“And who’s the first on your list?”
“None of your business. Maybe I don’t want kids for the next ten years. Wait a minute, why am I talking about kids with you?”
“Because you secretly want me to be your baby daddy. I’m rich, smart, charming, and most importantly of all, I have the right equipment.”
His cock brushes against my thigh, and a frisson jolts through me. He’s looking at me like he’ll fuck me hard and fast again.
Like he’ll make me scream his name while he does it.
“No…no way, Daniel.”
“Why not? You’re trembling for it.”
“Are you a sex addict?”
“You make me a sex maniac, Peaches, and I’ll devour you for it. I’ll fuck you until neither of us can stand anymore.”
“Don’t you…hate me?”
“I can still want you.”
“That’s all?”
His eyes meet mine, but it’s brief before he lowers his head and sinks his teeth into the space between my collarbone and shoulder, then speaks against it, “Believe me, you don’t want anything else from me.”
“Why…not?”
“Because the world is beneath you, Nicole. Me included.”
I shudder, and it’s not only because his teeth are back to that sensitive place, biting and sucking like he needs to engrave something on my flesh.
A memory.
A memento.
Or a detail much more nefarious.
My body melts against his as I scramble for words to tell him he was never beneath me.
He was and will always be my darkest, most forbidden fantasy.
“Daniel, I—”
“Fire!” Someone bangs on the door as commotion filters through from outside.
Daniel and I look at each other and then he’s pulling me out of the bathroom and into the room. We hastily dry ourselves and Daniel puts himself together in no time.
Then he sighs when he sees me fussing with my dress’s ribbons.
“Give it.”
He doesn’t wait for me. He snatches the dress from between my fingers and puts it on me with staggering efficiency. I have no underwear on and my wet hair drips onto the dress, but that doesn’t matter as Daniel grabs me by the wrist and drags me out.
A commotion greets us in the hallway. People running, others screaming, and fire extinguishers being used in the most amateurish way.
I’m slightly overwhelmed by all the chaos, the smell of smoke, and the shouts.
Daniel, however, seems more focused than me. He moves forward, pushing everyone out of his way as he keeps me firmly behind him with his warm hand wrapped tightly around my wrist.
And just like that, the whole turbulence loses meaning. The dread from the fire is now nonexistent.
He then brings out his phone and holds it to his ear.
“Pick up, Astrid. Come on.”
I bite my lower lip the more his brows draw together when she doesn’t answer.
As soon as we get outside, it’s chaos. The left wing of the house is completely in flames. Students are taking videos, others are running or screaming or being loud for no apparent reason.
“Nicole!”
“What?” I realize Daniel is speaking to me when he snaps his fingers in front of my face.
“Do you have your car?”
“Yeah.”
“Can you drive?”
“No. I feel a bit drunk.”
“Fuck. Just wait here.”
“What…where are you going?”
“I need to find Astrid. She’s not answering her phone.”
I grab onto his arm with both hands, and for the first time since I’ve known him, I say, “No, go back with me.”
It doesn’t matter that I already asked Mum to pick me up, I want him to be the one who does it.
His brow furrows and when he doesn’t make a move, I do something else I’ve never done. I beg, “Please.”
His eyes clash with mine for a second, and I can see his walls tumbling, but before I can peek at what’s behind them, he pulls them right back up.
Daniel removes my hand from his arm. “I’ll find Astrid and be right back.”
And then he’s running through the house again.
I fall to a sitting position on the steps, my heart hammering and my chest wounded.
It’s dripping blood on the concrete; no one can see it, but it’s right there.
Dark.
Red.
Lethal.
The need to cry hits me like a natural disaster that demands to happen, but I don’t let the tears loose.
I stay.
I wait.
In the midst of the chaos, the fire, the firefighters.
I sit there and wait.
And wait.
But Daniel never came back for me.
And just like that, I’ve become invisible again.
10
NICOLE
PRESENT
The bastard.
The freaking cold-blooded, Machiavellian bastard with a villain complex.
I’m really starting to think that Daniel’s sole purpose of existing is to turn my life into a 3D nightmare.
It’s been two weeks since I became his assistant and he made every single day a rollercoaster ride. The type where you come out of it puking your guts up and cursing like a sailor on crack.
If I’m a minute late, he makes me work an extra hour. If one single thing isn’t done according to his snobbish requirements, he makes me redo it a thousand times, then throws it away.
I tried taking the high road, tried to ignore his cold barks and harsh words, but it keeps getting worse.
Almost as if he wants me to snap.
As if he’s provoking me to call him names and get myself fired.
But no.
I can do this.
Or more like, I have to.
Aspen got me in contact with one of her acquaintances in London. Andrew is an English solicitor specializing in family law and was most accommodating on the phone call we had. He told me that I have to be there for the court hearing in three months.
A no-show is bad for the records. He also said it’s a lucky break that I have a stable job in a law firm. That, and everything I’ve done for Jay through the years, will play in my favor.
What won’t, however, is how much I’ve moved him from state to state searching for better work opportunities. The fact that Jayden is a genius and should be treated as such means his father will argue that he has the means necessary to send him to the best schools out there. Not to mention that judges prefer biological parents if they prove they’ve redeemed themselves and want to take care of their children.
Last night, I stayed awake in bed, gripping my necklace and thinking maybe I should step on my heart and let Jay get the education he deserves. But I soon chased that thought away when I recalled who his father is.
There’s no way in hell I’ll let him live with an abusive predator, even if we have to sacrifice an elite education for it.
Aspen even said she’ll finance my flight and accommodation in England until I save up the money to pay her back.
She’ll also handle the solicitor’s fee.
“This is only an upfront investment,” she told me when I said I don’t know how I’ll pay her back. “You will go places, Nicole. I see it in your eyes and I hope you’ll also be able to see it soon.”