Page 22 of For Love & Torture
“I am. You’re as much a part of the success we’re having tonight as the rest of us. You may not have put in the money we have, but you certainly have put in the time. We all are thankful to you for that.” He leans back, putting his hands behind his head and looking sexy as hell, as usual.
“Well, then I would be honored to join you all for our first after-hours breakfast.” I give him a smile and raise my glass. He does too, and we touch glasses once more. “To many, many after-hours breakfasts together.”
“Cheers to that.” He takes another drink then looks at me over the glass. “Thanks for being you, Isabel. I appreciate the hell out of you. I want you to know that.”
And I love you.
I think it, but I don’t dare say it again. “I appreciate the hell out of you too, Grant. All of you guys. I was a poor college student when I applied for this job. I’ve already surpassed my five-year goal, thanks to this opportunity.”
“We ask a lot out of you, though.” His cheeks glow and I know he’s thinking about the part of my job that had us fucking on what had been a daily basis for months. But then his expression goes serious. “Now that we’ve opened and shown the members our scene, there’s no reason to ask that of you any longer. You did more than anyone could ask for. We won’t be asking you to do that anymore.”
“Of course.” I feel slightly sick to my stomach. I knew in my mind that we wouldn’t be having sex anymore, but hearing him say it out loud is more jarring than I would’ve expected.
“Like I said, we’ve already asked too much from you. I, for one, don’t want to burn you out. You’re going to be really busy now, with the members, contracts, managing the auctions and the people in them. You have a lot on your shoulders now that we’re up and running. I won’t ask you to do any more scenes. It wouldn’t be right.”
“No, it wouldn’t be right,” I agree.
“You’re going to get an assistant. That was the other surprise. We want you to get on with hiring one you know you can work well with. You can start setting up interviews as soon as tomorrow.” He shoves his hands in his pockets and chews on his lower lip for a moment then peers at me. “And I don’t want you out there like that anymore. I don’t want anyone to look at you that way again. I’ve also decided that you don’t need to dress so sexily. I and the other owners wear tuxes. You should look a bit more official as well. I’m thinking a nice white starched shirt that buttons up high, not showing any cleavage at all. A nice A-line skirt in black or dark blue that goes past your knees too. Tuck the shirt in and wear a heel that’s no higher than say, two inches. How about that? Can you do that for me, Isabel?” He looks a little sheepish, like he knows what he’s saying is a bit ridiculous.
“Of course, I can.” I get it now. He’s jealous. And I like that. I like that a lot.
Pulling his hands out of his pockets, I see a small black box in the right one. He places it on my desk and pushes it toward me. “And I don’t want to see that red collar on you anymore. Wear this instead.”
Opening the little box, I see it’s a ring like the ones the owners wear. Only the proportions are small, feminine, and my heart is melting. A large black stone rises up in the middle of a dragon’s mouth. Red flames are at the bottom of the stone. It’s made of the club’s signature colors, red and black.
I slide it onto the ring finger of my right hand, the same finger they all wear theirs on. It fits me perfectly. “Wow. Just… Wow, Grant. You don’t know how special this makes me feel to you all.”
“Good. We all appreciate you and all you have done and will do for our little project here. And we all thought you should have something more substantial than a red slave collar to remember your time here with us. The ring is worth a lot of money. I’m only telling you that so you don’t lose it.” He sits back and looks at the ring on my finger.
I can’t help but think it symbolizes our connection. He may not want one with me or anyone, but Grant can’t always get what he wants. We are connected, he and I. There’s not a thing he can do to end that.
Not even be a complete ass, it seems.
