“This is how you want to teach me to trust you?”
“You trust me, your body doesn’t, not always. The body remembers. It knows what I did to you. I’m going to teach you to trust me again, and what could require more trust than allowing me to take you to a house full of strangers, where I’ll strip you and tie you up?” My stomach clenched. “No one will see you.” He read my mind once again. “I don’t want anyone to be able to count the freckles on your shoulders but me. Do you agree?”
“Yes. But if I say stop?—”
“You won’t have to say it. I’ll see when you’re at your limit before you know it yourself. So, during the week you can work but on the weekends you come back here, to me. Agreed?”
I nodded and allowed him to kiss me. I gasped as he picked me up and placed me on the bathroom counter. Strong hands separated my thighs and he broke our kiss to look between my legs. That beautiful mouth of his smirked.
“Poor sweet thing, all red and swollen. Would you like this old man to do something about that?”
I closed my eyes, letting out a breathy moan as he knelt and placed his mouth over my most sensitive parts.
Once again, I felt as though I'd signed a deal with the devil. Only this time, I wasn't afraid.
Four
Icouldn’t think of many sounds I liked less than the echoes of an empty space once filled with saved-for furniture and prosecco-drunk laughter.
I stood in my empty apartment, giving it a final once over. My case sat at my feet, packed with everything I’d need for my stay at Harrington. I was running late for the train but still, I took a moment to take in the barren space where I’d spent the last few years. My chest constricted. If Keira was here she would know how to make me laugh and remind me that starting a new adventure was a good thing.
Tears pricked my eyes but I brushed them away before they could fall. She wasn’t gone forever.
With a stiff upper lip, I grabbed my case and headed out the door. I posted my key back through the letterbox for the landlord to collect later, saying goodbye to my front door for the last time.
I trotted down the steps and came to a halt when I noticed Maia waiting in the driver's seat of a Bentley.
My grip on my case tightened. I was an idiot to think I’d be travelling back on the train. Really it was surprising that Alfie didn’t mind me getting the tube alone. Or at least, he didn’t try to stop me.
Maia looked past me at the front door of the apartment she had lived in too.
She climbed out of the car. I didn’t move. It was strange looking at her now that she wasn't playing a part. She carried herself differently, no hunched shoulders or averted eyes trying to make herself invisible. She stood with a straight back and a lifted chin. Gone were her drab, don't-look-at-me clothes and in their place were a pair of black trousers and a sensible, white button-up shirt. Her curls were pulled back in a tight bun and her dark skin looked bright in the rare rays of English sunlight.
If she felt guilty about her deception she didn't show it. Where she'd been these last few months I didn't know. I hadn’t seen her since our Dubai trip.
“Miss O'Connell, shall I help you with your luggage?”
“‘Miss O'Connell’?” I raised my eyebrows at her. “Seriously? I think it's a bit late for formalities, don't you?”
She didn't respond, only gave me a tight smile. I tossed my case into the trunk of the car and slid into the back seat.
Maia got behind the wheel, the engine purred to life and she pressed the button to slide up the partition screen, hiding me from her view. I appreciated the privacy. I pulled out my phone to send a text to Alfie but found one from him waiting for me already.
Are you two getting along?
I responded with the middle finger emoji.
Careful.
Two middle finger emojis.
You're lucky I'm on my way to Paris.
I scoffed at my phone, typing furiously.YOU’RE lucky you're on your way to Paris. Why can't I have Elliot instead of Maia?
He turned down the job. Said you were too much trouble. Good luck today. I love you.
I rolled my eyes. I looked around the car for the button that would bring down the partition screen. I might as well have it out with her if we were going to be stuck together for a month.
