Ransome puts the blindfold back on me. I guess he still isn’t too comfortable about me knowing where we actually are. I don’t say anything. I just sit quietly in the dark, singing to myself as we drive back through all the turns.
Once we are back at the office, Ransome turns to me. I am no longer holding the block—thank God—and I feel him reach behind my head to untie the blindfold.
But then… he stops.
And I wait.
I feel his breath before I feel his lips. Warm. Smoky. Eager.
When his mouth covers mine, I knew it was coming, but that doesn’t change the surprise. For one, we are alone. There’s no reason for the show.
But also, it’s deep. Deep enough that I need to lean into something, and I’m not about to lean away. So I arch my back and press my body against his.
When the kiss ends, I pull the blindfold the rest of the way off myself. “Let me guess. More practice to be convincing? You really have no faith in me.”
“That wasn’t practice.”
“Then what was it?”
He studies me. But there is no smile or warmth in his expression. “The benefits clause. Now go inside.”
Benefits clause… Oh.
Oh.
Right. I don’t know how I could forget such a thing. It’s not like my life has been flipped completely inside out in the last week or anything.
“Inside?” I ask, looking out the window. “But we aren’t at my house.”
“No. We are at the penthouse. You’re not going back to your apartment, Amara. I think you understand why at this point.”
But I don’t. As I get out of the car, I can’t seem to make sense of any of it. I close the door and turn to walk towards the elevator, but Ransome rolls his window down, stopping me.
“Amara…”
I spin around and find him holding my phone out the window. Wordlessly—because what the fuck is happening right now?—I take it.
Then I make my way up the stairs and wait for Ivan to open the door for me. Once I am inside, I look around and decide to help myself to a drink. I notice that there is a bottle of tequila and I snort. Is it supposed to be some sort of peace offering?
I choose not to overthink it and just drink it. Just a shot to sip while I think.
He doesn’t trust me to stay at my own apartment.
He regulates my phone, deciding when I can and can’t have it.
But he shows me a warehouse full of illegal drugs and tells me the process of the entire operation.
It makes no sense. And I realize, as I come to the bottom of the glass, that Ransome isn’t who I thought he was.
He’s so much more complicated.
24
AMARA
It’s been a long time since I’ve woken up to the sound of a phone buzzing over and over again.
So long, in fact, that for a minute, I assume it’s a dream. Not real life. Because what even is real life right now?
