Page 75 of Bound to Him
He nodded in agreement. “They are, but you must understand Alton’s rise in business is because of his cutthroat approach. When you’ve learned to be like that... it’s difficult to be anything else.” He rolled his eyes. “And admitting what someone deems a weakness is not easy. To him, love is a weakness.”
I wished it was that easy. Alton and I had great times together, and the sex was off-the-charts hot. Our relationship had grown over the last five months, and what had started out as a contract had changed into what a marriage should be. “Even if he does love me, which I don’t believe, I won’t stick around to be second to a job, Antoine.” I raised my chin. “I have too much respect for myself. I agreed to this marriage for my siblings, but I won’t be treated like a toy.”
He hummed. “Agreed, sir. Good for you.”
I turned to stare back out the window, my gut churning. There was no time to think about this now. I’d promised Alton I would represent him at this school, and I would do exactly that. The tears sprang up again and I cursed the stubborn bastard.
19
ALTON
All morningI ignored the mess I’d made by leaving the house during what amounted to an argument I’d decided to have all by myself. Technically Noah hadn’t done a single thing wrong and I knew it, and that burned my behind worse than a hot poker. I tried to forget the hurt on his face. It wasn’t worth remembering how his pretty lips had trembled because it only made me feel like hell.
I’d really fucking upset him.
It was still a mystery how I’d gone from having my happy husband, who was content to do things to please me and help me—to yelling at him. Yesterday my little mouse had crawled between my thighs to blow me while wearing red silk lace. He’d snuggled in bed with me all night. Gripping the steering wheel, I growled out loud and flipped on the windshield wipers. Gray rain clouds had rolled in right before I left downtown New Gothenburg, and drops finally dotted the windshield.
Noah is counting down the days till he’s free.
It had been a blow to realize I was the only one who wanted to keep things going between us. Even if he wouldn’t admit it out loud, clearly he was planning to go. And I’d taken my anger over hisreasonableexpectations out on him. I’d been hoping he would be happy as my husband, but I shouldn’t be shocked at the turn of events.
He was young.
He had a life to live.
Maybe he and that little shit Christian really were in love. He’d gone to a lot of trouble to make a stink about Noah marrying me. If they were, good for them, right? There was a whole fucking world out there to conquer. I would’ve never wanted to be tied down at his age. Glaring at the gray sky, I drove steadily along, making sure I didn’t speed. It would be just great if I accidentally hit one of the kids from the academy I wanted to help.
Smacking the steering wheel again, I gritted my teeth. I’d been convinced he was happy. He waited up for me when work ran late. He was fast to curve his back and arch his ass toward me if I wanted to fuck him. Hell, he’d even initiated the other day, riding my cock until he sprayed his load on me.
And then this morning, he’d given me a painting to use to jerk off after he left.
It was as good as afuck you, even if he didn’t mean it that way.
Pounding the top of the steering wheel, I turned the Jag in to the cobblestone drive for the Excellence in Knowledge Academy and passed under the stone archway that had impressed me the first time I’d laid eyes on it. The school’s mission had always seemed perfect: give brilliant kids from all walks of life with less-than-amazing opportunities a chance to thrive. Create tomorrow’s leaders. There were children who attended the academy who chose to go here and paid full tuition, but many of the kids attended on scholarships and didn’t have any support.
For the lucky underprivileged few who made it past the entrance exams and won financial aid, the school took care of everything from braces to birthday gifts. The kids who struggled through the rigorous academics to graduate had college paid for by the school’s endowment as well. Keep your GPA up in the Ivy League school of your choice? Well, then there was a down payment for your first house, too. The only catch? The kids had to live here on the grounds through all four of their high school years and not return to their parents. Unstable home environments often derailed academics.
The rule was cold and I hadn’t come up with it; no one currently living was responsible for the terms. The “stay on campus” rule was a condition of the original endowment, and I hadn’t fought to change it because there were a lot of successful previous graduates. Clearly it worked. There were visiting days for the parents, but many of them were people who were lost themselves and couldn’t get it together to see their kids.
I’d come along to save the day at the academy after the provost tracked me down at my house, badgered Antoine relentlessly until he gave in and let the man speak to me, and then begged for assistance. The previous endowment that had been gifted almost a hundred years ago by a manufacturing baron from New Gothenburg had run out. The money well was bone dry. I’d been happier to help than anyone realized, and always enjoyed visiting to see where the money was going. It was one of the few investments I’d made that I genuinely felt good about.
But today, nothing was budging my mood.
My mind kept churning up that awful look on Noah’s face, in comparison to the sultry expression he’d managed to capture in the painting. And fuck, that painting was exquisite. My dick had tingled just looking at it. I wanted the artwork of Noah anddidn’tat the same time.
It would be a hurtful reminder.
But I damned sure didn’t want anyone else to get their grimy hands on a sexy painting ofmy husband. I smacked the steering wheel again, right back to boiling mad.
I passed the Tudor-style manors that made up the residences for the students. If I remembered correctly there were about twenty houses, each with a live-in teacher, and in some cases also their spouses, who were assigned to keep an eye on the kids. Everyone who worked at the school signed a five-year contract and agreed to the year-round arrangement, and they made decent money for the trouble. I did relax a little at the pleasant scene I passed—a group of boys were playing soccer in a field to the right, their wet hair plastered to their heads, not caring at all about the rain. I could hear them laughing and yelling at each other, even with the windows up. Another group played basketball as I passed the courts.
Then finally I arrived at the main school.
The Tudor theme extended to the original stone buildings—six four-story peak-roofed structures in total—but the rest of the facilities were modern. The science building was glass and steel, the gym a strange silver dome off to the right of everything else. There was even a small technical building to teach things like working on cars, which a lot of the kids would never experience otherwise. And way off to the left of the education buildings there was a tiny theater I didn’t think was currently in use. I was happy to see how clean and orderly everything was, and it brought my anger, mostly at myself, down a notch.
When I stopped at a small parking lot in front of the central buildings reserved for visiting teachers, I stewed. Why was I so mad anyway? It wasn’t like Noah and I wouldn’t have eventually gotten a divorce. I was older than him, for starters, and we didn’t share many interests. I ignored the prickle of the hair rising on the back of my arms. No, we didn’t like the same things at all. A shared love of Italian food and slapstick comedies wasn’t keeping us together over the long haul. It didn’t matter that our differences hadn’t been an issue yet. Who cared if Noah had ridden horses and hugged my mama and had gotten under Daddy’s skin enough that he’d ruffled Noah’s hair and hugged him before we left?
Rubbing at my face, I sighed.
