That said, I’m restless and itchy and irritable, partly because that second orgasm never happened. So close. Sooooo so unbelievably close. But I’m mainly restless because I’m worried I made a mistake leaving Ezra without saying goodbye. I didn’t hav
e a choice, though. Right?
I plop down on the antique chaise lounge overlooking the Hudson River, shoulders slumped. This stupid empty feeling in my chest only seems to get worse, no matter how many times I remind myself why I made a run for it. Ezra called me his. He made me his. But I didn’t want to experience the pain of him changing his mind when he finds out I’m not only a spoiled little rich girl, but that I employ his mother. We’re from two different worlds. He wants the daring girl who has an affair with a stranger at the drop of a hat, not the brat with a pampered lifestyle who’s never done anything of her own free will.
Across the room, my phone beeps with an incoming message and fear clogs my throat.
Not again.
I stand slowly, shifting on the balls of my feet. Not wanting to see the new text message, but knowing I have no choice, I cross the room and pick up my cell.
Tomorrow night at 6pm. Don’t forget.
Another one comes in a moment later.
Remember, it’s just our little secret. We all have secrets, don’t we, Ophelia? Especially your father. We don’t want anyone to find out about that, do we?
A small sound leaves my mouth and I drop the phone like it’s on fire.
I might be a spoiled rich girl, but I’m not the Ivy League-bound scholar my father has presented me as. I’m a fraud. Even with all the advantages, I couldn’t get into the best schools on my own merit, so my father had to bribe a facilitator. I wasn’t even supposed to know about the secret payment he made, but I overheard him speaking to the man he hired one night over the phone. There’s only one other person who knows about the bribe.
My father’s business partner, Wagner.
In exchange for his silence, he’s asking for one little thing.
Me.
Hindsight is twenty-twenty and I’m starting to think a small part of the reason I gave myself to Ezra is because I couldn’t stand the idea of Wagner being my first. Not when I could have passion and possession like Ezra was offering.
One more day until Wagner uses blackmail to get his hands on me, like I suspect he’s wanted to do for a long time—and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. If I don’t take my clothes off for my father’s business partner, he could ruin us. Send my father to prison, make my future evaporate like a bubble. We could lose everything.
Ezra’s words come to me out of thin air.
I will fucking murder anyone who looks at my princess.
Exhilaration rushes along my nerve endings and I close my eyes, wishing the big, scary beast of a man was standing in front of me. He would help me solve the problem of Wagner…until he found out I lied to him. Represented myself to be something I’m not. Then Ezra would probably want nothing to do with me. He’d think I’m silly and spoiled and frivolous, just like everyone else. Even though I attended high school with a lot of rich kids, I was the richest of all and most of them never spoke to me. None expect my friend, Sienna.
I haven’t told Sienna about Wagner’s blackmail, because I know what she’ll do. She’ll run to her stepbrother and beg him to intervene. He would, of course, because he’s wrapped around Sienna’s little finger—especially now that they’re married.
Chewing my lip, I look down at my phone, knowing I should call Sienna.
But my problems shouldn’t always be solved by someone else. I didn’t get into Princeton on my own accomplishments, so really, this situation is my doing. If I’d been more grateful for the advantages I’ve been given, maybe I would have been accepted to the college all on my own. I’m responsible for this mess—so I have to face the music and get myself out of it. I refuse to trouble my father when he’s already had to go to such great lengths to help his daughter.
“I need dark chocolate.”
With a groan, I drag myself up off the floor and flounce down the stairs. The only other person home right now is Leeza, so I don’t bother tying my short, silk robe. Our maid has seen me in various stages of undress since I was a pre-teen, so my panties and bare breasts don’t even register anymore.
“Leeza,” I call, my hand trailing down the banister. “Do you remember where I put the dark chocolate? We didn’t eat it all last night during Housewives, right?”
I round the corner into the kitchen and skid to a halt.
Ezra.
Is here.
In my kitchen.
“Oh shit,” I wheeze, stumbling back a few steps, my heart soaring to the sky despite my best efforts. “Oh no.”
Upon seeing me, Ezra entire body flexes, like one big, rippling muscle and good gravy, he’s even hotter than I remember. The top of his head almost reaches the kitchen chandelier and he looks like he’s been bench pressing SUVs since the last time I saw him. In faded jeans and a black T-shirt and scuffed boots, the walls of this posh mansion have never seen anything like him. His eyes are sizzling coals that rake me head to toe, leaving fire in their wake. “Ophelia?”
