All Chapters of THE PRICE OF BEING HIS : Chapter 21 - Chapter 30

Chapter Twenty-OneAndrea's POVI am already drifting off, my body heavy and warm against Tristan’s chest. My eyes feel so heavy I can barely keep them open. The steady beat of his heart under my ear is making me sleepy. Everything hurts in the best way, my ass is still stinging from the spanking, my pussy feels used and satisfied, and my legs are weak. I just want to curl up and sleep.Then I hear his voice whisper my name.“Andrea.”I make a sound that isn't really a word.“Don't sleep yet.” His voice is quieter than usual, softer around the edges. “I want to talk to you.”I lift my head from his chest and look up at him, blinking slowly to clear away the sleep. His thumb moves across my cheek, gentle in a way that still catches me off guard every time he does it, like my brain hasn't quite accepted that his hands can be this soft after everything else they're capable of.“For your boldness tonight,” he starts, the corner of his mouth lifting just slightly, “I want to reward you. Wh

Chapter Twenty-ThreeAndrea's POV“But Tristan…”“Don't.” He cuts me off, frowning, stepping into the kitchen doorway. “Don't do that.”I open my mouth again but the look on his face stops me. There's something tight and controlled about it, the specific expression he gets when he's already decided how a conversation is going to go.“I've told you before,” he says, his voice measured but firm. “Do not try to act like something you're not. You are not my wife. This kitchen is not your responsibility.”He walks toward me slowly as he says it, and I take an unconscious half step back until the counter catches me.“I know that.” I keep my voice steady even though my chest is starting to feel tight. “I just wanted to do something nice. I didn't think it was going to be such a bad idea.”“I hired chefs for a reason, Andrea.”“Wow.” The word leaves my mouth before I can stop it.I set the wooden spoon down on the counter. Not hard, not dramatically, just down. I untie one side of the apron s

Chapter Twenty-FiveAndrea's POVMy mom picks up on the third ring.“Andrea!” The way she says my name, like she's been waiting by the phone, makes my chest do that warm, guilty thing it's been doing every time I call home lately.“Hi Mum.” I pull my knees up on the bed and lean back against the headboard. “How are you? How's Dad?”“We're fine, we're fine. Your father is resting.” She replies, and I can hear her moving around in the kitchen, the familiar sound of pots and the tap running. “Ethan went for his check-up yesterday.”I sit up a little. “And?”“The doctor says his numbers are better.” Her voice lifts when she says it, genuinely lighter, and I feel something loosen in my chest that has been tight for weeks. “They're adjusting the medication again but they said it's a good sign. A really good sign, Andrea.”“Okay.” I let out a breath. “Okay, that's good. That's really good, Mum.”“We saw the transfer too,” she says, quieter now, more careful. “Your father didn't want me to c

Chapter Twenty-SevenAndrea's POVThe pill goes down with the last of my water and I set the cup on the dining table, looking around at nothing in particular.It's almost noon and the house is so quiet I can hear the air conditioning.I've eaten. I've showered. I've scrolled through my phone twice. I rearranged the throw pillows on the couch for no reason. I even watered two of the flowers from last night that I felt too bad about letting die, which took all of four minutes.Now I'm just standing here in the dining room being bored out of my mind.I hate being bored. I've always hated it. Back home there was always something to do, somewhere to be, someone needing something from me. Here there's just this beautiful, enormous, silent house and too much time to fill it with thoughts I shouldn't be having.Thoughts like how good last night was.And the night before.And the time before that.I can’t even blame myself for having these naughty thoughts because it just keeps getting better

Chapter Twenty-NineTristan's POVThe meeting is not going well.It hasn't been going well for the last forty minutes, which is how long we've been sitting around this table going back and forth about a logistics acquisition that should have been straightforward three weeks ago.The problem is that nothing involving Laurent stays straightforward for long. His team put in a competing bid two days ago, a number that makes no business sense unless you're willing to bleed money for the first eighteen months just to block someone else from winning. Which is exactly the kind of move Marcus makes when he wants to get under my skin more than he wants to turn a profit.It's working. I won't give him the satisfaction of knowing that, but it's working.“The revised offer puts us at a twelve percent premium over current valuation,” my head of acquisitions is saying, pointing at something on the screen behind him. “If Laurent is serious about matching that then frankly they're overpaying and we le