17. Warren
17
WARREN
I thought Addison would be excelling at something like this, and yet…
I let out a heavy sigh.
How hard is it to just spend some fucking money?
“Where did she go?” I asked, looking at the iPad that showed my bank account’s latest transactions.
“She got some jewelry at Tiffany’s, a ring, but that’s the highest spend at the moment. She mostly got drinks and snacks,” Ares said, trying to hide his smile.
I didn’t want her too close. Not after the way she literally had me by the balls.
This was my way of avoiding her, at least for the day.
Shopping took most women a whole day, right? Especially when given a black card? So I sent her on her merry way to get ready.
Jewelry. Shoes. Hair. Makeup. Everything .
It was supposed to buy me some time while I stayed home, finished work, and figured out why the fuck she affected me so much. But I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I was going crazy.
What did she do? Where did she go? What did she buy? I wanted to know it all. I convinced Ares to act as my spy, but as soon as he began to report what she was doing, I started to regret it.
She wasn’t even spending my money? I was a bit… insulted.
Is my money not good enough?
“What’s your schedule like today?” I asked Ares. When I met his gaze, a devious smile pulled at his lips.
“Free as a bird.” He pulled out his car keys from his pocket. Almost like he was expecting me to break. “Ready when you are, boss.”
“I don’t trust your driving for shit,” I said and stood, pulling out my phone. “We’re using my driver.”
“So you want her to know you’re stalking her?”
I bristled at his comment. “It’s not stalking.”
Ares held up his hands in a mock apologetic gesture.
“Right, sorry. Checking on your purchase then?”
I frowned. I didn’t like the sound of that either.
“I mean to say that she’ll recognize the car, won’t she?” Ares said. “She doesn’t know my car. Unless you want her to know about your little check-in ?”
“No,” I grumbled.
“Alright, then.” He gave me a shit-eating grin. “You’re riding shotgun.”
* * *
“She’s right there, you see?” Ares said, jerking his head to the passenger seat window. He had binoculars in hand, something that made me feel even more embarrassed about all this.
I crossed my arms and tried not to make it look too obvious that I was way too interested in watching her.
She and her two friends had slipped into a small boutique that carried hair accessories and other jewelry. Obviously not something she should be wearing to a high-profile charity event.
This looked more like something personal. Especially with the way she lit up when she entered.
But the window was small and a bit cluttered. I couldn’t make out much of what they were doing.
Even though Ares’s windows were tinted, I felt oddly exposed being in the front seat of someone else’s car. Driving my own was fine. But this felt…
Obsessive?
Maybe it was just the whole situation. Being unable to see Addi. Being unable to go to her.
Her in front of me, her mouth on my cock, all of it was running through my mind over and over again until it made me sick. Sick because all I wanted was to see her come undone again. To feel her against me. On me.
The need was so visceral I had to clench my fists against my pants to try to maintain any type of control.
It feels like having Addi withdrawals.
Just as my body was about to force me to step out of the car, all three of them left the shop with a little white bag in hand.
I quickly pulled out my phone, looking up the most recent bank statement. The payment of eight measly dollars was already pending.
I looked back at the group as they walked to the next store. Addi had a real smile on her face. It was wide and showed her pearly white teeth. Her face lit up as she held out the bag in front of them.
I remembered Addi smiled a lot… before. She hadn’t smiled since I purchased her at the auction. Not like this. It was absolutely breathtaking.
I hated how it made my chest feel. Hated how I wanted to go out and walk alongside her as opposed to going out to scold her for spending my money on useless items.
Ares brought the binoculars to his eyes and hummed.
“It’s a handmade soap,” Ares said in a low voice. There was a slight chuckle weaved through his words. “At least I think that’s the section they were in. Oh look, another pit stop.”
I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. This Addi was… free. She looked like any normal young adult spending time out with her friends.
I frowned and gripped my pants harder. Anger simmered under my skin. But I didn’t fully understand why.
They ducked into the next shop, a jewelry store, and before I could even think about it, I was pushing out of the car.
Ares shouted something, but I slammed the door behind me without a second thought and went straight toward it.
The store itself was minimalistic, so I wouldn’t be able to go in without being seen, but I could linger by one of the windows to look in.
And that’s exactly what I did. I chose one with a particularly fuzzy plant and hid behind it like some goddamn stalker.
Ares had been right. But I couldn’t stop myself.
I needed to see what she was doing.
The girls were inside, staring at a glass casing with smiles on their faces. The redheaded one was enthusiastically pointing at something inside, and the salesperson reached in to get it.
Is she buying things for them?
But the more I watched, the angrier I got. Each of them picked out the same thing, and after a while, it became clear.
