Page 13 of Chandelier Enthralled
How easy it would be to pull her into my arms and tell her how much she meant to me.Used to mean to me, before all this.
“Closer.”
She stepped forward. “Greyson?”
I reached out and gripped her right wrist tightly. With a twist, I pulled the ring off her finger, even as she tried to yank her arm away to prevent me from taking it.
Her face flushed. “What are you doing?”
She reached for it, but I’d already tucked it into my jacket pocket.
“Mrs. Roper gave it to me.”
I pointed towards the adjoining room. “Get dressed.”
“I want my ring back.”
“It was never yours.”
I escorted her into the changing room. “Everyone out!”
Submissives scurried through the door, glancing back with intrigue. My mask was a terrifying symbol of power.
Amelia opened a locker and pulled out her travel bag. Rummaging through it, she grabbed a bra and panties. Then, with those on, she pulled on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt. It wasn’t lost on me that I had bought her those. Including the cashmere sweater she pulled over her head.
“Why won’t you show your face?” she bit out.
Now that she was dressed, I grabbed her arm and led her out and along the hallway, escorting her all the way to the back of the club.
Then I opened the rear door and pulled her outside with me.
I gestured to the waiting taxi and then handed her a stack of hundred-dollar bills. “That’s for you.”
She peered down at the money, tears staining her cheeks. “Why can’t I stay?”
I shook my head, stunned she couldn’t see the mess she’d made. “There’s also money in your bank account,” I said. “Leave Los Angeles.”
“Jewel made me do it.”
The numbness lifted, and I pointed towards the taxi. “Get in.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Go back to Ohio.”
“Greyson, please. This isn’t you.”
“Actually, it is.”
“You hate me.”
“I hate what you did,” I said.
And this is me saving you, but you’ll never see it, or understand it, or have a sense of the risks I’ve taken to get you away from here.
“Go.”
“This place will never be yours,” she said bitterly, shoving the money into her purse.
