تسجيل الدخولCHAPTER NINETEEN
At precisely eight that evening, the sound of a car engine rolled through the estate.
I rushed to the bedroom window overlooking the front driveway, just in time to see Carlton step out from the passenger's end.
I inhaled sharply.
He was here!
Then as though summoned, he looked up, directly to the bedroom window where I stood.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONEThe drive home was painfully quiet. It felt suffocating. I kept my eyes on the city lights as we drove through the busy streets, pretending anything fascinated me far more than the man beside me. My mind kept replaying the incident at the club. The private lounge.The glass enclosure.The strangers who'd treated desire like a language they all happened to speak fluently, out loud, without once checking who might be listening.Why did he take me there? Why have me dressed up for a business meeting? I had walked in believing such places only existed in whispered conversations and scandalous novels.I had walked out wondering whether I'd ever look at the world the same way again.Carlton hadn't looked surprised once.He had discussed contracts worth millions while people indulged in their private pleasures barely a few feet away, as though it were no different from conducting business in a boardroom, or over coffee.Maybe, in his world, it wasn't.In mine, it ce
CHAPTER TWENTY Bodies. Unclad bodies were everywhere. A woman straddled a man by the fireplace, rocking her hips back and forth, while another woman kissed the line of her throat slowly. Beside them, two men kissed each other passionately, one had the other man's dick in his hands, stroking and squeezing, while a woman knelt between his legs, sucking his dick. Desire hung in the air like perfume; unashamed, unhinged, uninterrupted, intoxicating.My instinct was to bolt. But, as though Carlton knew, his hands settled on my lower back firmly. I nearly jumped as his skin touched mine. “Breathe,” he breathed against my ear, and boy, I almost lost consciousness. My throat worked painfully as I swallowed hard. “What…what is this place?”His fingers flexed subtly on my waist as we took another turn. “A private sex club.”Isn't that just comforting? Did he take Arla to places of this nature? Arla. What kind of marriage did she really have with Carlton?I guess the kind where he c
CHAPTER NINETEENAt precisely eight that evening, the sound of a car engine rolled through the estate.I rushed to the bedroom window overlooking the front driveway, just in time to see Carlton step out from the passenger's end.I inhaled sharply.He was here!Then as though summoned, he looked up, directly to the bedroom window where I stood.My heart skipped a bit.Even from a distance, I could feel the intensity of his stare.A knock pulled me away from his mesmerising gaze.I turned as Mrs Timothy opened the bedroom door.“Mr Holland is here.”I know.I nodded, smoothing nervous hands over the red silk as my stomach continued to twi
CHAPTER EIGHTEENBy the second morning, I was certain Carlton wasn't coming home for the rest of the week.I told myself it meant nothing. Men like him had late-night meetings, phantom emergencies, entire wings of a house they could vanish into without technically leaving.I told myself other things too, over the last two nights, that some distance might do us both good, that I didn't actually want to know what "you misunderstood what you heard" was supposed to mean when he finally deigned to explain it.None of it stopped me checking my phone every time it buzzed, or finding out, every time, that it wasn't him.Twice I almost asked Mrs Timothy a question I had no business asking.Both times I caught myself with the words halfway out.Was there a woman Carlton had cherished so much?
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN I shouldn't have said that.It followed me out of the study and back into the noise of the party . It sat in my chest like something I'd swallowed and hadn't figured out how to breathe around yet."I hope you don't intend to rejoin the party wearing that expression."The Dowager's voice stopped me before I found a hiding place."Tell me," she drawled, coming into my view. "Was it you who upset my son, or the other way around?"A trick question if I'd ever heard one.It had just dawned on me that this woman knew her son had been seeing someone else, had gotten that someone pregnant, and had decided it was best to taunt me with questions on pregnancy and heirs.What else did she know?"Neither," I said. "We're fine.""Mm."She clearly didn't believe me, and didn't bother pretending otherwise.Her gaze moved once, briefly, toward the corridor I'd been heading for, then came back to me."I've never been able to deny that boy anything," she said, lightly, almost idly, th
CHAPTER SIXTEENMy mind raced as we crossed the room. What is this about Community projects and Scholarship picks? “He’s got a name he'd like you to consider," Carlton said.Before I could ask him what he meant, he led me into a semicircle of three men, drink in each hand. "Gentlemen." Carlton's hand found the small of my back, steady. "My wife." One man turned first and, unlike most of the room so far, actually looked at me instead of past me."Arla. Good thing Carlton finally brought you over. I've got a young man I'd like the committee to take a proper look at.”Apparently, this was Felix Whitmore.“East side program,” he continued. “First in his family headed anywhere near university. I'll have the file sent to the house."The committee.I had no committee. I had no idea of what "a proper look" was supposed to mean specifically, except that apparently some kid's future now ran through whatever decision I was meant to make."Send it over," I said, careful, even. "I'll make sure







