Chapter 12
TWELVE
Anna
Everything falls into place. What Jeremy meant about my class schedule. How he knew I’d changed my clothes. How he knew that it would turn me on to call him Daddy...
Turning away from the proof of his obsession, I return to the main office and sink down onto the couch, unsure that my legs will continue to support me. Because I suddenly have no doubt that for four years he’s seen everything.
He follows me, kneeling at my feet. “Anna, say something, anything, please.”
“You’ve been stalking me.”
He nods. “Yes.”
“Some of those cameras are in my room, aren’t they? You’ve seen me... God, how humiliating.”
He shakes his head. “No, I mean—yes, some of those cameras are in your room, and yes, I’ve seen... a lot. But there’s nothing for you to feel humiliated over, baby. You’re fucking perfect. In every way.”
I struggle to process this. But while Jeremy seems to have thought that showing me that room would alleviate my fears, really, it’s only left me with questions. So many questions.
“But why, Jeremy? I’m trying to understand. Is this some sort of fetish of yours? Voyeurism?”
At this, he actually laughs, but I can tell he’s still on edge. “God no. I’d much rather participate than watch. Keeping a professional distance from you was torture.”
“It seems a stretch to call that ‘keeping a professional distance.’” My gaze drifts toward the secret room. “But help me understand, why have you been watching me, then?”
“It’s not obvious?” he asks, incredulity lacing his words. “From the first, you’ve completely captivated me. I had to know you were safe, and I could never be sure of that if I couldn’t see you, if I couldn’t visually verify at all times that you were okay. If I could have, I’d have placed cameras all over campus, too. I know it’s fucked up. I’m fucked up.”
The look on his face is so vulnerable that it makes my heart hurt.
“No, you’re not fucked up. You were just keeping me safe.” I grab his hand, then add, “Like a good daddy should.”
Because now that my initial shock has subsided, I realize that’s exactly what he’s been all along. My hero, my protector, my... daddy. I just didn’t know it.
And that’s a problem. Jeremy talked a good game last night about honesty, but he’s been lying to me—about so many things. Maybe he had good reasons, but...
“Except a good daddy wouldn’t have lied to me this morning, and he wouldn’t fire me for trying to please him.”
Jeremy frowns. “What lie?”
“When you said you were going into Twinge to meet Heather, but everyone knows she’s at the concert in New York. Where were you, Jeremy?”
“I was getting this.” He slides his free hand into his pocket and pulls out a ring.
Oh my God...
But he continues, not giving me a chance to react. “And firing you was the only option, I’m afraid. I can’t marry you—let alone fill your belly with my babies—if you’re my employee. And after I kissed you, well, I realized that’s the only tenable outcome. Because I’ll lose my goddamn mind, Anna, if another man comes anywhere near you.”
And maybe it’s foolish of me, but at that moment, everything makes sense. We want the same things. We have always wanted the same things. Things other people might not understand, but that are right for us.
And maybe I am abnormal, obsessive, needy, oversexed. I think I must be at least a little bit crazy. Because if I were normal, I’m not sure I’d be so okay with any of this. But that’s the thing, if I’m abnormal, so is Jeremy. And while we aren’t screwed up in exactly the same ways, we fit together—two halves of a whole.
Smiling, I release his hand. “You do realize, Daddy, that nothing in what you just said was a question, right?”
“That’s because it wasn’t a question.” He grabs my left hand, sliding the ring onto my finger. “Originally I meant for it to be, but it can’t be—can it? It’s just a fact. You’re mine.”
“Yes, Daddy, I’m yours, and... I love you, too.”
“Only mine, forever, and you’ll do as I say?”
“Of course, Daddy.”
Standing, he walks over to his desk, returning with a pen. He takes the pages of the contract off the floor and hands them to me along with the pen.
“Sign.”
“Do I need to read it?” I glance at the stack of papers. “This is longer than my original employment contract.”
“That’s because it’s not just a severance agreement, angel. It’s a prenuptial agreement giving you half of all my assets, including half of my stake in Twinge, if we ever divorce.”
At this, I feel a pang of doubt. Just a small one, but it’s there. Could I have been wrong about us wanting the same things?
“You’re planning for us to get divorced?”
“Of course not, but I don’t ever want you to feel trapped or like you don’t have options. This puts us on equal footing.” He sighs. “I know I just made you promise to do what I say, but you can have a lawyer look it over if you want.”
Oh, how very... Jeremy. It’s endearing really, the way he’s always trying to protect me... even from himself. But I don’t say that, I simply flip straight to the last page, signing my name with a dramatic flourish before tossing the papers aside.
He shakes his head. “You didn’t read a single word.”
“Why would I?” I shrug. “It’s meaningless.”
“And why is that?” He raises an eyebrow.
Grabbing his belt, I pull him between my legs as I sprawl backwards onto the couch. I don’t let go, tugging until he takes the hint and falls on top of me, his weight pushing me into the aged leather.
“Because,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around his neck, pulling his head closer until our lips are nearly touching. “We’re both too obsessed for divorce to be a possibility, and you know it. Now fuck me, Daddy. We have years of lost time to make up for, and only six hours until Elijah comes home.”
And my life truly is magical, because he captures my mouth in a bruising kiss and then he does—in every single room of the house, of our house.