Page 132 of Pandora's Pleasure
“Let me handle this.”
“What about what I want?”
“I have to prove to them I’m worthy of you. Give me the chance to show them I’m willing to fight for you.”
Shaking my head, I tried to fathom how our paradise had turned into a personal hell. “It’s decided then.”
“This is a machine, Pandora. It’s bigger than both of us. The stakes are incredibly high. We’re talking human rights. The environment. Health care for all. Freeing those wrongly imprisoned. We’re talking about millions of lives affected for the better if my father gets elected.”
“My father has so much to offer, too.”
“I don’t disagree.”
“I have to think of who else might benefit…” My eyes widened at a sudden realization. “He promised you the Fairfield Project would resume if you ended us.”
“Yes, but—”
“You get what you wanted. You all get what you want.”
Except me.
“Lay low. That’s all I am asking of you. Until I figure this out.”
“I will not stand by while my family is destroyed.”
“This is why our families have never agreed in the past. Only one can rule.”
I grabbed my bag and ran for the door.
He caught me by my wrist and walked me backwards until I hit the wall, my bag dropping to the floor. He towered over me, his lips hovering dangerously close to mine.
I peered up at him. “Are we really over?”
“I will find a way. I need you to believe me.”
“After the media has thrown us to the wolves, my life will be over.”
He pulled me into a hug. “Listen to me, I will not give up on us. Not now, not ever. Stay here. Don’t go home. They’ll send you to Switzerland. Or somewhere I’ll never find you.” He pressed his lips to my forehead, his kiss firm and unrelenting.
Our powerful families had thrust us together for one purpose only. They’d succeeded in bringing us together because that is what they did—they always got their way.
Those same dark forces were now trying to rip us apart.
“No one will know you’re here.” He lifted my chin. “Unless you tell someone.”
“They can’t make me leave the country.”
“Who knows what they’re capable of doing. I need you to promise me you’ll stay here.”
The chasm of love between us kept widening.
“I don’t need protecting.”
“We do what they want for now. After the election, we’ll find a way to be together.”
I was now simply a Plaything of Power.
My future was set; marrying Damien was never going to happen. I could only be his lover.
