I didn't correct her.
"Appreciate it, Maria."
She gathered her things—purse, jacket, the Tupperware of leftovers I knew she'd take home because I always made sure there were extras.
At the door, she paused.
"Storm's supposed to last through tomorrow night." Her eyes flicked toward the hallway. Toward the staircase where Belle still hadn't emerged. "You need anything, you call."
She knew. Didn't ask. Didn't judge.
Just offered.
"Will do."
She left.
The house settled into silence broken only by rain starting to patter against glass.
I stared at the two plates.
Dinner for two.
The domestic normalcy of it would've been funny if it wasn't so calculated.
I checked my watch.
Five minutes.
Then I'd go get her.
My cock throbbed against the zipper of my jeans, a dull ache that had started the moment her palm nearly connected with my face and hadn't eased since.
I adjusted myself, jaw tight, and braced both hands against the counter.
The interaction replayed itself without permission. The way she'd tried to hit me. No hesitation. Pure instinct born from rage she couldn't contain. The shock in her eyes when I caught her wrist. That split second where she'd stumbled forward, chest flush against mine, and her breath had hitched—not from fear.
From something else entirely.
Something she'd die before admitting.
I'd felt it. The way her body responded even as her mind screamed in protest. The tremble that wasn't entirely anger when I'd whispered against her ear what I could do to her. Would do to her.
My grip tightened on the granite.
The memory of her pressed between me, and the wall sent heat coiling low in my gut. The defiance blazing in her eyes even as I'd caged her in. The way her hands had landed on my chest—not pushing, just... feeling.
Testing the reality of what she'd signed away. Who she'd signed herself to.
Six months.
One hundred and eighty-two days of breaking down every wall she'd built, every defense she thought would protect her from this. From me.
From the inevitable conclusion we were both hurtling toward.
She hated me.
Perfect.
