Page 63 of The Billionaire Submissive
“He sent a driver to be at my beck and call, but half the time I forget to call for the car anyway.”
“And he takes you to the best places in the Twin Cities to eat. Why is that a problem?”
Lilly had to smile. Gus’s Family Diner couldn’t compete with a Michelin-star restaurant, but then again, he’d taken her to both.Rather, he brought the Michelin chef to me.“I don’t need anyone to take care of me.” She had to pause a minute, waiting for Marie to stop laughing. “Just look at this fucking monstrous plant on steroids he sent me! I wouldn’t need this much aloe if I’d fallen into a fire pit and burned every inch of my body.”
“Sorry,” Marie gasped, wiping her eyes. “It’s just so funny. I can’t believe you’re bitching about a filthy rich man wanting to take care of you. I mean honestly, Lil, I don’t think it ever occurred to him. He’s used to throwing diamonds and silks and furs at his dates and you’re offended he bought you aplant.”
“That’s not the problem. Not really. Although I hate it when he plays Mr. Moneybags, he does it deliberately to give me more excuses to punish him, which is far from a hardship.”
Sobering, Marie took a sip and waited for her to explain.
Again, she knows me too well. If she tries to drag the truth out of me, I’ll resist. But if she sits here and waits…She sighed heavily. “He’s wonderful. He challenges Mistress L and treats Lilly with respect and tenderness. I have to fight him every step of the way to keep him from blowing money on frivolous things I couldn’t care less about. He’s sexy as hell and the things he’s let me do… I’ve never had a submissive like him before. And that’s the problem.”
“Why?”
“What if his secret gets out? What if someone finds out about Mistress L’s past clients? Gossip could really hurt him, both financially and professionally. The media would jump to the same conclusion he did at first, that I’m basically a whore for hire who just happens to bring a crop to her client’s bed. He wouldn’t want the scandal, so he’d end up paying bribes or suing to keep a lid on it. I can’t even imagine how much money he’d waste on lawyers trying to shut everyone up.”
“Why do you think he wouldn’t be able to deal with it?”
“He’s so damned proud. I don’t think his ego could take it. I mean think about it. He’s a rich, powerful, successful businessman. The last person you’d ever think would be a sexual submissive. I can see the headlines now:Morgan Industries CEO Hires Dominatrix, Begs for Whips and Chains.”
“Does he?”
“I’ll never tell.” Lilly waggled her eyebrows suggestively, though she couldn’t keep up the joke, because… “I don’t want to see him hurt like that. It’s one thing for me to bring him to his knees in private. But to have it happen publicly… It would destroy him.”
Marie leaned forward and took her hand. “So what’s the alternative? You dump him to save him the hurt that hasn’t and may never happen?”
Just thinking about it made a pit the size of the Grand Canyon open up in her stomach. “No. I can’t let him go. Not unless hewantsto go.”
“You can’t control everything, Mistress L, as much as you’d like otherwise. You can’t control whether or not this secret gets out. You can’t control his reaction. You certainly can’t control a media circus.”
“I know. All I can control in the end is myself, and him, as long as he allows it. I just…” Her throat tightened. Her stomach churned. And damn it all to hell if her eyes didn’t burn too. “I don’t want him to get hurt.”
“You love him,” Marie whispered softly.
Her first instinct was to deny it. Vehemently. Because if she loved him…really loved him… “If the worst happens and he has to distance himself… If he ends up on TV claiming he never knew me, or we weren’t ever intimate, that I mean nothing to him…”
“It would destroy you.”
“Yeah. It’d be like sitting at Sherri and Benjamin’s wedding, watching her come down the aisle, and then having her change her mind at the last minute and flee the chapel. God, that would suck. I don’t think I’d ever recover.”
“Isn’t that what you wanted, though? You wanted the kind of love your brother has.”
Lilly shot her a hard, narrowed look. “Thanks a lot.”
Marie smirked, squeezed her hand, and then stood up to leave. “It’s sort of a package deal, hon. If you love someone that much, it kills you when they leave. Are you going to tell him?”
“Tell him what?”
Marie rolled her eyes. “He has a right to know you love him.”
Lilly stood and hugged her friend goodbye. “I never said I love him. I’m certainly not going to tell him.”
“Actions speak louder than words, hon, so you know damned well how he feels about you, and your eyes certainly can’t lie to me. You love that man. Now figure out how to deal with everything else that might come up.”
Actions speak louder than words.Lilly sighed and leaned against the door. From the very first weekend, he’d been telling her over and over how much he wanted her. Not with the clothes or fancy chef he’d brought in, but the little things. The way he’d been willing to leave the lake house and bring her home to make sure she was comfortable. Dealing with Hank. Sleeping over at her mediocre townhome when he owned a fucking castle in England just so he could be near her. Sending lunch to the warehouse because he worried she might not eat. And yes, the fucking huge aloe plants every time she turned around.
The way he’d reacted at seeing her hurt. The trust in his eyes every time he went to his knees for her. The whisper of his hands and mouth on her skin. He’d been telling her over and over how much he cared, but she kept trying to tune it out.
