33. Warren
33
WARREN
“I don’t really think that’s how this works, but… that girl has been through so much. I’ll see what I can do,” the doctor said. He was kind and obviously worried about Addison by how he was constantly outside the door, waiting for her to come out.
“What did you say your name was?”
“Warren King,” I replied, taking out my wallet to hand him my card. His eyes widened when he caught sight of the Black Silk Auction logo.
His gaze shot back up to mine, insinuating. It wasn’t hard to make the connection between Addi and me.
“Are you… Did she…?”
“Even if she did, we pride ourselves on confidentiality, so I wouldn’t tell you.”
There was nothing wrong or shameful in what she did—what we did—but I knew she wouldn’t want everyone knowing.
His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed.
“Okay…”
Meaning he didn’t want to say anything that would cause some sort of conflict.
He was a good man. I was glad that Addi had him as a doctor.
“You’re welcome to come,” I said with a slight smile. “After you pass the background check, that is.”
He straightened his head, jerking back, and hastily put the card into his pocket, his eyes searching back and forth to make sure no one saw.
“Oh no; it’s not my thing.”
Liar. His interest was obvious.
“Think about it.”
“I’ll call you if there’s an issue with the payment,” he said.
Both our heads swiveled to the door as Addi stepped outside.
Her shoulders were straight, her head high, but there was an air of sadness around her. She was trying so hard to keep it together. Even as her eyes reddened with the effort it took to hold back the tears, she still did.
She’s stronger than I ever thought.
Her mother got on my nerves. How could she do this? I had wondered how the house I saved for them ended up with a lien on it, but now I knew.
I should have just bought it for them. Something I’d rectify immediately. But first, Addi.
She looked at the doctor and gave him an almost embarrassed smile.
“About the insurance?—”
“Focus on your mom,” he said, raising his hand to stop her. “That’s what’s important.”
When she looked down, tears welling in her eyes again, he gave me a meaningful look. Both of us, while so very different, wanted to help Addi in any way we could.
That’s what life was like with Addi. She pulled you in. Made you care about her. The light that seemed to shine from inside her even in the darkest times became the most important thing.
At least for me.
“Let’s let her get some rest,” I said and wrapped my arm around Addi’s shoulders. She leaned into me, something so small, but it had pride soaring through me. “The nurses will take care of her, and I’m sure someone can keep her company in the meantime.”
Addi didn’t need to be her mother’s caretaker. Not now. Not after what she said.
I felt for the woman. She obviously went through a lot. But I still couldn’t get over how she had treated her daughter this way. How she had ruined their lives.
At the end of it all, though, I blamed myself.
I wasn’t thorough enough. I didn’t check in on them as much as I should have.
I thought distancing myself was for the best, but now I was starting to realize it was possibly the worst decision I could have made.
I had grown since I first started this venture. I thought more about the families and employees now, making sure they were protected even after shit hit the fan.
If there was anything this time with Addi taught me, it was that even after years of experience, I had so much to learn and even more to make up for.
Addi froze, her head raising. Panic flashed across her face.
“I don’t think she wants anyone to see her like this. Maybe I should stay?—”
“We will keep her company,” the doctor said, a caring smile spreading across his face. “She will likely need a lot more sleep anyway. Contrary to popular belief, you still wake up tired. If she needs anything, we’ll call you.”
His words were enough for Addi to relax just enough to lean back into my touch. My heart constricted in my chest.
I didn’t want Addi to feel this way.
I didn’t want her to have to deal with the burden of keeping her mom happy. Of making sure she didn’t blow through whatever cash she could find.
It wasn’t a child’s job to take care of the parents. The child deserved to be taken care of. To be loved. To be cherished.
The more time I spent with Addi, the more I realized she was severely lacking all three of those things.
And the guilt came rushing through again.
* * *
Addi pushed me back onto the living room sofa, her delicate hands coming to feel up my chest and shoulders.
She had been mostly silent on the way back, obviously deep in thought about what she was going to do about her mother. I didn’t interrupt her. I was someone who needed silence when I was thinking about something too, so I made sure to give her space.
But I hadn’t expected her to react like this when we got home.
We had barely made it through the door before she was pushing me against the couch, motive clear in her eyes.
Any other day, I’d take full advantage. I loved it when Addi showed me how much she wanted me, especially after fighting me so hard in the beginning. But it seemed wrong now, given what she had just gone through.
Sex could be used as an escape, but I didn’t want her to regret anything.
She stretched her toned legs across my lap as she straddled me, her hands coming to tangle in my hair and her breasts pushed up against my face.
My cock reacted immediately, but my brain stopped my hands from grabbing her like she was asking for. Instead, I gently placed them on her hips and gave her a light squeeze.
“Addi…”
Her lips started at my neck, working their way up to my jaw and then right over my lips, but when they finally descended, I didn’t kiss her back.
Her kisses were special. Meaningful. This didn’t feel right.
She pulled my hair harder, a silent order for me to comply.
“Addi.” I said it harder this time.
She ground against my hard cock, drawing a groan from my lips. Heat swirled, and fuck, I wanted to take her. I always wanted to take her.
“I don’t want to hear it, Warren,” she said and tried to kiss me again, but this time I held onto her tight and didn’t let go.
“Don’t do this,” I whispered.
When she pulled away, she met me with anger, but there was something underneath it. Something that pulled at my chest.
“So now you won’t fuck me?”
The way her voice broke at the end had my stomach dropping. I lifted my hand and cupped the side of her face.
She didn’t lean into it.
