5. Their Failing, Not Yours
five
Their Failing, Not Yours
Iris woke up to the soft sound of water falling, a gentle crash of droplets on tile.
Her brain resisted returning to the land of the awake and conscious, but no matter how hard she tried, her body refused to fall back asleep.
She sat up with a huff and looked around the elegant bedroom from her past. Not long ago, she expected to never see these walls again.
No, if she had been back in Arizona, today would have started with smiles and gentle laughter as she spent it with Daisy and Dhalia.
A heavy sigh wracked her body. No reason to dwell.
That life she made for herself was gone.
She shook her head slightly to get her body and mind back in line.
There was no use lingering in the past, let alone pondering what she had thought her future would look like.
She had made her decision. What little choice he had given her was still her own.
Her family was innocent in this. Or at the very least, it was not their fault she had left him last time.
As much as she had said he wouldn’t care, she knew exactly what kind of man she had been running from.
Deep down, she had always known he would come after her.
She just never thought her actions would affect her family—an oversight she refused to let them pay for.
She could never stand by and watch while he destroyed them when she had the power to stop it.
As she moved to sit on the side of the bed, her body ached in the most delicious of ways, reminding her of last night.
She felt her cheeks heat, shining bright red in the darkness.
If she was being honest, this price had been decidedly less arduous than she had first expected it to be.
Last night... it had felt like more than just sex.
It had felt like something altogether more dangerous.
The emotions she had seen blazing in his eyes as he was deep within her caused hope to well up inside her.
She never would have expected that she might make a life for herself back here, but maybe, just maybe, she would.
"You’re awake," his deep voice rumbled from the doorway. Iris looked up and couldn’t help but gawk at the image he presented.
He was bare-chested, water droplets still clinging to his hard, muscled body, which he felt comfortable displaying.
A thick white towel sat precariously on his hips.
Giving a tantalizing glimpse of what lay beneath the cloth.
Her eyes tracked down his torso to settle on the stark line the bright white made against his tanned skin.
"Good, I was about to wake you up. We need to leave in twenty minutes. "
Iris blinked up at him, confusion clear in her eyes. "Leave?" she croaked, her voice thick with sleep. Her barely awake brain was still stuck on his mostly naked body standing before her as if this was an everyday occurrence. Which it decidedly was not.
"Yes, leave," he answered while flicking his eyes to the clock on the bedside table next to her. "I have an early morning call I should be on. I would prefer to take that in the office, but if you can’t be ready in twenty minutes, I could call in from my office here. But that shouldn’t be necessary. "
She couldn’t help the slow blink she gave him. "Why would I need to go with you into the office? I’ll be fine here," she finally said.
His eyes darkened in that way only he seemed able to do.
"You are going to come with me into the office today, tomorrow, and every single day after that, I want you there.
So you'll be there." He walked towards her and bent down to lean over her.
She retreated, eventually falling flat on her back across the bed.
He placed his hand beside her head, caging her in.
He met her eyes and smirked. "That’s how this works.
You used to do everything I asked without complaint," he murmured, a contemplative look on his face.
"But you were left alone, and apparently, during that time, you convinced yourself I cared so little for you that you could just disappear, and I wouldn’t chase after you. "
He closed the final distance, placing a hard kiss on her lips. "This time, I’m prepared for every eventuality."
"You already know that I won’t leave. You still hold my family’s future in the palm of your hand," she said with a furrowed brow. "That wouldn’t change if I left. I’m not going anywhere.
I can stay here today, like before." Heavy emotion rolled behind his eyes, but what he was actually feeling was a mystery to her.
"Nothing between us this time will be like it was before," he growled before claiming her lips in a violent clash with his own. He nipped her bottom lip with his teeth before pushing back off the mattress with his hands. "Now come on, get up. You’re down to fourteen minutes to get ready."
She rose to a seated position, her eyes wide as she took him in while he dropped his towel and marched into the closet. "Fourteen minutes? I can’t shower in that time. You’ll need to leave without me."
He spoke while out of sight in the closet. "Not a chance. Just get dressed and then bring whatever shit you need. You can shower in the bathroom there. I want you with me."
His words seemed so foreign to her she sat there motionless.
He wanted her with him. All day again. Iris wracked her brain but couldn’t think of a single time before when he had been so gluttonous with her time.
She had been more of an afterthought last time.
He had been happy enough when she was there, but he had never moved his schedule around to accommodate her.
In fact, he had rarely invited her to the office.
She had shown up uninvited more often than he'd asked for her presence.
Nash walking out of the closet while buttoning up a crisp white shirt drew her out of her musings. He took her in, still sitting in the same position as before, and he made a show of glancing at the clock all over again. "Eleven minutes, now."
Iris couldn’t help the small smile that formed on her lips.
She got up and moved past him into the bathroom.
She made record time getting ready, throwing her hair up into a quick twist at the base of her neck.
A simple, natural look was all she went for with her makeup, her skincare regimen taking up the bulk of her time.
She walked out of the bathroom to see an empty bedroom and closet.
As she glanced around for him, she noticed two outfits thrown over the chaise lounge she had spent many lonely nights reading at. She walked over and saw the new outfits were all in her new size, and she couldn’t help but smile.
"Four minutes, ma fleur," his voice called out, and she reached for the closest outfit and hurried to step into it, feeling strangely invigorated, anticipating what the day might bring.
Iris blew out a breath, shifting once more on the luxurious couch she had spent so much time on yesterday.
If she had known that a day spent in his office would be so boring, she might have fought harder to stay home.
She struggled to remember why she had thought this would be so exciting.
Spending the day with him at the office had sounded thrilling on paper—less so in actuality.
Nash had barely had a minute free all day, and it was nearly five now. Constant phone calls, video conferences, and emails had filled every free moment he had between whatever had him typing so fanatically at the computer. But then again, billion-dollar empires didn’t build or sustain themselves.
While he worked, she could see the intense concentration that gripped him.
She had come prepared with reading materials today, but found that sharing the space with him left her too distracted.
If she was going to be here more permanently, as he had implied, she would have to find something to occupy her. Books simply weren’t cutting it today.
If she had too many days like this, she might lose her mind.
He had set up the charity for her, and now it was apparently up to her to run.
Maybe she should ask him to get her a laptop and walk her through everything.
Taking over the executive role of the nonprofit might be just what she needed.
At the very least, she hoped it would give her something to focus on besides her soon-to-be husband.
Just then, his hard voice broke the quiet of the office. She looked over and saw his phone held close to his ear. She had never heard it ring, but he must have had it on silent.
"Nash," he grunted into the receiver while his eyes moved over the computer screen with rapid movements.
"No." He barked into the phone, and his eyes froze.
It was eerie, the way they stopped all movement in an instant.
They swiftly rose to lock onto hers across the room.
"No. The original deal is over. You tell them they either meet my new terms, or I'll ruin them. "
Iris furrowed her brow, curious about who he could possibly be speaking to. Before she could think too long on it, though, Nash ended the call.
"Keep me updated," he grunted, before tossing the phone onto the surface of his desk. He steepled his fingers under his chin and stared at her contemplatively.
She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly self-conscious under his thoughtful perusal.
"What?" she couldn’t help but ask after three painfully long minutes had passed without him looking away.
"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever met," he said softly.
Her eyes bulged at his unexpected compliment.
"Both inside and out. How that is possible when your family is who they are, I will never understand.
" Disgust dripped off his words. He didn’t bother to hide it.
Her first instinct was to defend them, but as she opened her mouth, she wondered why she even wanted to.