Cunning

by Aleatha Romig

  “It took every ounce of self-control I possessed to let you leave me that morning.”

  “Why did you put your number in my phone?”

  “Because I wanted you to break our rule.”

  “So you could punish me?” My behind still smarted as I asked the question.

  “No, so I could see you again. I told you that I take what I want. I didn’t want to take you. I wanted you to come back to me because you wanted me.”

  Another renegade tear descended my cheek.

  Nox wiped it away with the pad of his thumb. “Don’t cry, princess.”

  “I wanted to call you… “My phrases were separated by my stuttered breathing. “So many times I stared at your number, but my life is… was… hell, I don’t know… it’s crazy. I wanted to concentrate on school. And then it all imploded. I just wish I hadn’t signed and you hadn’t signed. I wish this was real and not a business agreement.”

  He kissed my forehead. “As far as I’m concerned it’s real. I’m sorry you don’t feel that way.”

  “But you made a point…”

  His kiss moved to my lips. “I’m an ass. You’ll learn that, if you haven’t already.”

  I wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

  “I was livid when I learned of your agreement.” He took another deep breath. “I wasn’t planning on telling you this until I got my point across, but something tells me I’ve succeeded in doing so.” He gently kissed me. “I didn’t learn about your profile because I’m a client. I’ve never been a client.”

  My eyes narrowed. “W-What do you mean?”

  He sighed. “Demetri Enterprises is heavily invested in Infidelity. I hate the company. I’m constantly concerned about its ability to stay covert. Deloris monitors it, making sure all their systems are hack-proof.”

  “So you didn’t?” I shot up from his lap. “You didn’t sign my agreement. You didn’t buy it?”

  Nox shook his head.

  “B-But I received my first check.”

  “I said I’m an ass. I just kept thinking if you would’ve gone into the system, the people or person… I couldn’t…” He stood and seized my shoulders. “Agreement or not, you’re mine. You were mine from the first time I saw you in Del Mar. I just needed you to see that.”

  “So you lied to me? All this talk of honesty and trust and you lied?”

  “Not really.”

  “What the hell do you mean not really?”

  “I paid to buy out your contract.”

  My stomach twisted. “You did what?”

  “Demetri Enterprises is an investor. Infidelity isn’t my company. I couldn’t just pull you from the system. Your signing the agreement meant that the company—all the investors—expected a certain level of return on their investment. On you. I gave them that. I bought out your year. Your name is gone from their records. I bought your freedom.”

  I staggered back to the sofa, sinking down. His words circled my mind: Bought. Freedom. Investment. “You were going to let me think that I was your expensive whore?”

  “For a while,” he admitted. “Like I said, I was mad. I wanted you to understand the ramifications of what you’d done.” Nox fell to his knees with his hands on mine. “I didn’t want you to experience it, not with someone else.” He looked down, took a deep breath, and looked back up. “I’m a selfish bastard. I wanted you. I took the opportunity, and now you know the truth. This is real. You’re mine because I want you, not because I bought you.

  “You could walk away anytime you want.”

  This changed everything. “What about living with you? I should stay in my own apartment.”

  Disappointment laced his response. “If that’s what you want, but security is still non-negotiable.”

  My eyes widened. “I almost forgot… something Chelsea remembered.”

  Nox’s grip of my knees tightened. “What?”

  “Before I tell you, remember that we don’t know what this means.”

  “Tell me. Now.”

  “She remembered the man attacking her. After he knocked her down, when he rolled her over and saw her face, he said she was the wrong one.”

  “Fuck!” Nox stood in one swift move. “No. You’re not moving into your own apartment.”

  “You can’t make me—”

  Standing, he pulled me from the sofa into his arms. “I sure as fuck can. We don’t need a written agreement. We don’t need a fucking company. You, Alexandria Collins, are mine. You agreed to that, and I’m not letting you go, not without one hell of a fight. You’ve been seen with me. There are already social media posts. You’re mine to keep safe, and I intend to do that. That also means away from your high school boyfriend.”

