Chapter Twenty-Eight #4
I turn to watch her leave and see the look Mathew gives her.
“You did me a favor,” Mathew says as I pass him. “Father won’t let you stay on after tonight’s stunt. Your days as head of the empire are numbered.”
I flip Mathew off and head upstairs.
London is in one of the guest rooms, using a blue cotton towel to clean her face. She meets my gaze in the mirror for a few seconds before looking away again. “Thank you for saving me.”
I pause to close the door and cross over to her. “I wouldn’t have had to if you hadn’t left to begin with. Do you have any idea how stupid that was?”
Being angry at her is better than the alternative.
I can’t face the terror and relief pumping through me in equal measure.
And I can’t crush her to me like I want to.
London grips the towel tighter but doesn’t face me. “I don’t need reminding. The past few days have made it clear I had no idea what I was doing.”
“You think the past few days were hard on you?” I step into the bathroom. “That’s nothing compared to the punishment I should inflict on you for leaving. You signed a contract.”
London drops the towel and whirls to face me, her eyes flashing. “It’s always about the goddamn contract. They had my dad and Noah. I couldn’t just leave them.”
I frown. “Yes, you could have. They are no longer your problem.”
After the way they turned their backs on her, I thought she knew better.
Clearly, she needed to learn the lesson the hard way.
London’s gaze is ice. “They are not a problem. They’re my family.”
“Noah isn’t your family.”
“He’s like family,” London insists. “We’ve known each other for years, and no matter what happened between us, I would not have left him.”
I take another step in her direction. “You should have. That stupid little shit isn’t worth your time. When will you learn? Do I have to fuck him out of you?”
London stiffens and holds my gaze. “You think threatening me is the way to go here? If I screwed up so badly, why didn’t you just leave me at their mercy? Why not just let them take care of the problem for you?”
Fucking hell.
Does she really think so little of me?
She knows the kind of man I am, but even I have a moral code.
I place my hands on either side of her, cornering her, and causing her to suck in a harsh breath.
I frown. “I take care of my fucking problems, London. You know that. We had a deal.”
London holds herself as still as a statue. “Fine, what’s your pleasure this time? Do you want me to strip in front of you again? Are you going to parade me in front of your men? What’s it going to be?”
I dig my nails into her arms, but she doesn’t flinch. “You don’t think very much of me, do you?”
London’s bright eyes roam over my face, and she blinks. “Am I supposed to? After everything I’ve been through?”
Abruptly, I release her and run a hand over my face. “No, but give me some fucking credit. I’m not like those monsters. I saved you, didn’t I?”
“Just to keep lording it over me? Extend my contract if you want, but don’t act like you did me a fucking favor.”
“Maybe I should’ve left you there. God knows you need to get some things through your thick skull.”
London reels back and snaps her mouth shut.
Then, she shakes her head. “Fuck you, Mason. I left because I knew they would hurt my dad. I went to save him. It was a trap, but I didn’t know that.”
“London…”
“I know we have a deal,” she interrupts, the words pouring out of her in a rush as her breathing grows uneven. “I know you warned me not to get attached, but I guess we both fucked up.”
I grow still. “What the hell does that mean?”
“The men who held me kept talking about how special I am. ‘The key to Mason Payne’s undoing,’” London reveals with a grand hand gesture. “I kept telling them they were wrong, that they had no idea what they were talking about, but now I know.”
“You don’t know a damn thing.”
“You’re right,” she admits, “I don’t. I don’t know a fucking thing, and you know what? I don’t want to. This isn’t what I signed up for.”
“You’ve got a contract to fulfill.”
“I don’t need you to remind me of that,” London tells me coldly. “That damn contract will always be hanging over me, but no one forced me to sign it. You’re not going to leave my dad alone until I settle his debts.”
“I don’t make exceptions when it comes to contracts.”
London’s eyes drop to the floor, and she nods with disappointment. “I didn’t think so. You told me I would come to you willingly, and I did, but now I think it’s time to re-evaluate.”
I wait for her to look at me again. “This doesn’t change anything. You’re still mine, London.”
I want her even more than before. I know the target on her back should make me reconsider, but it doesn’t.
God help us both.
London’s expression hardens. “Then I hope you can stand to lose a quarter of a million dollars when they kidnap me again. I doubt they’ll be as careless a second time.”
She tries to inch past me, but I don’t let her.
