Page 20 of Grimm

“What are you doing?” he asked, eyeing the sweater.

“I…didn’t you want me to put my stuff away?” She pointed toward the closet.

His gaze followed her finger, while a deep frown curved his lips.

“I should have left my things in the boxes,” she said as she pulled the hanger from the sweater. “This isn’t my home. I mean, this room is obviously someone’s. I just assumed. And that was stupid. I mean…I’m not your guest, I’m your…” She reached for the second shirt and ripped the hanger through the neckline. “Well, whatever I am.” Plaything? Sex slave? As true as the words may have been, they soiled the memory of the night before. He’d been as generous in his touches as he’d been demanding of her submission.

“Daniella. Stop.” He grabbed hold of her hands. “I wanted you to put your things away. But not in here.” He glanced around the room as though he expected a ghost to pop out at them. “You’ll put your things in my room.”

His room?

“Whose room is this, William?” she asked as she lightly tugged her hands from his grip. He stared at her blankly. “William,” she repeated with more firmness.

She took a step back. “Oh, my god, are you— Is this your wife’s room?” she sucked in a breath, nausea punching her gut.

“No.” He lowered his brows. “No. Ashley was never my wife.”

Daniella froze. “Was she the last girl you bought?” she asked, willing her voice to stop trembling.

His lips curled. “No, Daniella. You’re the first girl I’ve ever done that with.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “Ashley was my fiancée. ‘Was’ being the important word there.” He went to the vanity and picked up the most-used bottle of perfume and smelled it, scrunching up his face. “I never liked that one.” He put the bottle back down.

“Where is she now? She left a lot of her things.” Daniella motioned to the closet.

“I have no idea where she is, and I don’t really care.” William peeked into the closet. “She ran off with some guy she met at her Zumba classes.”

“Are you sure?”

He tilted his head in her direction. “Well, she sent a nice email from Bora Bora with pictures, so yeah, I’m positive. From there, I don’t know where she ended up. Her family has ties all over the world, so she could be anywhere.”

Daniella studied his movements as he walked into the closet and pulled out a few of the shirts hanging on the rack. “If you have an empty box, we’ll toss her stuff in it. I’ll ask Duncan to have it delivered to the woman’s shelter in the city.” He draped the shirt across one of the closed boxes. “The guys should have emptied her shit out before you started unpacking.” He frowned.

William wasn’t the sort of man who accepted people not following his orders. If he ordered something done, he expected it done. She hadn’t needed to know him for long to understand that about him. He was a stickler for following his instructions.

“Do you miss her?” Daniella slipped the hanger back through the neckline of her shirt.

He raised an eyebrow. “No. I mean, I was pissed when she left, but I don’t miss her. It was more of an arrangement than anything else. She wanted the money my family brings, and I wanted her father’s territory on the south side. She ran off, so no family fortune, but as payment for her betrayal, her father still handed over the territory.” He grinned, like he’d won a grand prize with the transaction.

“So you didn’t love her?” Daniella asked. She herself had never been in love before. There hadn’t been time with any of her boyfriends. Much like her upbringing, she’d never stuck around long enough for love to develop. The longest relationship she’d ever had was with Megan. But that didn’t stop her from wanting to be in love. To be loved.

William shook his head. “No. I didn’t, and she obviously didn’t love me.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “I was looking for you because I’m going to a party, and you’ll be joining me. Be ready by eight o’clock.”

“A party?” She clung to the hanger.

“Yes. A party. It’s at Ashland’s house,” he said, sending her nerves into a frenzy.

“Oh. Okay.” She nodded. At Ashland Titon’s house. Sure. She could manage that. Her throat clenched.

William ran his hands up and down her arms. “It’s going to be okay, Daniella. It’s just a fun night. Nothing to fear, and you’ll be with me.” He winked. “What could go wrong?”

She forced a chuckle. “Well, the last time I was at his house, a man looking like he could break my neck with his bare hands paid fifty thousand dollars to keep me.”

His smile fell. “It wasn’t your neck I was imaging between my hands. It was Marcus’s.”

She blinked a few times. “Is that why you bought me? So he couldn’t have me?”

The silence grew thick as he stared at her for a moment. “I bought you because I wanted you. I’m keeping you so no one else will have you.”

“Will he be there tonight? Marcus?” A shiver crawled up her back at the thought.

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