Page 36 of Hayes
And instead of dealing with any of my problems, I’m showing Lilith a tour of the mansion I brought her to.
She looks suspiciously around every room, like she’s waiting to be surprised by a Retribution King I’ve kept hidden to attack her.
As strong and as capable as she is, she’s equally afraid. The skills she’s picked up are all a defense mechanism. It’s something to protect her from the constant fear and trauma coursing through her veins.
We stop in the kitchen, which has a full array of professional-grade appliances and pans that I’m dying to use.
“What can I make you to eat?” I ask.
She raises her eyebrow at me and looks around the room. “You don’t have a chef on staff?”
I chuckle at that. “No, I don’t. I don’t have any hired help.”
A bewildered look crosses her face. “You can’t be serious. How do you clean, and cook, and keep up with this house without help?”
“Cleaning isn’t hard when you only use one or two rooms, and cooking I enjoy.”
“I don’t believe that you can cook more than a grilled cheese.”
I give her a devious grin. “Sit down and watch the master work.”
Twenty minutes later, I’ve made her the best damn grilled cheese she’s ever had, complete with a side of tomato bisque soup.
“Holy shit,” she stares at me with instant love in her eyes.
I chuckle, but then I’m used to that reaction. It’s what I do well. I cook, I please people, I make them grin in their darkest moments.
“You really weren’t kidding. This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted.”
I nod, watching her as she takes another bite of her grilled cheese. A soft moan escapes her lips, making my cock harden.
I want her. I want her more than fucking anything. I want to tell her everything, but I can’t. And after spending a couple of days apart while I figured out how to buy her away from those monsters, I realized the truth. I realized our truth and how this is going to fucking end.
There is no hope for me. It doesn’t matter if I complete my mission or not. It doesn’t matter what Titus decides. It doesn’t matter even if I make her fall in love with me these next couple of days. She’s going to hate me in the end for all the lies. There is no amount of love that will overcome the pain she’ll feel when she learns the truth.
Yet, I can’t tell her. I can’t save us all the trouble now. I can’t stop my heart from clinging to the tiniest bit of hope that something will change between now and whenever she finds out.
“What are you thinking about, master?” she asks.
I blink, realizing that I’ve tuned out while she ate the rest of her food.
“What did you just call me?”
“Master. Or do you prefer owner or sir?”
I stare at her, blank-faced.
She chuckles. “You bought me, right? So what do you want me to call you? What room are you going to lock me up in? Or what part of this massive mansion am I allowed in? Who are my guards? You know, give me my orders.”
Her eyes are wide and unruly. Her words have a bite to them. As much as she’s grateful that I’m the one who bought her over the others, she’s still mad that this is the world she’s in. But I don’t want her thinking that—any of that. We’re on the same side, her and me. Even when the truth gets out, and she thinks we’re not.
“I don’t own you,” I say sternly.
She turns on the stool at the counter and faces me as I sit next to her. “But you do. You signed a contract and paid my family millions to own me.”
I shake my head. I take her hand and place it against my chest, next to the spot where she stabbed me, over my heart.
“Feel that heartbeat. Feel it racing under your touch. You do that to me.” She sucks in a breath. “I signed a contract and paid millions, when I should have been running as far away from you as possible. You weren’t in my plan. In fact, you’ll make my goals so much harder to accomplish. But I couldn’t leave you alone. I don’t own you—you own me, Lilith.”
