Page 27 of Love to Defy You
He slaps my ass, making me yelp. “I think I’ll leave you like this, as punishment.”
“Punishment?” I brace my knees against the side of the counter, which gives me enough leverage to stand up straight and turn around. “For what?”
“For coming home completely intoxicated last night.” His expression darkens as he towers over me. “You can’t let yourself do that when I’m not there.”
“Why not? I’m in college, which means I want to get drunk and stupid sometimes.”
He grabs my face, digging his fingers into my cheeks, and looks into my eyes. “And when you do that, you’re ripe to be taken advantage of. Someone gained access to our apartment last night, and who knows what else they can get access to? You need to be more careful. From now on, you don’t go anywhere at night without me. Understand?”
“Wait, what?” I jerk my face from his grasp. “They were here? In the apartment?”
“Yes. I fired the staff this morning and collected their keys,” he explains. “But still, promise me that from now on, you’ll only leave my side to go to class during the day. If anything happened to you...” He shakes his head and turns his back to me, running his hand over his jaw.
“Fine, I promise. From now on, anything we do, we do together. But you have to let me in on what you’re going through. Deal?”
He nods. “Deal.”
“Good. Now, will you take these handcuffs off so I can hold you?”
He runs his hand along his jawline, humming as he considers my proposal. “I rather like seeing you like this, ruined and bound. Mine for the taking.”
“Then what are you waiting for?” My lips curl into a smirk. “Fuck me.”
Chapter 7
Alek
The aroma of bacon grease wafts into the bedroom, and with a gasp, I shoot up straight in bed from a dead sleep. My heart thumps in my chest from the adrenaline, and my breath comes in heavy pants.
After the kidnapping incident on Saturday, I fired the housekeeper and the chef and collected their keys, so whoever is in my kitchen must have kept a spare for my attackers. The only time anyone will enter my home, staff included, is when I am here to let them in and supervise them.
I hastily shrug on a pair of sweatpants and charge out to confront the intruder, but when I round the corner into the kitchen, the only person at the stove is Willow.
She throws me a glance over her shoulder. “Oh, good morning, sleepyhead.”
I blink, but my muscles are still tense. “You’re cooking?”
“Uh, yeah. You fired the chef.” She puts a hand on her hip and returns her focus to the sizzling pan.
That makes more sense than an intruder breaking into my apartment to cook me breakfast.
“I didn’t know you could cook.” I plod barefoot into the kitchen to inspect her handiwork—scrambled eggs and pancakes sit on plates next to small bowls of fruit. The adrenaline rush leaves as fast as it came, leaving me exhausted but relieved. I take a deep breath and relax my shoulders.
“Yes, most of us peasants can cook, Alek.” She bumps her hip against mine. “I just wanted to celebrate our first day of classes with a nice meal.”
“So, I should cancel the meal delivery and let you cook all our meals?”
She drops the tongs in her hand. “Hold on, don’t cancel it—“ When I chuckle, she relaxes her shoulders. “You’re such an ass.” But she lets out a relieved breath.
I need her reassuring touch, so I wrap my arms around her waist. “I’d never make you do any servant work.” I plant a kiss on her shoulder.
“It’s not servant work. Most people do their own cooking and cleaning, you know.” She picks up the tongs and flips the bacon. “Oh, by the way, there was a letter for you in the foyer. I put it on the counter.”
I stiffen. “The foyer? Not the mailbox downstairs?”
“Yeah, someone must have slipped it under the door.”
No one should have access to our private entrance unless the front desk calls up first. I release Willow and search for the letter, which she placed by the refrigerator. It’s a black envelope with my full name scrawled in immaculate golden calligraphy across the front.