London looks at the hand enclosed around her wrist and then up at my face. “You and I both know this is a bad idea. Let me go.”
I know she’s right, but suddenly being in the same room as her, breathing the same air as her, has common sense flying out the window.
I should want her to go, but somehow I still don’t.
“I can’t.” I growl, crushing her against me. “I won’t.”
There’s a strange glimmer in London’s eyes. “Why?”
“You know why.” My voice is gruffer than I intend, and I hope she hears the emotion in it because I can’t say it out loud.
Not yet.
“You shouldn’t say stuff like that, damn it. It makes me crazy.”
Suddenly, I push her up against the wall, and her fingers are in my hair.
I press my forehead to hers and exhale. “You have no fucking idea what you’ve done. None whatsoever.”
London goes slack, and I listen to her even breathing.
For a long moment, we stand there.
I’m startled to realize my breathing matches hers.
Eventually, when she pulls away from me, I let her.
I turn to watch her walk away, and she stops in the doorway to look back at me, shaking her head.
Then she ducks outside, and I hear her talking to Carlisle before he comes looking for me.
I barely hear a thing he says as I storm downstairs to my office.
For the rest of the day, I avoid London and my brother by holing up in there and downing drink after drink.
On the fifth glass, I realize there’s no going back.
Not with London, and not with our allies.
The problem is I don’t know what to make of any of it, and if there’s one thing I hate, it’s not knowing what happens next.
Goddamn London and her innocence, luring me in.
She’s doomed us both.
***
London
I peer into the fridge and push some things around.
Finally, I find a container of food in the back and take it out.
When I swing the refrigerator door shut, I almost jump out of my skin when I see Mason’s assassin standing there, studying me.
Frowning, I take the container to the marble counter and ignore her.
I pry off the lid and bring it up to my face to smell it.
Katia’s eyes follow my every move.
I don’t know what she wants, or if she’s trying to unsettle me, but I don’t like it.
I don’t have the patience to deal with her after the past few days.
I set the lid down and wheel to face her. “Can I help you?”
She says nothing.
I stare back at her. “I don’t know where Mason is.”
Katia gives me an indecipherable look. “I know where to find him.”
“So why don’t you go do that, and leave me the hell alone.”
Katia pushes off the wall. “Is that what you want?”
I blink. “Does it matter what I want?”
She shrugs.
“I don’t know what kind of mind game you’re playing, but I’m not going to take the bait. If it’s all the same to you, it’s been a long few days, and I’d just like to have something to eat.”
Katia looks at the container. “You’ll get food poisoning.”
“I bet you’d love that. Then I could be out of your way.”
And she and Mason could go back to whatever they have.
I didn’t miss the look between them in the sedan. He’s known her for years. She knows his world in a way I never will. I’m just in the way of the two of them getting back together.
I have no interest in being a distraction or a way for Mason to pass the time, and I definitely don’t want to be in her line of fire.
I’d be doing everyone a favor if I pump the brakes while I still can.
“There’s a cook,” Katia informs me. “As Mr. Payne’s guest, you can ask for whatever—”
“I’m not his guest,” I interrupt. “Not for much longer, anyway.”
I just have to wait for some of the heat to die down before I decide on my next move.
And what exactly is your plan? Are you going to go back to your old life and leave your dad to fend for himself?
As if Mason would let me.
I have no idea what’s happening between us anymore, especially after his earlier confession, but he’s already made it clear he won’t let go.
I should want him to, but I don’t.
After everything you’ve been through, how can you still want to be with him? He almost got you killed, and who knows what’s happened to your father.
“Is that your decision or Mr. Payne’s?”
I glare at her. “Why do you care? Katia, right? I saw the way you two were acting around each other in the sedan. I’m not blind.”
Nor am I as stupid as everyone wants to believe.
Having Mason’s ex-girlfriend flaunted in front of me was bad enough, but seeing him tend to her while I staunched my own bleeding, hurt in a way it shouldn’t.
I don’t know if it’s because they didn’t need words to communicate, or because I wanted Mason to hover over me, but I can’t forget what I saw.
It’s only a matter of time before he realizes you aren’t worth the trouble. You can’t hold your own against his enemies, and you’re a liability now. What use will you be when he gets tired of you?
And he will grow tired of me sooner or later, once the novelty wears off, and he realizes how problematic it’s all becoming.
His earlier sentiment means nothing, not with everything hanging over us.