  Each phrase came forth with more determination than the one before.

  “Do you have a problem with any of that?”

  It was what I’d wanted, what I’d wished for. This was real, and hell yes, I wanted it too.

  I lowered my lids, peering up at him through a veil of lashes. “No, Mr. Demetri, I don’t have a problem at all.”

  I jumped as he swatted my tender behind. “Ouch, I’m a tad sore if you don’t remember.”

  His gaze glistened as the rising sun seeped from the edge of the curtains, causing his light blue to sparkle. “Oh, I remember. I want more than your ass sore, and if it’s not, I didn’t do a very good job.”

  On the tips of my toes, I brushed my lips against his. “Real… this is real?”

  “Yes, princess.”

  “I’m yours and you’re mine?”

  “Stop saying that like a question.”

  I had so many more questions, yet for the first time, I also had answers. The way he had berated my employment while being a client no longer seemed hypocritical. It now made sense. I wondered how much my freedom cost him and at the same time, was thankful to him and Deloris for saving me from my own impetuousness. None of my questions or concerns seemed as important as my new reality.

  My smile broadened. “If I say ‘Yes, Mr. Demetri’ will it result in another spanking?”

  His grin quirked, lifting one cheek while pressing his full lips together. With the menacing gaze that twisted my insides, he asked, “Why don’t you try it and find out?”

  AFTER WE STEPPED from the plane in New York, Deloris introduced Nox and I to a handsome, older gentleman. He wasn’t actually old, but he was older than Isaac.

  “Mr. Demetri, Miss Collins, may I introduce Jerrod, Miss Collins’s new driver.”

  This man wasn’t only my driver, but my bodyguard too, someone with whom I’d be spending plenty of time. I noticed Nox eying him up and down as they shook hands. Jerrod’s dark hair mixed with white gave him a distinguished look, and his eyes were sharp and respectful of his employer. In his dark suit, my new companion appeared fit, not muscle-bound, but capable of protecting me.

  “Hello, Jerrod,” I said, extending my hand. “Please call me Alex.”

  “Ma’am,” he said, taking my hand.

  “Any questions,” Nox said, “direct them to Mrs. Witt. If there’s ever a problem or concern, contact me immediately.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Before long, we were all in a dark limousine headed toward the city. Only Nox, Deloris, and I were in the back. Isaac sat in the front with Jerrod. Through the closed dark glass I could only make out their silhouettes.

  “He’s been with Demetri for some time now. I consider him very trustworthy.”

  I wasn’t sure if Deloris was reassuring Nox or me. For a moment, I considered pleading my case again for no bodyguard, but before the words formed, I knew my breath would be wasted. I thought of asking for Isaac—I’d gotten used to him—but I didn’t. Nox and Isaac had more of a relationship than Isaac did with me. They had the same unspoken language that Nox and Deloris shared. I was the new person to the whole Demetri equation. It made sense that I’d have the new bodyguard.

  In no time, the three of us were busy with emails and text messages. I didn’t pay a
ttention as Deloris and Nox discussed business. Their speaking of names I didn’t recognize and exchanging looks became the background to my own thoughts.

  I had a few text messages from Chelsea. The doctors were letting her out of the hospital in the morning. She planned to spend some time with her mother before moving to New York. I’d already informed Deloris of her plans. After Chelsea packed a suitcase for her visit with her mother, Deloris had movers ready to bring everything else to my apartment near the campus. Apparently, that was the destination of everything except my personal items. Those were going to Nox’s apartment—our apartment.

  Living with him without being required to do so made me happy. I wanted to wake up in his arms and fall asleep listening to him breathe. The idea of settling into a routine with the handsome man beside me excited me more now that I knew Infidelity wasn’t party to it.

  I didn’t like that I was relying on him for my expenses, but he assured me it was what he wanted to do. That made it better than him having to do it because of an agreement. Of course, it also meant that either of us could walk away at any moment.

  It made it real.