She was so mercilessly beautiful. I had known that from the start, but everything that happened made me stop appreciating the masterpiece the girl in front of me was.
It went way beyond looks. She was resilient, strong, and more determined than any person I’d met in my entire life, including people twice her age.
She was one in a million. Hell, I could search the earth and was sure I’d never find anyone as perfect as the girl in front of me.
I knew it then, and I know it now.
“You’ll regret it,” I said. “What you need now is something else. Comfort. This might make you temporarily forget everything, but it will dirty this. Us . I don’t want you to use what we have this way.”
“Use what we have?” she asked with a bitter laugh. “A contract. A sex contract. That’s what this is supposed to be, so why are you finding it such a burden to fuck me?”
I brushed my thumb across her cheek. Pain was hidden behind the anger in her eyes, but it was still clear as day.
“You’re hurting,” I said. “And you and I both know there’s more here than the contract.”
“Hurting?” she spat out. “And why is that?”
She’s right. I fucked up. I didn’t regret going after her father, but I regretted everything after. How he died. How ruthless I had been. My oversight when it came to his family.
“You’re right,” I admitted. “It’s my fault.”
She looked taken aback by my words, but then her eyes narrowed. Like even though the words were coming out of my mouth, she still couldn’t believe them.
“What?”
“I was mad at you for damaging my company’s reputation and getting my name in the papers, but…” I swallowed the knot in my throat. “I regret my actions. With your father. I was hurting too. He was my best friend, regardless of what happened, and you didn’t deserve it. I’m sorry, Addi.”
She smacked my hand off her.
“ You were hurting?” Her voice rose with each word.
The pain from what happened with her mother was still fresh. If I had learned the person closest to me had been spending the only money we had while letting me work myself to the bone, I wouldn’t have been so forgiving.
But that was Addi. For the people she loved, she’d stay until the end. Take care of them even when they were pulling the rug out from under her.
“I know what happened with your mother was?—”
“Don’t talk about it,” she snapped. “What I want is for you to fuck me, Warren, and you can’t even do that.”
“ Addi ,” I warned.
With a growl, she grabbed my button-up and pulled so hard the buttons snapped. She knew exactly how to handle me to get the reaction she wanted.
“Fuck me, Warren,” she ordered. “I know you want to. You think I can’t feel how hard your cock is?”
I grabbed her, placing her back to the couch before crawling on top of her. She wrapped her legs around my waist and pulled me closer, her lips attacking my neck instantly.
“That’s it,” she groaned, and I involuntarily jerked my hips against her.
The need for her was undeniable. It had only grown with time. Stronger and stronger every minute until it turned into an obsession.
But I wasn’t sure if it was the night I finally had her that started it or the time when her eyes first met mine in her father’s office.
“When I first saw you, something changed. And when I knew you wanted me, I was giddy,” I murmured.
“Like them young, huh?” she teased.
“You weren’t what I was there for, or what I wanted. But you wore me down. After a while, I thought it would be the perfect way to get back at him…”
She froze and pulled back to look at me.
“You did it in more ways than one.” Her voice had an edge to it.
“Addi, it was never like that. Fuck, the moment I felt you against me, everything else disappeared. You were never a pawn. I don’t care how it started. You’re so much more important than that,” I said. “It’s why I can’t fuck you right now.”
But no matter what I said, it didn’t seem to make a difference. The anger and hurt were still there, and she was refusing to see me.
“Can’t or won’t? Because it seems like your cock didn’t get the message.”
And I hate the offending appendage very much in this moment.
“I’m showing immense control because I know you need it?—”
“I don’t need anything from you!” Her words hit exactly the mark they meant to, right inside my chest. They were sharp, cutting, and pulled an immediate reaction from me.
“Except my money. You need that, don’t you?” It was harsher than she deserved. Tears immediately pricked her eyes, and my heart constricted.
Shit. I regretted my words as soon as they slipped out of my mouth.
“Addi, I’m sorry?—”
“If you won’t fuck me, Warren, tell me what you want from me. Come on, get it over with so I can walk away from here with the money and get my mother out of that fucking hospital.”
The realization hit me like a punch to the gut, and I couldn’t get off her fast enough.
She wants to complete the contract.
She wasn’t distracting herself with me, trying to forget all the bad stuff that was happening.
All she was thinking was that if I didn’t fuck her, I wouldn’t give her the money at the end of it. She was going to lie there and take it while I had my fill of her body like she was some… thing.
I covered my mouth with the back of my hand as emotions seized my chest.
Was that all this was?
Did any of it mean… anything? My mind played through every night since she’d finally given herself to me.
Has she only been fucking me to meet the terms of the contract?
Ironic that I was the one getting caught up in this. I should have been stronger. Should have known better.
I’m fucking weak. And I let someone in who just wanted to leave me in the end anyway.
I should have known. I shouldn’t have forgotten the true reason she was here, ever since the night I knew she’d been snooping around in my bedroom. She wanted revenge, and now she had it.
I couldn’t fault her. I wouldn’t. But I cursed myself for making this into something it clearly wasn’t.
“It’s over,” I whispered. “Pack up. I’ll have my driver drop you off at home.”
“No, Warren, I need this mon?—”
“ Go ,” I forced out, unable to look at her.
I can’t believe she expected me to treat her that way.
Regardless of the contract, she wasn’t a thing to be used and abused. That’s why we had such strict guidelines.
Guidelines that should have stopped me from getting this wrapped up in her.
With a lingering look, she pushed herself off the couch, the click of her shoes echoing through the empty house as she ascended the stairs.
I should have known better.