An Eye for an Eye: Zach and Katie's Story (Redwood Falls)

by Chance, Lynda

  Zach didn’t waste any time. He picked up the phone and started barking orders to his lawyers.

  ****

  The rest of the week flew by for Katie. Every moment was precious when she felt like the noose was going to close at any minute. She spent the days finishing up with her students. They were special to her, they always would be because they were her very first class. At night, she packed things up, organized her finances, and as Zach requested, went shopping. She didn’t feel bad spending his money, because he’d demanded it, and because she knew that whatever he stipulated to her on Friday, she would have to agree to. She had no choice. She couldn’t see her parents and Josh lose the family homestead. She couldn’t do it to them. Not when she had a way to save the farm, literally as well as figuratively.

  She closed her eyes and refused to think about how she would possibly get through the act of sleeping with him, on an ongoing basis. One step at a time. She would get through this the only way she knew how, one step at a time.

  ****

  Friday afternoon at one sharp Katie sat in reception and waited to be called into Zach’s office. Her stomach was tied in knots and she knew that her life as she knew it would be put on hold for a while, possibly for a long while. She felt queasy because she’d gone to visit a doctor and started taking the contraceptive pill. She wasn’t used to the hormones, and her stomach was roiling. The doctor had warned her that it might make her a little sick at first, but she didn’t see any way to avoid it. The pill seemed the best solution. She absolutely couldn’t risk a pregnancy. The thought of having Zach’s baby sent terror screaming through her. He would take it away from her, she knew. He had all the power and plenty of money at his disposal. She wouldn’t even be able to afford a lawyer to fight him. She couldn’t risk it.

  By the time she was led into Zach’s office, she was green around the gills and prayed she wouldn’t embarrass herself in front of him and his team of lawyers.

  She took one look at the conference table where he was sitting with three other men, and she knew she wasn’t going to make it.

  “I’m sorry. May I use your restroom please?” Her words were shaky and she was holding on to the back of the chair she was supposed to sit down in.

  Zach must have seen the pinched look on her face and realised something was wrong. He stood up and directed her to an unobtrusive door that led to his private bathroom.

  She gratefully went inside. She turned on the cold tap and held her wrists under the cool water. She refused to vomit and have those men hear her. She swallowed several times in an effort to control herself. She felt so alone. Tears came to her eyes and slowly began to roll down her face as she sagged against the sink.

  There was a light tap on the door and then Zach walked in. She had forgotten to lock the door, and he didn’t seem to have any qualms about invading her privacy. She would have to remember that for future reference. More tears welled at the thought and bile rose in her throat as she valiantly tried to suppress it.

  “What’s wrong with you?” Zach stood against the closed door watching her. “The thought of being with me, sleeping with me is so abhorrent to you that you’re reduced to tears?”

  Katie hesitated. She was embarrassed to be in this situation, and even the small amount of privacy she needed was being denied her. Her reserves of anger had been depleted by the queasiness in her stomach, and trepidation was a constant knot in her chest. He wanted an intimate relationship with her? Let it start now, by God. “I’m nauseous. I’m trying not to be sick.” She put her hand to her mouth and looked at him in the mirror. “I’m sorry, Zach.”

  “Did you eat something bad? Are you running a fever?” He punched the questions out like a drill sergeant, but came closer and laid the back of his hand against her forehead in a gentle touch. “Are you trying to pretend that being with me repulses you so much that it makes you ill? Because believe me, Katie, it’s not going to work. I had you in my arms three days ago. I may inspire several different feelings, but trust me, babe, I know nausea isn’t one of them.”

  Katie shook her head and twin tears ran down her face. “I’m worried about it.” She looked away and then slowly lifted her eyes back to him. “But you don’t repulse me.” She knew she was looking at him as if confessing her greatest sin, but she had no strength for lies or subterfuge. She knew in that moment that she told the truth. Sex scared her. Zachary McIntyre’s touch might alarm her, but in no way did he repulse her. “I’m sorry. I know you told me not to cry. I started taking the pill last night and it’s making me ill.” Her eyes dropped from his and her lips quivered. “I’ve never been so queasy in my life. I don’t want those men to hear me retching.”