I open my mouth to say, “Hello Ezra,” but of course it emerges like a string of gibberish.
Leeza steps in between us, her gaze pinging back and forth between us. “Do you two know each other?”
So this is awkward. “Um…”
He advances on me with slow, measured steps, fury vibrating those mountainous shoulders. “Where have you been?”
“Here and there.” I force my chin up, trying look brave. “Mostly here.”
“You…” He looks around, taking in the expensive décor, seemingly for the first time. “You live here?”
“Ezra,” Leeza chuckles, trying to insert herself between us again. “I’ve worked for Ophelia’s family for many years.”
“You didn’t tell me about her in any of your letters. I’d have remembered the name.”
“Of course I didn’t tell you about the wealthy family I work for.” She clucks her tongue. “What if another inmate got a hold of the letter and showed up to rob them when they got released? I’m nothing if not discreet.”
Leeza is the least discreet person on the planet.
It’s part of the reason I love her. She’s impossible to scandalize and says whatever is on her mind. Apart from Sienna, she’s easily my best friend. We do facials, binge bad reality television together and share hair products. She knows me better than my own mother. But I haven’t exactly gotten around to telling her Ezra punched my V card.
And if I’m being honest, I wasn’t planning on it.
What I didn’t anticipate was him showing up here, which was pretty shortsighted of me. It’s totally normal for a son to visit his mother at work.
Ezra is still processing the fact that Leeza is our maid. I see something darkens in his eyes and my stomach hollows out. Here it comes. He’s going to write me off as a privileged debutante and totally disregard me.
Unless.
Unless I do it for him.
And then I’ll never have to know if he planned to blow me off.
Remembering my body is on full display, I belt my robe with a precise movement and cross my arms, doing my best to embody the brattiest brat on the planet. “Leeza, where is my chocolate? I want it now.”
Leeza snorts at me. “Get it yourself.”
I wrinkle my nose at her. All right. Attempt one: fail. “I’d like to have a bath drawn for me. With rose petals and—”
She snorts again. “Bitch, please. It’s my nap time.”
With a growl, I spin on a heel and leave the kitchen, but Ezra’s heavy tread follows me and prickles climb my spine. I barely make it to the staircase before his arm wraps around my waist and I’m pulled back against his chest. “Why did you run away from me?”
“Because we were finished and I was bored.”
“Liar,” he rasps, pulling me more fully against his huge, hot body. “Don’t you ever wear clothes?” His teeth clamp down on my ear. “Or do you just walk around all day with those naked titties jiggling around?”
Goosebumps cover me head to toe and I forget to breathe. “L-Leeza doesn’t mind.”
“What about your daddy?” His big hand yanks one end of my robe belt and it falls open, allowing his calloused palm to scrape over my breast, squeezing. “He ever around to see you like this?”
“No.”
“Good girl. Not even daddy looks at what’s mine, understand?” His hand moves to my other breast, rolling my nipple between two fingers. “Now tell me why you made me suffer for two days. I tore half the city apart looking for you. Why did you run, princess?”
“I told you,” I murmur, tilting my head to the side so he can give my neck some attention—and he does. “I was bored.”
He grips my jaw. “Tell me the truth or I’ll take you upstairs and fuck it out of you.”
My gasp is a touch dramatic and a lot turned on. “Your mother is here.”
“She can watch me take you on all fours for all I care.” He thrusts his hips against my backside and I feel his thick shaft. “I’m getting my come inside you.”
“But…”
He spins me around and grazes his lips over mine. “But what?”
“Don’t you care that I’m…I-I’m rich? And you’re…”
“Not?” Ezra’s exhale leaves him in a gust, his dark gaze tracking around the luxurious interior of our home. “Not going to lie, I don’t love it.”
“Oh.” I nod unevenly, heart cracking in half. “See? That’s what I thought—”
“But it’s just going to motivate me. To give you this kind of life on my own.” His hands cover my breasts, massaging them in a hypnotic pattern. “I’ll do whatever it takes to have you, Ophelia. Anything to make you happy.”
I don’t need any of this to be happy, I want to say. But all at once, my predicament with Wagner hits me between the eyes. Tomorrow, I’m sacrificing my body to my father’s business partner to save this family. Its very reputation. I have no choice in the matter—and if Ezra knew, I have a feeling he would turn into a destructive savage. He would murder Wagner and go back to prison. I can’t allow that to happen. Nor can I allow my father’s bribe to be exposed because I fell for an ex-convict.