“Talk to ya later.”
I hung up and busied myself on my computer, trying to finish the last few tasks I had left before I started dinner. Once our stew was going, I checked my phone and didn’t see a message from him, which meant nothing was keeping him at the office and that he would be home for dinner.
I found cooking therapeutic and this was helping me get through all the other things going on. A couple of hours later, the front door opening distracted me from surfing the internet, and I looked at him wide-eyed as he came into the kitchen.
“Something smells good,” he said.
“Hope it tastes as good as it smells,” I replied. “I just have a couple more things to do, and dinner should be ready.” I walked over to the pot and lifted the lid, stirring the ingredients in the one-pot stew that I had thrown together. It wasn’t as glamorous as the meals Lucy cooked, but it was dinner.
He put his briefcase down near the kitchen counter. I didn’t even try to hide my staring as he took off his suit jacket and rolled up his sleeves. His forearm flexed and my eyes went to Damien’s hands. Images of how he’d fondled my breasts the night before flashed through my mind, and I wondered what he had prepared for tonight. I turned away after he whipped his tie off and stirred the dish once more. I wanted to continue staring at him, but I needed to tend to the meal.
“So, how was your day?”
“Why are you cooking for me?” His question came out accusatory, and I was taken aback by it. This hadn’t been the first time that I had cooked a meal for us.
“If you must know, I was actually cooking for myself. Figured I would offer you some too.” That was a lie, but my feelings were hurt.
“I have a chef who could cook for both of us.”
I dropped the spoon I had been using to stir and it landed on the stove, sauce splattering on the counter and stovetop. “Listen, I’m trying to do something good, something nice. Something that you wouldn’t know shit about. Then you come in here and start giving me the third degree.”
He paused and stared at me. “You aren’t here to cook food. You’re here to be fucked and—”
“How dare you!” The rage from his comment came on quickly and I didn’t let him finish the sentence.
I wanted to say the thoughts that were flying through my mind, but I couldn’t because I was still in shock. His comment stung me more than I was prepared for.
“I had a rough day at the office. What I meant to say was that you could use my chef. Nothing more, nothing less. I apologize for saying that you’re only here to be fucked.”
I grabbed my chest and stared at Damien wide-eyed. Damien Cross had just apologized. But he was right. I wasn’t here for anything other than to pleasure him. I turned around and the timer that I set earlier went off and I quieted it before I walked over to the sink with the spoon and rinsed it off. I dried the spoon and turned the stovetop off.
“Dinner is ready,” I whispered before I left the kitchen and walked into the guest bedroom. I closed the door behind me, but I didn’t lock it because I knew he would end up coming in here at some point anyway. I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the wall in front of me, trying to process my thoughts.
What I had told Ellie was the truth. Recently, Damien and I had been getting along well. Things were lovely and we had settled into a routine in our daily lives, but our nights were anything but routine. Our nights were spent exploring each other’s bodies, discovering new pleasures about the other as we went. And his comment brought me back down to Earth. After all, just like the first go round, I was preparing for this “relationship” to end as soon as we caught the culprit.
A knock on the door disturbed my train of thought. I wasn’t expecting him to come in here so soon.
“Come in,” I said, keeping my voice level, determined not to give too much away.
He entered the room quietly and I wouldn’t have known for sure that he had come in if I hadn’t smelled a hint of his cologne. I turned and saw that he’d brought two bowls of dinner with him.
“I wanted to talk.”
Of course he wanted to talk, and I knew he was going to force the issue even though I didn’t want to. The quicker we got this over with, the faster he would get out of the room.
“I want to apologize again for what I said. It was uncalled for and the furthest thing from the truth.” He made a move to sit next to me on the bed. Part of me wanted to lean into him and be in his arms, but now wasn’t a good time.
“Okay.”
“That’s all you’re going to say? You aren’t going to call me an asshole?”
“We both already know you’re one so what would be the point?”
He chuckled. Our dynamic was back to normal.
“Are we good now?”
This had been the first time we truly worked through an issue that we were having instead of Damien steamrolling over me. I felt good about his willingness to meet me halfway. We were working better together and that made me happy. I nodded before I asked, “So, how was your day?”
“Pretty good. Thought I might have to stay a bit later, but thankfully my senior staff worked it out among themselves.”
“Bought another company?”
He snorted. “No, but I’m in the process of buying another piece of property in the city.”
“Do you really need another house here?”
“It’s not that. It’s office space.”
“Ah.” That made more sense. We stopped talking temporarily when I lifted a forkful of the food up to my mouth. I closed my eyes and let the sensations of the food take over, transporting me to another place and time.
“This is damn good.”
I cracked an eye open and looked at him. He was busy finishing a bite and putting another one in his mouth.
“Thanks.” My voice wavered a bit before I stuffed my face with dinner again. An apology and recognition on the same day, let alone within the same hour? Was the world ending? Because I was not used to this type of behavior from him, but the small gesture warmed me. Or it could have just been the food. We continued eating for a few minutes before Damien cleared his throat.
