he caressed my cheek. He was reading my mind. "I never brought her here, Leila."
My mouth formed an 'o' of surprise. "I just assumed..."
"She's unaware of my extra requirements in the bedroom,” he said, still smiling. “I can count on one hand the amount of times I shared my bed with her and each time was more vanilla than the last." He let out a sigh. "We had zero chemistry and I ended it."
I could imagine him saying that to her—and the ensuing temper tantrum. "I’m guessing she didn't go quietly into that good night?"
"You'd be right," he said with a bitter chuckle. "She seems to have built this elaborate romance, turning the two of us into star crossed lovers. But that's not our story."
I propped my hand under my chin. "And what's our story, Jacob?"
He swept my bangs from my eyes, his fingers lingering. "Well for starters, you're not the latest in a long line of submissives. I've had a similar arrangement twice before."
I couldn't believe it. "Only two others? But I thought..." I remembered the sly jabs of the woman from the boutique, the flight attendant.
"I know." He brought a single finger down, tracing the line of my jaw. "And just to be clear, this-" He gestured between us. "Talking, being near one of another afterwards, you are the only one."
Oh my god. I was definitely blushing now. I tilted my head down, but he brought my chin back up gently.
"Don't do that." His eyes sparkled playfully. "You're so beautiful when you're embarrassed." I gave him a look and he let out a raucous laugh. "And when you're being stubborn. Just like the day we met."
I bit my lip, the memory of the nerves and the thrill skating over me. "I wanted you so bad."
"You and me both," he said, his voice taking on the husky edge that drove me wild. "More than I ever wanted anyone."
It was exactly what I wanted to hear, but I hesitated when he brought his lips to mine. Jacob cared about me, but I knew something now with certainty. Something that would complicate everything.
I was in love with Jacob Whitmore.
Part Four
The Billionaire’s Heart
Colors swirled and weaved across the ancient canvas, telling a story as powerful today as when it was first created.
A man in a busy Hawaiian shirt stepped up beside me, snapping a picture. “Wow. Bello.” He hustled away without another word, off to fall in love with another painting.
I turned back to the vibrant swirls, nodding my head in silent agreement. Wow was right. Wow that I was in the Galleria dell'Accademia, surrounded by art spanning centuries. And a hefty dose of shock and awe at the fact that I'd spent the morning with Jacob, playing the gawking tourist as we took in Venice.
Caging the butterflies was impossible when he'd ignored his buzzing cell phone, focusing all his attention on me. Whoever was at the other end spent three hours trying and failing to reach him and finally, I insisted he answer it. I used the time to catch my breath because a smile, the slightest touch from him, was enough to send electricity sprawling all over me.
Jacob finally let me in and I saw the caring man beneath the hard as nails image he broadcast to the world. He occupied every part of me, leaving nothing but a single truth.
I love him.
I cleared my throat and turned from the painting. There was something about the red strokes that was visceral. Passionate. It evoked emotions that would do nothing but complicate things. I loved him—it was as obvious as the nose on my face, but guys like Jacob Whitmore didn't say those words. To love was to show weakness.
I glanced down at the museum map and when my eyes shot back up, a woman stood firmly in my path. My brain formed the words ‘excuse me’ but nothing came out when I recognized familiar green eyes, ripe with contempt.
"Rachel?" I said with disbelief, taking two steps back.
The sound of her name garnered a scowl as she pulled the visor of her hat down a few inches. Dressed in a plain white tee, jeans, and floral flats, she was a long way from the glamorous Rachel Laraby that had the rest of the world enamored. Unfortunately, even dressed down she was breathtaking. Eyes glittered in the shadow of her baseball cap; round, plump lips sang even without the sheen of lipstick; curves taunted. Pangs of self-consciousness burned even though I knew the summer dress I wore flattered my curvy shape.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, already knowing the answer. Why else would she be here? "Rachel, if this is about Jacob-"
"Shh!" she hissed, glancing about nervously. "I need to talk to you. Privately."
I raised a brow. "Say what?"
"Do you have a minute so we can go somewhere and talk?"
She couldn’t seriously believe I wanted to go anywhere with her after she made it obvious that she wanted to take me down. “No, Rachel. I don’t have a minute.”
“I’m wearing a ball cap for Christ’s sake. Trust me, I wouldn’t be dressed like this and talking to you unless it was really important.” She saw that I was seconds from just plowing past, so she gave me a long, pleading look. “Please, Leila.”
"You've given me hell from the moment we met. What could we possibly have to say to each other?" I said, unwavering, Well, not until I saw the muscles in her face tighten and she snapped her mouth shut.
Whoa. Was Rachel Laraby actually holding back a quip? This was getting stranger by the second.
"What I have to say needs to be said.” She took a step closer. “I'm trying to do you a favor, Leila."
I looked at her incredulously, remembering our last exchange when she admitted to setting me up with the paparazzi. She wanted to help me alright—right over a cliff. "Yeah..no thanks." I moved around her, pausing only when she gripped my elbow. I let my gaze drop to her hand, then slowly creep back up until I had her in my sights. When our eyes met, she released me immediately.