They’re getting fucking friendship bracelets.
So annoyingly childish. Drinks. Scented soaps. Small little trinkets.
Addi was given a black card. A world of possibility at her fingertips to buy anything she wanted.
Yet those were the things she seemed to want the most.
How did the once grossly materialistic girl change into someone so… simple?
The reports I’d asked for had come back. I knew Addi wasn’t doing well since everything had been taken from them.
“Definitely not stalking , boss.” Ares’ voice rang from behind me, but I didn’t have the strength in me to snap at him.
“Let’s go,” I said and turned away from the store.
“Huh? That’s it?” Ares asked, running to keep up with me. “I thought you were going to go in there and put on a show! I don’t know, force her to kneel for you or some other kinky shit?—”
I turned to glare at the offending man, who already had a wide smile on his face.
“Do not push me, Ares,” I grumbled, then continued to walk away from the store and put some space between Addi and me. “I have some self-control left.”
At least for now.
* * *
I couldn’t stay away.
I had no reason to go to her room. No reason to seek her out. I could have easily waited for her to come down when she was ready, but instead, I found myself lingering by her door, listening for any signs of life.
After five minutes had passed, I reached to open the door, unable to keep waiting.
At first, she was nowhere to be seen, but then I watched as she stepped out of the bathroom.
My breath stopped short at the sight of her. Her makeup was done. Long lashes and blush that made her look far more innocent than she proved to be when she had my cock in her mouth.
She was still wearing her silk loungewear, but everything else seemed to be done. There was a ring on her finger and a necklace around her neck that weren’t on the statement.
My eyes fell to her hair that was in a twisted updo.
Perfect.
Tempting.
And all mine. If I wanted to, I could go in there, push her up against the wall, tie her to the bed…
My cock twitched at the thought. I totally forgot where I was for a moment.
“Can I help you?” she asked with a raised brow.
There’s that attitude again.
Fuck. I wasn’t sure how much longer I could hold myself back. Nor did I understand why I wanted to in the first place.
“Are you… Is that how you’ll wear your hair?” I asked, unable to find the words.
Her hand went to her hair, feeling the various waves and curls she had so carefully put together herself.
“Is something wrong with it?”
I watched as a blush ran up her neck and cheeks, and I closed the space between us in a few strides, my hands coming to her hair. Gently, I tugged the bobby pins away one by one, careful not to pull too hard. When I was done, her long, blonde hair was cascading down her back in waves.
“Not one thing is wrong.” I tucked a strand of hair behind her diamond-decorated ears. “I just like it better down.”
Her eyes searched my face and then, slowly, fell to my lips.
Fuck me.
The air stilled between us.
Whatever this was… Neither of us could move.
I had felt the way she shivered as I took out every individual bobby pin. I had felt her lean into me.
But I didn’t. I stayed firmly rooted in place.
I want to kiss her, but I want her to want me to.
“The bobby pins hurt anyway,” she murmured, and the sound of her voice broke through the silence of the room and snapped the connection between us.
My eyes traveled down her body and stopped at her wrist.
“What is that ?”
I watched as she flushed and her eyes went angry. I could now see it was a simple gold chain with two heart charms. One had a P engraved on it and the other a V . The initials of her friends, I assumed.
A friendship bracelet.
“It’s a bracelet,” she said with a huff.
“And you’re wearing it to the gala?” I asked with a raised brow. “You know people will be taking your picture, right? Is that what you want them to see?”
She glared up at me.
“Afraid I’ll embarrass you, Warren?”
A smile pulled at my lips.
“Nothing you can do would embarrass me , babygirl,” I answered and watched as she blushed deeper.
With another huff, she undid the bracelet and placed it on the bedside table. To anyone else, it might look like she didn’t care, but I saw right through her.
The trinket mattered.
Is this the first time she has one?
“Happy?” she asked me teasingly, and I stood straighter.
“Hurry up, Addi. We have places to be.”
She flicked her hair over her shoulder and turned back to finish getting ready, but I couldn’t leave it like that. So I reached out to stop her, and I could tell she was ready to snap at me.
It didn’t matter.
I grabbed the bracelet again and used both hands to carefully place it back on her wrist.
“Such a simple, childish thing,” I murmured, rubbing the chain against her skin. Goose bumps broke out over her arm.
I didn’t mean it as an insult. It was childish. But maybe I wasn’t wrong. Maybe she’d never had the chance to exchange something like this with friends before. Not while being groomed by daddy dearest.
She opened her mouth to say something, and I pulled away, jerking my head, motioning for her to go back to the bathroom and do her thing.
I have to leave. Now.
I turned to the exit.
“Clock’s ticking, Addi.”