Chapter Six — Callum
I watch her face turn from confusion to anger to contemplation.
As badly as I want to prolong these games forever, to punish her again and again, to keep her as long as possible, this has to end sometime.
I want her to be mine, but the only way to really know for sure is if I give her the chance to leave.
So that’s what I’m doing now. No more games. No more plausible deniability.
Yeah, my plan coming into this game was to win and punish her one more time. But I changed my mind midway through the game. As much as I’d like to punish her once more, I can’t stay in this limbo any longer. It’s hell. I need to know how she feels.
And the only way to figure that out is by letting her win. Which means throwing the game.
Besides, I want her to have the money. She’s earned it. She more than deserves it.
This is the only way I’ll ever know for sure if she’s here because she wants to be, or because she’s trying to win a million dollars.
And if it turns out she’s here because of the money, well, it’s not like I can fault her for that.
A million dollars is a lot of money for most people.
But I don’t want that hanging over our heads anymore.
As much as the sadistic part of me wants to win this game and punish her, deep down, I know what I really want is for her to submit to me willingly.
I breathe out slowly, waiting for the moment she says “liar” and claims her million dollars. I lock eyes with her just as her perfect pink lips part. She stares straight at me and, without blinking, says the craziest thing I’ve ever heard in my life:
“I’ll raise to twelve.”
“What?” I blurt out immediately.
I peek down under my cup once more. It’s still a three.
I thought what I did was crazy, but what she’s just done is somehow even crazier. She’s forced my hand.
Unless she has a six and I have a six, she’s handing me the game. And she knows that I just tried to throw it. I tried to hand her the game, and she’s throwing it right back at me.
Unbelievable.
But I’m out of options. You can’t raise higher than twelve. She’s forcing me to call her bluff and win the game.
I laugh out loud. “What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m raising to twelve,” she says. “Duh.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, I’m dead serious.”
In a flash, I lean over the table and flip her cup. It’s a five. I’m gobsmacked.
I mean, on one hand, it just confirms what I already knew, but seeing it in front of me is different than thinking it. This is concrete proof that she threw the game.
“You threw the game,” I say in astonishment.
“So did you,” she says.
She reaches over and flips my cup, exposing my three. She looks at me and cocks a brow, smirking.
I look at her and a combination of admiration, confusion, anger, and lust overwhelms me.
“You’re the craziest woman I’ve ever met,” I say.
She shrugs. “Or the stupidest.”
The smile drops off my face.
“Take that back,” I say.
“What?”
“I don’t want to ever hear you call yourself stupid,” I say.
She squints at me like she’s confused.
In one motion, I push the table to the side. It flips over and clatters to the ground.
With the table out of the way, I grab her waist. She’s still staring at the table on the ground, shocked by what I just did, as I pull her close by both hips.
I look down at her. My chin is hovering above the top of her head. I tilt it so she’s looking up at me.
“Promise me right now, Alex,” I say, “that you’ll never call yourself stupid. Ever again.”
She tilts her head to the side.
“I’m serious,” I say, as I wrap a hand around the back of her neck. “You’re the smartest woman I’ve ever met in my entire fucking life. The only woman who’s ever given me a run for my money. You know that, right?”
She opens her eyes wide and shakes her head ever so slightly. I don’t know whether to be impressed or enraged by her humility. It’s sincere, though. And that’s the problem.
She doesn’t know how brilliant she is. And I can’t have that.
I tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “You are, by far, the smartest, most brilliant, most tenacious, resourceful, and goddamn beautiful woman I’ve ever met in my entire life. I need you to know that.”
“Really?” she squeaks.
I look at her in astonishment. “Do you really not know that?”
“But—” she says.
“But what?”
“But why did you let me win, then? If you really think that?”
I look at her, not sure if she’s yanking my chain, but she looks serious.
“For one, because I’m tired of this,” I say. “As fun as it is punishing you — and don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing I love more than having you over my lap squirming—” Her cheeks flush, and I have to force myself to focus.
“I’m tired of this charade we have going on. From now on, if you submit to me, it’s because you want to. Not because you’re trying to win a million dollars.”
I pause. “And because you deserve it. You deserve the money. That’s why.”
“Do I, though?”
I look at her. “Of course you fucking do. You deserve it more than anyone.”
“In fact—” I pull out my phone and tap a few times. I’d already set this up beforehand, so it’s ready to go.
“Check your account,” I say.
Her phone buzzes and she pulls it out of her pocket, tapping it. I watch as her entire face goes slack.
“Are you serious?” she asks. “I lost though—”
“It’s yours,” I say. “You earned it. And I want you to have it. I also want to give you the choice to walk away right now. I’ll be devastated if you do, but it’s up to you.
I want you to have the option without money clouding your judgment.
I don’t want this game or the money hanging over us any longer.
That million dollars is yours now, and the game is officially over.
You don’t have to be here one second longer if you don’t want to.
You’re officially a free agent. And a millionaire. ”
I look at her. She looks frozen.
“You know what?” I say. “I’m gonna go upstairs for a few minutes. Give you some time. And if you want to leave, just walk out the door.” I gesture to my right. There’s a door in this basement that leads right outside, one she’s taken before.
“No hard feelings if you decide to leave,” I say. “I promise. I don’t want you to feel pressured either way. I’ll be back in five minutes. I hope you’ll still be here when I return. But I’ll understand if you’re not.”
I look at her, and I feel a deep pain in my chest. It occurs to me that this might be the last time I see those beautiful hazel eyes of hers. I try to burn it into my memory.
Am I about to make the biggest mistake of my life?
I shake my head. I can’t second-guess this. I have to follow through.
She’s only mine if she chooses to stay. If she walks away now, she was never mine to begin with.
I look at her one last time, taking in her beauty, her elegance. Then I take a deep breath and do the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
I walk away.