ログインEliana
My breath stuttered. Heat flooded between my thighs.
"I don't belong to anyone,"
His hand came down hard on my ass.
Even through my clothes, the impact made me gasp and my knees weak.
"Wrong answer." He spanked me again, making me squeal. "Try again."
"Let go!"
Another spank, then another. His palm connected with my ass in sharp, stinging slap
TheodoreI watched the footage almost forty times.Not consecutively. I would watch it, stop it, rewind it and watch it again. Normal speed at first, then frame by frame, then normal speed again. I was stuck in my study, I hadn't even noticed when the room had gone dark, the blue glow of my monitor reflecting on my face as I watched Eliana steal from me on a loop.Except.She was too calm.That was the thing I kept snagging on, the thread I couldn't stop pulling. I knew how Eliana moved when she was afraid. I knew by heart and mind, how her face would scrunch up, her eyes darting around, lips trembling in fear and there was none of that.Her accusations rang in my head, her teary face as she recounted that night eight years ago. God I had forgotten all about that. I didn't even know it was Eliana. It hadn't been a question of whether I believed he
ElianaI typed the resignation letter at four in the morning.I had learned, somewhere in the whole wreck of the past year, that the things that cost the most to say take the fewest words. I sent it before I could talk myself out of it, closed my laptop and sat in the dark listening to the city outside.I felt lighter. Like I had just put down something I had been carrying for a very long time.By morning, mom's face was everywhere."Ashcroft Heiress Found in City Care Home — Wife of Suicide Billionaire Living on Charity."That was the polite headline. The rest weren't all so good. By midmorning the comment sections had hardened into something else. People who had lost jobs when the Ashcroft industry collapsed, people who had lost investments, savings and homes. Fourteen years of accumulated fury was now suddenly given a face, a location, a
Eliana"I believe you."Three words. He said them looking directly at me, his hands still covering mine on the table.But his eyes said something else entirely. They flickered warily at me, his brows furrowed and I knew, I knew that look."You... You do?" I asked, arching my brows."I'll tell them not to press charges so don't worry about it. All that matters is-""I didn't steal it," I insisted, pulling my hands away from him."Lia, all that matters is that you're fine. I don't care about the cold wallet," he said tiredly.I knew that look. That was the thing that hollowed me out from the inside, standing there in that interrogation room under the fluorescent lights. I knew that look because I had seen it before, on a younger version of his face, in a different room, a
Theodore.My phone buzzed against the table.I ignored it."-which means the Seattle projections need to account for the time zone differences when we're scheduling the client calls, otherwise we're looking at a problem-"It buzzed again. It was the security men back at my penthouse. I had left Eliana back at the penthouse. My brow furrowed. Did something happen? I pushed back from the table mid-sentence, held up a hand toward the people in the conference room. "Excuse me,""What happened?" I demanded once I was in the corridor."Sir." He muttered. "There has been a breach at the penthouse. Someone accessed your uh... safe in the study. We've recovered the property and the individual involved is currently at the police station. They're requesting your presence."That made no sense. Who could have gotten past
Eliana"Who's after you?" I yanked my arm out of his grip. "Damon, who-""It doesn't matter." He was moving through my apartment, checking the windows, keeping his body below the sill when he looked out. "Just close the blinds. Close them right now.""I'm not doing anything until you tell me what's happening."He turned from the window and looked at me with something wild in his eyes, and then he crossed to my dining table and dropped the box he'd been carrying under his arm. It hit the wood with a heavy, solid sound.He flipped it open and my eyes narrowed at the small device inside it. It looked like nothing, like something you'd pass over completely if you didn't know what you were looking at.I knew what I was looking at."Damon." My voice came out very quiet and shaky. A nervous laugh fell from my lips and I glanced up at him. "Tell
ElianaI had no idea how long I stood in front of that safe, but it was quite a while.It had been long enough for Theo's voice in the hallway to wind down, for the call to end and his footsteps to move toward the kitchen. Bright sunlight filtered into the study and I repeated the passcode of the safe in my head.The numbers of Serena's birthday. I was standing at the edge of something I could never come back from, for both decisions and yet my hand never lifted.I thought about my mother hugging me tightly, Serena's voice saying 'final warning'. All the walls were closing in from every direction until the only door left was this one, this room, this safe, this betrayal.My hand wouldn't lift. I dropped the painting in its position, turned around and walked out, pulling the study door shut behind me without looking back.There was only one w
ElianaJake kissed me.It took a second to register the press of his lips against mine. A very long second. My entire body stiffened while my eyes fixed on his face. The jackass had the nerve to close his eyes! My hands came up between shoving at hi
ElianaJake kissed me.It took a second to register the press of his lips against mine. A very long second. My entire body stiffened while my eyes fixed on his face. The jackass had the nerve to close his eyes! My hands came up between shoving at hi
Eliana"What are you doing here?"The words came out sharper than I intended but it didn't make sense that she was here. I had just been thinking about her blackmailing me barely a week ago and bam, she appeared out of thin air! Leslie pursed her lips as
Eliana"Hey,""J-Jake... hi," I sputtered, surprised to see him. "Where were you?"He shrugged, dragging his fingers through his hair. "Sorry about how weird I was earlier. I... you looked amazing, I lost my mind for a bit