  Zach stood across from her, his gaze focused on the tears that rolled down her face. “You started taking the pill last night? The contraceptive pill? Is that what you’re saying?” It was obvious from his tone of voice that he was confused by her explanation.

  Katie wondered what was so difficult to understand. “Yes.”

  Zach walked over to the small cabinet above the sink vanity and retrieved a wash cloth. As he ran cold water over it and handed it to her he asked, “Why?”

  At his instigation, Katie sat down on the closed lid of the commode and gratefully took the damp, cool cloth from his hand. She rubbed it lightly over her face and neck, trying to control the raging heat flowing through her veins. “Why what?”

  “Why would you start taking the pill now?” He bit the words out one at a time as if he were asking something of a small child.

  “It should be obvious. I don’t want to get pregnant with your child.” Katie answered him in shaky, stilted words.

  Zach winced at her answer. “I get that part, Katie. Of course you don’t want to get pregnant. What I’m trying to understand is why would you change your method of contraception now? When you have so much other upheaval in your life?”

  The question took Katie totally by surprise and she didn’t know how to answer. Her private life was just that, private. He was taking her by storm, calling all the shots, practically demanding her body, life and soul.

  As she tried to think of a way to answer him without giving anything away that wasn’t his business and that she couldn’t bring herself to tell him right then, she looked up at him.

  Zachary met her eyes and saw the guarded expression in them. As the list of possible reasons for her continued silence ran through his mind, he expelled his breath as he realized he wanted to knock down all her walls. He wanted her without defenses. He wanted her totally at his mercy. Totally in his control. She had secrets, things she didn’t want him to know, and he didn’t like it. Why would she go running scared to her doctor? Several suspicions came to mind, and he wasn’t pleased with any of them. Nothing he could think of that would paint her in his mind like he needed to see her. A sudden need for birth control could only mean one thing. She hadn’t needed it before. There could be several reasons for that, but nothing he wanted to acknowledge, or even think about. He didn’t want to think about her being innocent. Innocent of sexual experience, or innocent of deserving what he was dishing out. Because he already knew she didn’t deserve this, and the guilt from that was almost crippling him.

  He ruthlessly pushed the guilt aside for now. He wanted to get the goddamn contract signed. For some reason, he needed it signed, like he needed air to breathe.

  Katie continued to watch him while she took shaky breaths, her silence underlining her intent for some continued space between them. Zach moved toward the door.

  “What do you need? How much time do you need to compose yourself before we get this underway? I want this contract signed today. Now.” He waited for her answer as he held the door handle in his hand.

  “I’m all right now.” Katie wiped the tear stains from her face and stood to her feet. She swayed slightly, and Zach was there in an instant, putting his arm around her.

  “Have you been eating? There’s got to be more to this than starting on the pill. Y
ou look like a strong breeze would blow you over.” He lifted his hand and smoothed the hair back from her cheek. “You need to be strong for what I have in store for you.”

  She trembled at that last statement and her eyes fluttered up at him in agitation.

  He immediately saw her fear and tried to calm it, even as another lash of guilt slammed him. “Baby, I’m kidding. Your summer is going to be spent lounging on the beach, reading, shopping, whatever you want to do while I’m working. I promise, nothing strenuous.”

  And then he unknowingly negated the words he had intended to be soothing. “Your nights will be mine.” He lifted her face to his and placed his lips on the salty tracks marking her cheekbones. “All mine. As long as you come naked to my bed every night, lie down and open up for me, everything will be just fine.”