“Anais.”
“Yes?” I said after I finished swallowing the food in my mouth.
“You need to pack and be ready in about ninety minutes.”
I did a double take. “Are you going to tell me where we’re going?” I asked.
He made a noncommittal noise before he asked, “Where’s the fun in that?”
“Since when do you do anything fun? Well besides going to Elevate.” I asked. Since when does he apologize, thank you, compliment you, and surprise you with something that so far sounds like something you would enjoy?
“I’m glad you think Elevate is fun.” He paused before he continued, “Maybe I’m turning over a new leaf. Pack for three to four days, and you can bring your laptop and work with you.”
He knew me too well. “Can you at least tell me what the climate is?”
“Similar to here. Done?”
I nodded and he took the bowl I was holding with him out of the room. I racked my brain trying to figure out where we might be going as I walked into the guest closet and stopped. There was nothing in there except some fancier gowns that could only be worn to a big event. “What the—”
My mind raced as I left the guest room and looked out into the living area, but Damien was nowhere to be found. Even though I had been sleeping with Damien in his bedroom, I still got dressed in the guestroom. Speaking of his bedroom, I heard movement coming from there and followed it. I found him standing with his back toward the door, shirtless. I watched as his muscles moved and the urge to run my hands down his back stopped me from saying anything that would detract from watching him.
“Is there something I can help you with?”
Of course, he knew I was standing there. He turned around to face me and threw a shirt over his head, robbing me of the view I had been enjoying.
“Where are my cloth
es?” I didn’t even have time to process him not wearing a suit and tie, instead opting for a navy T-shirt over dark-colored jeans.
His eyes darted over to the door leading to his walk-in closet. I side-eyed him as my feet brought me over to the closet door that was already open with the light on. His clothes were on one side of the closet and someone had neatly hung mine on the other. I turned around, and he was standing in the doorway.
“Since you were sleeping in here, I thought it would be easier to have your stuff moved in here.”
It was a gracious gesture, but he could have asked me if I wanted to have my things moved. Yes, it was more convenient, but I wondered if it was another way he was trying to keep me under his thumb. I felt guilty that this was where my mind went.
“Time is ticking.”
Damien’s voice broke through my thoughts and kicked me into action. Once I picked out my outfits, I brought the duffel bag out of the closet and placed it on the floor near the dresser. I hadn’t checked the dresser in the guest room to see if my underwear was still in there, but it made sense to check here first. I opened the top drawer and found many types of lingerie in it, but this was clearly for the bedroom activities that Damien had planned. I touched a red G-string that was semitransparent.
“Only the stuff hanging in the closet was brought in here, but I had a spare drawer that could fit some of the brand-new lingerie I bought for you in it. I’ll have that fixed while we are gone. You should take some of those pieces with you.” He was leaning on the door frame.
“Thank you.” I grabbed my duffel bag and walked toward the door, hoping that Damien would move, but he didn’t. He shifted himself and stood up straight, his body taking up even more space.
“What? No insult? And here I was ready to punish you by fucking your mouth when we get there.” He shrugged. Little did he know, I didn’t think that was a punishment. “Finish packing because we need to go soon. Don’t forget to grab a couple of pieces from that drawer.”
With that, he walked out of the room.
I was on time for whatever Damien had planned, and he didn’t have a conniption. I stared out of the car window. Based on the streets we were passing and my knowledge of New York City geography, it seemed as if we were moving closer to the water.
We pulled up to a stop in front of a building near the water. “Are we going on a boat?”
I could see Damien’s smirk because of the lights reflecting off the hard planes of his face. “No.”
I held back a retort because I didn’t want to drag Rob into our conversation. Most of the ride was in silence and I relished in that because I was still peeved at him, but I debated with myself whether it was worth asking that question. Clearly, I was wrong.
Damien got out of the car before Rob, but I waited for Rob to open my door. Once I was out of the car, Rob closed the door behind me and rushed over to help Damien.
“We only have a couple of carry-ons and our laptops. Don’t worry about it. We’ll see you when we get back.”
Rob nodded as another man approached. I assumed he had come from inside the building we were standing in front of.
“Mr. Cross, Mrs. Cross, welcome! My name is Clay and I’d be happy to grab your bags and get you both situated ahead of your flight.”
His words made me freeze in place. Mrs. Cross? Flight?
The only thing that pushed me forward was Damien’s hand on the small of my back as he led me into the building. We were greeted by what looked to be a lounge. In one corner were colorful couches and to the right of that was a bar which, after everything that had happened tonight, might be helpful to calm my nerves.
“Can I get you anything?” Clay looked between me and Damien.
“A couple of glasses of water for both of us.” Damien moved his hand from the small of my back to my waist, making sure that Clay saw it.
I rolled my eyes at his obvious show of possession, but I didn’t move.
“I’ll have that right out for you both.”
Damien guided me to the bar stools, and we sat down.
“I can order my own drink, thank you very much.”
