Page 5 of The Forever Promise

I would never let my husband hurt me again.

THREE

waiting to exhale

“I can’t believewe’re going back.” Noah sounded excited as he buckled himself into his seat. “I’m going to ask Chef to make me chocolate-chip pancakes every day for the rest of the month!”

“I’m sure he’ll be happy to see you.” Like the rest of Bryce’s staff, Chef loved doting on my brother. That was at least one good thing about our return to the island.

My nerves thrummed as I peered out the window of the tiny airplane. I dreaded flying. More than that, I dreadedarriving. There would be a hired car waiting at the Bar Harbor airport; it would bring us to Bryce’s yacht. Then we’d leave Northeast Harbor and navigate to his gorgeous ocean-front estate on Somes Island. As it was ninety-four degrees and so humid that Boston felt like a swamp, I should be excited. We were returning, in lavish style, to cool, refreshing, gorgeous Mount Desert Island. Instead, I was filled with dread.

I’d missed my husband, but I didn’t want to see him. I didn’t want to see him ever again.

Like a cruelly broken record, his last words to me played over and over in my head.“I made a mistake—I see it now. Marriage was a bad idea. Having a wife makes me vulnerable, and I don’t do vulnerable. I’m so sorry, Chloe.”

And as he’d stood to leave, he’d spoken every hired bride’s worst nightmare:“You’re fired.”

But there I was, on his private plane, flying back to him once more. What did he want from me? I shivered, remembering the new contract terms. He wanted sex. He wanted submission. He wanted to control me.

Maybe it would be better. Instead of pretending I was his real wife and that he loved me, he was being upfront that I was just his whore. His hired plaything.

Fine by me.Maybe if I could learn to differentiate between sex and love, I might even survive the rest of the summer. My stomach flipped as I remembered our last time together. Bryce was so deep inside me, touching the places only he could ever reach…

Ugh, I’m definitely not going to make it!

“Look at all the trees! Hey, I can see people’s swimming pools. Isn’t that cool?” Noah stared out the window, narrating the view. He loved flying, he loved Maine, he loved getting the hell out of Boston. We’d be away from sad memories of our mom and the fact that our dad hadn’t even called to ask how we were doing.

I shivered, remembering Lydia’s call. “You need to helpus. And if you don’t, I am going to fuck your shit up, you hear?”Lydia and my dad were a one-way street, a suck that just kept sucking. Maine might also suck, but at least it meant good riddance to those two.

I took a deep breath. My brother was the most important person in my life. I had to remember that I was doing this forhim. Three million dollars for a few months’ worth of work wasinsane, and it would change our lives forever. We could buy a home wherever we wanted. Noah would be safe, have healthy food to eat, and could go to a good school. I could pay for him to go to college.Icould go to college—a luxury I never would’ve been able to afford without this job.

If Bryce wanted to pick out my clothes and set my bedtime,fine. I would do whatever he asked for the next three months, and then I would walk away for good. I closed my eyes again and said a prayer, begging God to help me be strong and keep my heart safe.

Bryce couldn’t afford to be vulnerable; that made two of us. It was a short-term assignment. If I kept my eye on the ball, I’d get through it. Bryce probably felt the same way.

Maybe we were perfectly matched, after all.

* * *

The plane landed ahead of schedule. I saw two black SUVs waiting and three of Bryce’s burly, be-suited employees stationed on the grassy tarmac.

“Geez, why do we have so many babysitters?” Noah asked as we climbed off the plane. It was warm but breezy, not a hint of humidity in the gorgeous Maine air.

“I’m not sure.”

The men surrounded us as we disembarked. They grabbed our bags and hustled us to the SUV. “Mr. Windsor sends his apologies that he wasn’t able to meet you in person,” the tallest man said as he tucked me inside the car. “There’s too much press around right now. He couldn’t risk leaving the island.”

“Are there reportershere?” I whipped my head around, but the large men obfuscated my view.

“Yes. Please keep the windows rolled up, Mrs. Windsor. We’ll be behind you if there’s any trouble.”

He shut the door, leaving us inside the cool interior. “Trouble?” Noah’s eyes were huge in his face as he peered out at the airport, which in Bar Harbor meant a grassy field and a dirt parking lot.

“I’m sure everything’s all right…” But as the driver pulled out, I spotted a knot of people with cameras in the lot. Their zoom lenses were pointed in our direction. As soon as they saw us moving, they hurried to their vehicles.

“We might have to drive over the speed limit,” the driver said. “Can you two please buckle up?”

“Yes, Sir.” Noah and I immediately fastened our seat belts. The second SUV was directly behind us as we peeled out of the airport. We sped down the winding road to Northeast Harbor, the lobster pounds, fir trees, and majestic mountains passing by in a blur.

---