  Katie closed her eyes against the picture he painted for her. Her immediate future would be mapped out. Nothing to do. Nothing to worry about. No problem. As long as she pleased Zach McIntyre. Pleased a man in bed when the last thing on earth she wanted to do was go to bed with any man. And Zach McIntyre didn’t have a pleasant bone in his body. He didn’t have any love for her or her family or her circumstances. Sure, if she could just forget all that and give over her body to him every night, everything would be okay. Sure, no problem. She could submit to someone who disliked her. That’s just what she’d always dreamed of. To let a caveman like Zach McIntyre brutalize her. Yes. Great. Just great.

  And to top it all off, nobody could ever know about the agreement she was entering into with him. Not her parents, and Jesus Christ, not Josh. She felt like she was caught in the middle. As far as she knew, Josh and Zach had never met, yet the past had made them enemies. And they didn’t even know the worst of it. She suppressed a tiny, hysterical little giggle that tried to come out. Zach didn’t know that Josh owned his precious little sister, heart, body and soul. And Josh could never, ever find out what Zach was doing to her.

  She took a deep breath and steeled her shoulders. “I’m ready. Let’s get this over with.”

  Zach led Katie over to the conference table and introduced her to the three men. She was surprised to find out that one of the men was her lawyer. She had never met him before that moment, and Zach was paying him, but sure, he was her lawyer. Exactly what kind of dimwitted bimbo did he think he was dealing with?

  Soon, they were explaining all the intricacies of the contract and horror began to sizzle along her nerves. Katie forgot all about her nausea as another kind of queasiness took hold. Alarm consumed her as one phrase kept popping up. Exclusive rights. Exclusive rights. His, over her. Uneasiness gripped her and a sense of unreality discomfited her as his exact intentions toward her were spelled out and explained in infinite detail.

  She would be his mistress for a time not to exceed five years. She would live where he chose. She would not accept employment of any kind. She could not pre-pay the original amount of the debt in whole or in part. She would never have a claim on his money or his properties. But if at any time he wanted out of the contract, he could terminate it at his discretion, for any reason. If he kept her for less than the allotted time frame, the amount owed would be amortized, and her family would only owe what was left on the note, payable immediately. If at any time she displeased him, he could nullify the contract. If he wanted to change the stipulations, he could do so at any time without ramifications.

  She would submit to a physical and a battery of tests for STDs. If she refused, the deal was off and her parents’ loan was repayable immediately.

  The safeguards he had previously mentioned for her were laughable. If she wanted out before the five years was up, she could walk away, and the original sum owed would be reinstated and from that point he would give her family thirty days to come up with the money or to vacate the premises. The other point was humiliating. She would do whatever he wanted sexually. And she would be his exclusively. But he would never want, and she had the right to refuse, a ménage. That was it. Those were her safeguards.

  Katie sat panicked and distressed. Embarrassment and horror consumed her as the details of what would be expected from her were explained by one of the lawyers. They knew. These men knew; they had written the contract. Zach was going to own her in exchange for writing off three hundred and twenty thousand dollars over a five year pay-off period.

  Zach’s eyes were leveled at her over the table as her astonished brain tried to comprehend what she was getting into. Her pupils dilated as she felt the strength of his will encompass her from across the width that separated them.

  It became too much, and Katie pushed back her chair and stumbled to her feet. “Excuse me for a moment, please, gentlemen.” She couldn’t help it. The sarcasm she used on the term gentlemen couldn’t have gone unnoticed by any of them. She looked around as three men lowered their eyes and the fourth just watched her with a sensual sixth sense.

  She all but ran from the room.

  She stood in the reception area, next to the bank of elevators, her back against the wall both literally and figuratively. She felt a deep compulsion to run, a craving for freedom and a need for space and oxygen.

  She would get none of those things. Even this small break she was taking was about to be interrupted as she saw Zach coming toward her, his jaw clenched and his lips flattened over teeth she was positive were gritted.