  I texted Chelsea back to let her know we arrived. There were four new text messages from Bryce. I decided to delete them without opening any. I could read the first few words, but I chose not to. I’d made up my mind. I didn’t care what he said.

  I also had one text message from my mother. It was from her, but not from her phone. I wouldn’t let myself think about that, about Alton and what she went through with that monster. I never understood why she put up with him or why she made me put up with him. Instead, I thought about seeing her without him.

  Adelaide: “WILL ARRIVE BEFORE NOON. BRUNCH?”

  I texted back to Jane’s phone.

  Me: “YES. LET ME KNOW WHERE.”

  Scrolling through my endless stream of emails, I found a few from my student counselor at Columbia. One gave a breakdown of my impending schedule. My fingers trembled with excitement. This was happening, my dream—and my fairytale. When I mentally added the last part of my thought, a silly grin graced my lips, and I caught a quick glance of the handsome man beside me.

  I was busy pulling up the attachments and making notes when I looked up and realized we weren’t in Manhattan. We were traveling too fast and too far.

  I saw a sign for I-95 north just before the car slowed to exit the highway.

  “Where are we? Where are we going?”

  Nox looked up and reached for my hand. His furrowed brow and protruding neck muscles said more than his words. His comfortable demeanor from this morning and the plane were gone.

  “I was trying to avoid this, but our trip made our relationship public quicker than I anticipated.”

  The scenery around us changed quickly, from the interstate to a nice neighborhood of manicured lawns and large homes. The houses grew larger as we continued. There were now driveways blocked by iron gates. Every now and then, when a break in the trees and houses gave way, the glistening of blue water would catch my eye.

  “Where are we?” I asked again.

  “Rye, New York.”

  “Rye? Westchester County? You were trying to avoid showing me your house?”

  Nox took a deep breath and looked to Deloris, sitting across from us. “It is my house,” he explained. “But it’s also my family’s house.”

  My heart beat faster. “Your family? I’m going to meet your family?”

  I suddenly thought of Montague Manor and my attire. I’d only planned on traveling. I was wearing jeans and a comfortable flowing top. My hair was secured in a low side ponytail, and I wasn’t wearing much in the way of makeup. “Nox, I-I’m not dressed to meet your family.”

  His serious expression shattered into a grin at my surge of panic. Tugging my hand to make me lean closer, he kissed me. “You’re beautiful. My father doesn’t deserve the grand treatment.”

  My hand fell to his thigh, feeling the denim below my fingers. At least this time we were both dressed casually. “Your father,” I repeated. “Your mother?”

  “Got tired of his shit a long time ago.”

  “They’re divorced?” I thought she was gone, but then again, I didn’t really know. I tried to learn as much as I could. Shit! We were stopped at a gate. Why hadn’t he told me this sooner?

  “They were,” he confirmed. “Unfortunately, when she finally found happiness, she became ill.”

  The car stopped and I stared out at the front of the Demetri family home, a large modern stucco home with an ornate entry.

  “She has passed,” Deloris offered, completing Nox’s brief explanation. “Lennox’s father, Oren Demetri, usually resides in London. He’s here, but will be leaving tomorrow.”

  “He wants to meet you,” Nox added with an edge of apprehension.

  Was this because I was seen with his son, or could he possible know what I’d done with Infidelity?

  Isaac opened the door, and I hesitated. “Should I be nervous?”

  Nox squeezed my hand. “No. I’m not letting you out of my sight. Just ignore most of what he says. He can be… brash.”

  We got out of the car and I fidgeted with my hair, waiting for Deloris, but she didn’t move. Isaac closed the door with her inside.

  “Deloris isn’t coming?”

  “No, Isaac will stay so he can drive us back to the city. Jerrod is taking her home.” Nox tugged my hand away from my hair. “Stop worrying. You look beautiful.”

  “Back to the city? Tonight?”

  Before he could answer my question, we both turned to the opening of the front door.

  “Mr. Demetri,” the woman with a welcoming smile said. “It’s good to see you. Your father has been waiting.”