"Wise choice,” I said icily. “We really don’t have anything to discuss. If Jacob is no longer overseeing your events, neither am I."
"This isn't about any event," she snapped. "This is about Jacob."
“Of course it is.”
“Not about me and Jacob.”
“Uh huh.” I rolled my eyes. “You’ll have to excuse me if I don’t believe you. Or want to spend one more second talking to you.”
I was all but ready to leave her in my dust until she jutted her chin out defiantly. The odd nervousness she’d displayed over the past few minutes melted away like someone had suddenly screeched “Cut!” She rolled her shoulders back and her stance went from unsure to confident. Her bright eyes took on the self-righteous gleam that I knew all too well.
"You'll want to give me a few minutes of your time, dear,” she said with her trademark condescension. “If you think having ass shots all over the internet was bad, just wait until the world finds out about Jacob's BDSM contracts with his assistants."
My mouth fell open. The tourists and museum goers around us chirped and bustled, but the only thing I heard was ‘BDSM’ echoing over and over. I didn’t even bother wondering how she figured it out. At this point, it really didn’t matter.
Say something. Act like you don’t know what she’s talking about. Say something, Lay! But I was frozen. Worried a single word, a single movement, would set her off.
"Good." Her features were as firm as the marble statues standing a few feet away. "Thank you for not insulting me by playing stupid."
I glanced over her shoulder, looking for my lifeline. I saw Jacob near a cluster of paintings in the far corner, head bowed in concentration.
I returned my attention to Rachel, searching for some tell-tale sign that she was bluffing. I rushed over the vindictive curve of her lips, the stubborn set of her jaw—all of that was old news. Her eyes wouldn’t lie.
My heart jumped to my throat.
She'd do it.
Without hesitation.
"Bathroom." A victorious smile sliced across her face. "Now."
I followed her, weaving in and out of the crowd, the colors bleeding into one another. We stepped into the expansive restroom and I expected her to scan it to see if we were alone, but she just walked to the sink.
“Couldn’t fit enough antibacterial in my disguise to do any good.” She crinkled her nose. “Do you know how many people have brushed up against me in the past fifteen minutes?”
I didn’t respond, chewing on my lip to fight the urge to remind her that normal people were the reason she got to live like a queen.
She stopped washing her hands, clearly surprised I didn't take the bait. "No bleeding heart comment to make, Leila?"
She had me right where she wanted me. Of course I’d play nice when she had my back against the wall. "No."
"Good." She pulled off her ball cap, brown locks spilling from its confines. Anyone else would have had a bad case of hat hair, but Rachel's locks appeared professionally tousled. Still she toyed with it, trying to get it to fall even more perfectly.
"From the ‘holy shit’ that was written all over your face,” she said after a moment, “I take it you signed his little contract and agreed to be his sex slave?"
"Sex slave?" I said indignantly, red flushing my cheeks. "I'm no one's sex slave."
"Sex slave, submissive." She shrugged. "Po-tay-to, po-tah-to. When you were together, it was all because you signed the dotted line, right?"
My mind shot back to Jacob’s hands on me. He played my body like an instrument, making it sing in ways I never knew were possible. To an outsider, maybe the idea of submission was black and white. Hell, at first, even I was leery.
But that was before Jacob opened my eyes. It was more than domination and control. It was spiritual. Giving him my body, my soul, my heart—nothing had ever been so simple. So right.
She reached in her back pocket and pulled out a small tube of lip gloss and popped the lid. She smoothed the applicator over her lips then rubbed them together for what felt like an eternity.
"So this is what’s going to happen." She pushed the tube back in her pocket and faced me, perching on the edge of the sink. "Jacob will take you to lunch. Or dinner." She shook her head, rethinking it. "Nah, lunch. I can tell from your shade of pale that you won't be able to sit on this until dinner time."
She gathered her ebony hair into a low bun, then tucked it back inside her ball cap just as an elderly woman with two kids shuffled in the bathroom.
"After ordering, you're going to excuse yourself,” she continued, not even noticing them. “And that's all you have to do to keep your...” She scrunched her forehead, trying to find the right word. “Boss from losing every ounce of respect he's built since he strutted out of business school."
The older woman was chatting with the little girl not in the stall. Even though I had a feeling our conversation didn't even make their radar, I leaned in toward Rachel, trying to be as confidential as possible. Being so close that I could smell the sugary notes of her perfume made my stomach lurch. The desire to do her harm raced through my mind
"I don’t think you cared about him at all.” I stared at her intently, waiting for the blow to land. “Not if you want to ruin him like this.”
Her mouth opened and closed and for a second, she faltered.
"We can figure this out without involving anyone else," I said quickly, latching onto the moment of weakness. We both cared about Jacob and as jilted as she felt, there was obviously a part of her that didn’t want to hurt him. Why else was guilt burning in her eyes?