  She straightened to her full height as he came to stand before her. A dangerous current filled the air between them, and the details of the contract came roaring back to her to inflame her with anger, terror, and a secret, wanton need. He had always been so good-looking. She had known that since she was a teenager and would see him around town. His hair was dark, almost black, and he had a demonic glower that highlighted his intense masculinity. Against her will, a vision of what he wanted from her rose up to attack her nerves and her few working brain cells.

  As he leaned in closer to her now, his scent enveloped her and the magnetic force of his attraction clamored through her body. It was really going to happen. She was going to have sex with Zachary McIntyre. Over and over and over again. She couldn’t do it. How could she do it? How could she not?

  Zach ignored the speculative looks they were getting from the two receptionists manning the top floor. He zeroed his attention on Katie and leaned in toward her, invading her personal space and monopolizing her attention. He caged her in with his arms against the wall.

  “Okay. This is how it’s going to be. This is all the negotiating you’re going to get from me. I’m prepared to let you forego the physical tests. I’m going to trust you to not have any diseases. Are you clean, Katie?”

  Mortified color climbed up her throat and spread across her cheekbones. “Yes,” she hissed, “Are you?”

  He growled in reply, “Yes.”

  They stood staring at each other, green eyes swallowed by brown. “Come back inside and sign the damn papers. Let’s get this part over with.” He turned to go back to his office, then paused and faced her again. “I’m not trying to make this difficult. This was not supposed to be humiliating for you.”

  She gave him only a slight nod in reply, followed him inside, and signed the next five years of her life away.

  The lawyers filed out of the room, and Katie was left alone with Zach. The question that had been burning in her mind fell from her lips. “What’s the cover story?”

  Zach closed his office door behind the last man, turned and strolled across the room to lean against his desk, close to where Katie stood. “Well, you can’t just disappear off the face of the earth, so you’re right, we need a cover story.”

  Katie collapsed into one of the chairs facing his desk. “And is that what I’m about to do? Disappear off the face of the earth?”

  “Nothing as dramatic as that.” He studied her for a moment. “We’re going to say that we ran into each other in Redwood Falls and one thing led to another and we started seeing each other. It escalated from there.”

  Katie thought abou
t it. “Nobody will buy it. Everyone knows you hate me.”

  “I don’t hate you, Katie, and you damn well know it.”

  “Since when?” Katie sneered.

  His eyes searched hers. “A long time ago. Since I figured out that I want to sleep with you more for my pleasure than for your punishment. Since I figured out that your pleasure means more to me than my own.”

  Katie broke eye contact and looked down at her hands in her lap.

  Zach came to stand over her and said in a low voice, “It won’t be all bad, sweetheart.” His arms moved down to cage her in the chair, and his manner became persuasive. “All you have to do is please me, and I’ll treat you like a princess, I promise. No more talk of hatred, no more talk about debts being owed. It will be just you and me, and I guarantee you, it’ll be good.”

  Katie continued to look down at her lap and mumbled. “It’s not fair. I don’t have that money. My family doesn’t have the money. I won’t be able to get a teaching position in five years. How will I explain the missing time on my resume?”

  “I agree you don’t have the money. But your family has the land. The land that my money bought.” His hand moved to her silken cheek and then down to her trembling chin. “Don’t flatter yourself thinking I’m going to keep you for five years, Katie. It will be more like five months.”

  She looked up with hope in her eyes. “But I—I thought—don’t I have to stay with you for five years for the debt to be cleared?”

  Zach was annoyed with himself for being irritated by her question. Women weren’t supposed to want to get away from him. And for some inexplicable reason, even though his motives were supposed to be revenge and punishment, he wanted her to want to be with him. He’d always wanted her to want him, but he hadn’t been able to achieve that. In a deepening, curt voice he said, “No. That’s what the contract says, but that’s a worst case scenario. You be a good girl and play fair with me, and I’ll cancel the rest of the debt when I let you go. You’ll have to trust me on that, but it will happen.”