  “Thank you, Silvia. California is a long way away.” He stopped before the woman. “Silvia, this is Alex Collins, my… girlfriend.”

  I felt like a teenager the way that title made me smile.

  “Alex, this is Silvia, the longtime property manager and all-around boss of this house.”

  A bit of my nervousness waned at her welcoming manner.

  “Miss Collins, it’s nice to meet you. I haven’t been here too long…” She winked. “…it’s not like I have stories of a teenage Lennox or anything.”

  My brows went up. “Oh, Miss… Silvia, we do need to talk.”

  “No, you don’t,” Nox said with a grin as we entered the stunning foyer.

  Unlike the shadows of Montague Manor, everything about the house was open and bright. The classic architecture boasted bleached wooden floors, light beige walls, and white woodwork. Fresh flowers adorned the large oval table in the entry. Beyond, farther into the house, the glistening waters of Long Island Sound were visible through tall windows.

  “This is beautiful,” I said, as much to Silvia as to Nox.

  While he shrugged, Silvia smiled and replied, “Thank you. It’s usually pretty lonely here. It’s nice when people stay.”

  I had the feeling that comment was meant more for Nox.

  “Your father’s in his office. He’s on a call, but I’ll let you know as soon as he’s available.” She looked at me. “It’s nice to have you here. I can’t tell you how happy I am that Lennox brought someone here.”

  I heard the unspoken part, the again. That didn’t mean I planned to recognize or vocalize it. Instead, I smiled and said, “Thank you. I apologize for not being more… presentable. We’ve been traveling.”

  “Oh nonsense. This is Lennox’s home, not a formal occasion. You both are perfect. May I get you something, a drink after your travels?”

  Nox pulled my hand toward the back of the house. “Some iced tea would be nice. First, I’m going to take Alex outside before the sun sets.”

  “Your father…”

  “Can wait,” Nox called over his shoulder.

  I merely shrugged toward Silvia, my cheeks rising to expose my grin. Her smile was contagious. It seemed as if she genuinely adored Nox and might even approve of me. I couldn’t
help but compare her friendly reception with that of the staff at Montague. Theirs would be so much different and impersonal—well, except for Jane.

  “I like her,” I said as we stepped out through the glass door at the end of a long living room. My feet stopped at the magnificent view. “Wow.”

  More words didn’t form as I took in his family’s backyard. We were standing on a block patio that led to and surrounded a lovely crystal-blue pool. Beside the pool was what appeared to be a pool house, made mostly of windows. Beyond the pool was an expanse of green grass, freshly mown with perfect stripes, alternating dark and light green. The lawn led down to the beach where a narrow strip of brown separated the green from the blue. The water sparkled with shimmers of the late-day sun. In the distance on the other side of the sound was what I believed to be New York. I tipped my head.

  “Long Island,” Nox said, answering my unspoken question.

  “This is so pretty. Why don’t you come here more often?”

  “Let me take you down to the water.”

  I held tightly to his hand as we crossed the lawn, my shoes sinking into the soft grass. “We’re putting footprints in the grass.”

  His blue eyes narrowed. “We’re what?”

  I looked behind us, seeing the crushed blades indicating our path. “We’re leaving footprints.”

  Nox pulled my hand closer, causing me to bump against him. “You’re cute.” He kissed my forehead.

  Small round bushes partially hid a short wrought-iron fence. Going to the gate, he led me down a few steps until we were standing on the brown sand. Clusters of large rocks dotted the beach.

  “There, princess, no more damage to the grass.”

  I ignored his comment, let go of his hand, and reached for a small pebble. Throwing it into the water, I said, “Seriously, this place is beautiful. Do you not live here because of the commute?”

  He walked out to one of the large rocks, climbed on top, and sat with his knees near his chest. Leaning back on his arms, he tipped his chin toward the water. It was his invitation for me to join him. The shoes I wore were flats, but their soles were hard. Worried that I might slip, I slid my feet out of them and with bare feet climbed next to him. Having spent the day absorbing the sun’s rays, the dark rock was warm under my touch.