She cleared her throat and turned her back to me. I held my breath, waiting for her to say it was all a mistake. But when she twisted back around, the look she aimed at me punched all the air from my lungs. The moment, and any chance I had, was gone.
I watched helplessly as she stepped around me and gave her reflection in the mirror one final look. "We are going to figure this out. Or else." She paused at the door. "Text me the restaurant you guys decide on.” She blew me a kiss before pushing back into the lobby.
****
The feel of Jacob's hand as he led me to our table should have had me floating on cloud nine. Instead, guilt anchored me to the ground. His hold was a stark reminder that I’d been lying to him all day.
As soon as we met back up at the museum, he knew something was wrong. He pressed and prodded, not letting up until I forced a kiss that made me feel like even a bigger traitor. He’d spent the rest of the morning telling me how beautiful I was, how happy just spending the day with me made him. I’d given him Oscar worthy smiles and even another kiss or two that sent waves of lust rushing over me. But not even his lips could monsoon the shame that was slowly eating me whole. Every minute fed the swell of regret that had taken up residence in my chest.
Jacob’s eyes brightened as we came to a stop at a table that overlooked the canal. “What do you think?”
“It’s nice,” I offered, plopping down unceremoniously.
“Just ‘nice’?” His voice was tight with disappointment. “I was hoping for something a little more descriptive than ‘nice’.”
“It’s great!” I said, feigning cheerfulness. He didn’t seem to buy it, but he lowered himself into his seat with a small nod anyway.
Once the waiter poured our glasses of wine and ducked away, I knew Jacob wasn’t letting up. His gaze pierced me, trying to decipher the hidden truth. I looked everywhere but in his direction. Glanced out the window. Looked at the other patrons in the restaurant. Stared at the dark liquid in my wine glass.
“This is one of my favorite restaurants in the city.” His admission should have been a prologue to a story about some past experience, but instead, there was something sour running beneath the words.
“It’s quite lovely.” I glanced up at him and thought better of it, dropping my eyes back to the menu. My hands were trembling so hard that I could barely make out any of the dishes. “What do you recommend?”
"Is something wrong, Leila?” he asked, ignoring my question. “You've been quiet since we left the museum."
I shook my head and gave him a smile that I hoped was reassuring and didn't just magnify my weird behavior. "Everything's p-perfectly fine." God, that wasn't remotely convincing. "Really."
He reached out and took the menu from me. Smart move—I had to look at him if I didn’t want to make it obvious that something was up.
Since we met I’d been trying to figure him out. To find something deeper. My stomach clenched with remorse because there was no mistaking the creased worry around his eyes, the curious cut of his jaw, lips knitted in confusion—I finally got my wish. Jacob was an open book. And he was concerned about me.
I wanted nothing more than to take his hand and tell him everything Rachel said. To watch him become the stone cold gladiator, take care of it all, then sweep me back to the special room and show me more parts of desire still undiscovered.
We are going to figure this out—or else.
"Is this about taking that call?" he said, not dropping it.
“Don’t be silly,” I said with a wave of my hand. “I was the one that made you take it, remember?”
I hoped fo
r a grin when he remembered our exchange. Before he finally answered the phone he’d given me an achingly mischievous smile and joked about tossing it in the water. But he didn’t join me on walk down Memory Lane. He watched me skeptically, waiting for me to tell him what was really wrong.
“You’re being ridiculous!” I let out a laugh that came out as a strangled sob. I immediately covered my mouth, but it was too late. The worry was dialed up to fifty as he gripped my hands.
"Jesus Christ, Leila—tell me what's going on!"
"I-" Tell him! "It's just-" My cell vibrated in my pocket, cutting through any sort of confession.
It was Rachel.
I swallowed the truth and racked my mind for some excuse I could put in its place. The whole not feeling well thing was kind of weak. I needed something more meaty—something that could explain it all and pack a big punch.
My family. God help me...I was going to use my family.
"It's—” I gulped. “It’s my dad.”
Jacob’s brow furrowed. “Your dad?”
The knot in my throat became a boulder as I kept up the ruse. “Y-Yes. He's kind of sick so I'm just worried."
Jacob slackened his hold, something unreadable flashing in his gaze before he said anything. "I'm sorry, Leila. I hope it’s not serious.”
I was hoping the ‘kind of’ would keep me from having to lie any further or make up some horrible affliction that would just dig me deeper. “I don’t think it’s serious, but my mother has been a wreck.” I dug my nails into my thigh beneath the table. I had to stop talking. I was becoming a real life parable of how a little lie becomes a living, breathing monster.
Jacob’s eyes darkened with worry. “If you need to go home, I'll arrange it."
"No," I said quickly. When he gave me a weird look, I forced a smile. "I mean, I appreciate it, but that’s not necessary.” I swallowed. “I just need a minute. In the bathroom." I jerked back from the table and stumbled away before I lost my nerve.
Once I stepped into the bathroom I booked it into a stall, nausea forcing me to take a handful of deep breaths to keep from retching all over the floor.