“Water is better than alcohol. Just in case you get motion sickness.”
I could admit that made sense. “Can you give me a hint now?”
He glanced at me before he pulled out his phone and said, “We’re going on a helicopter.” I could see he was fighting back a smile.
“Holy shit,” I mumbled. “You’re really not going to tell me where we are going? Could we have driven there?”
The smirk was back on his face. “We could have, but this is better. It was easier to take a helicopter than to have to sit in traffic or go through an airport. So, we’re flying.”
It didn’t take long for Clay to get us our waters and for our ride to arrive to drive us to the helipad not too far from the waiting area we were in. The process was quick, and soon we were getting on the helicopter. When the helicopter took off, I had a chance to look at New York City’s skyline from this different viewpoint. The city lit up in the night was stunning, and once we moved past it, I focused on where we could be going.
I assumed it had to be close because otherwise he would have had us fly on a private jet. My thoughts were confirmed when the helicopter landed about thirty minutes after we took off. Once we had unbuckled all of our safety equipment and stepped off of the helicopter, we were greeted by a woman who introduced herself to us as Kim at what I assumed was another lounge.
“Welcome to the Hamptons!”
I gasped and gripped Damien’s left arm. “Are we going to see my parents?”
I think this was the first time I saw Damien share a smile with me that took up his entire face. “That is what you wanted, right?”
“Um, hell yes!” I exclaimed, almost launching myself at him. Instead, I grabbed him by the lapels of his brown jacket and placed a hard kiss on his lips.
“I can’t believe it!” Tears welled up in my eyes.
“Are you crying?”
“Yes, but they’re happy tears. Oh, I can’t believe this,” I repeated. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!”
Kim started walking in front of us as another gentleman came out of the building and went to the aircraft to grab our carry-ons.
“I’m so happy you pulled this off. It was so hard trying to deal with everything without them being nearby. This was incredibly sweet. Thank you.”
I followed Damien to a fancy sports car and I half expected Rob to appear out of thin air ready to take us to our destination. As Damien slipped behind the wheel, he exuded more power than usual.
Once we were on the road to see my parents, my mind wandered back to being referred to as Mrs. Cross. It had been the first time since the engagement announcement that someone had said that, even if it was by mistake, and I wondered what it would be like to be married to Damien. When talk of the fake engagement had started, getting married to him seemed like the worst thing in the world. Now, the idea didn’t seem so bad, but I needed to remind myself that I had to stay on my A game because there was always a catch.
23
Damien
“Well, this is a fancy car.”
“Aston Martin DBS,” I said as I started the car, enjoying the power that was now beneath my fingertips. The car still had that fresh new car smell because I didn’t drive it as much as I would have liked.
“Aston Martin is one of the cars that James Bond drives, right?”
“It is.”
“Well then, it fits you perfectly.”
I glanced at Anais out of the corner of my eye and although I wanted to stare at her smile for a while longer, I turned my attention back to the road. I felt as if I’d hit the jackpot. Her smile turned into giggles that she couldn’t contain. The mood had lifted considerably since earlier that night. The air between us felt different, and it wasn’t because I was close enough to her to get a hint of the shampoo and conditioner that she used. I heard her rub her body against the black leath
er seat and all it did was remind me of the black leather dress she wore to Elevate.
“Why am I not surprised that you would rent this type of car?”
“Who said it was a rental?”
I could see her look at me out of the corner of my eye, slack jawed.
“You own this car?”
“Yes.” How long was she going to continue this line of questioning?
She mumbled something under her breath about how she couldn’t imagine how much it cost, and I decided not to tell her it was a few hundred thousand. It was one of the newer cars in my garage out here.
“What’s with all this?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, taking another opportunity to look at her for a moment. The smile was gone, and a curious glance was in its place.
“Why are you being nice to me suddenly?”
“I can’t be nice?” I asked. My grip tightened on the steering wheel as the GPS led me along the quiet roads to the house I had purchased a couple of years ago. That was also something she didn’t know. I owned the home that her parents were staying in and had let them use it rent free. Ilaria had worked out the rent with who she thought was a property manager, but it ended up being Melissa who sent all of the paperwork to me. Not a cent was deducted from their account.
“I’m sure you can, but outside of your family, you’re not. So why?”
Should I tell her it was because I was attempting to listen to her more and I knew this is what she wanted so I made it happen?
No, where would the fun be in that? I’d wait until she realized what this was all about. Things were getting better, but the sooner she came to terms with the fact that she was mine, the better.
“I assume you’re capable of being nice, but—” Her words stopped abruptly before she took a deep breath and continued. “I can’t help but to think that you’re playing one of your games.”
“I don’t play games, Spitfire. I do what I say I’m going to do and what I say is final.” I could see that she was understanding this, but there was still work to be done. “You have a hard time listening to the things I say, and that’s because of your desire to defy me at every turn.”
Scarred Empire: An Enemies to Lovers Dark Billionaire Romance (Broken Cross Book 2) Page 13
