I relied on Conor to take care of me while I looked after the baby. I guess…” Fuck, this was annoying to confront. “I guess I could have improved my situation even after Penny was born.” Now I went all defensive. “You know, there are a lot of things a person can say in hindsight after they’ve walked a path and stepped over the bumps growing bigger along the way. I still have a shit ton of motivation to turn things around. It’s why I stay up every single night going over my options. Are you happy now, you emotionless jerk?”
“Jerk?” he responded, surprised. “It was asshole moments ago.”
I raised my chin, defiant. “I can keep going if you’d like.”
He didn’t answer straightaway. He watched me huffing and puffing in front of him with such intrigue, it made me conscious of how quickly I had deteriorated in front of him.
“Oh, Charlotte,” he murmured then, gravely, an unhappy look on his face. “You really have no idea who you’re talking to, do you?”
Oh, but I did.
Locke had a reputation. I’d already suspected he was worse than Conor and Jem combined, but I heard stories around town, too. The stories were so morbid and wrong, you couldn’t expect the acts to come from a well-dressed lawyer with his kind of charm. But moments like these, alone with the guy, I sensed it.
On a deeper level, I knew they were true.
“You gonna hurt me, Locke?” I asked, boldly.
Seeming annoyed suddenly, his jaw tensed. “No, Charlotte, you’re strictly off-limits to me. In another lifetime, well…” He didn’t finish, leaving me to connect the dots just fine on my own.
It reminded me of the first time we’d met.
When he said I was more his type than Conor’s.
I felt the heat of his gaze rush to my cheeks. My face burned, and he noticed. I saw the smug look in his eye. I wasn’t immune to the asshole, never had been, either, but at least I was protected behind the wall of Conor.
I watched him turn and finish putting the last of the money through the counting machine. With his back to me, he said, “So, this is what’s going to happen, Charlotte, and I want you to listen carefully. I’m going to bail you out of your bills, and I’m going to put you through school. That includes putting your baby in a full-time daycare, if it comes to that. I’m going to give you that chance you’ve stayed up nights stewing over, but it comes with conditions.”
Now he turned to glance at me, a sinister look in his eye. It was all wrong.
This guy was so wrong.
“I don’t want your charity, Locke,” I bravely replied.
He didn’t stop staring at me. “Charlotte,” he warned, “did I ask?”
I pressed my lips together, feeling uneasy. “Please, Locke.”
“This isn’t charity,” he replied, slowly. “I’m not parting with my money so you can burn through it doing some useless degree. I’m giving you a lifeline, and you’re not going to find another one elsewhere. Do you want it, or should I grab my pile of cash and fuck off?”
I glanced at the cash and then at him. I knew there was going to be a catch. There was always a catch. Why did I feel like I was going to be selling my soul to this smug suited asshole if I agreed?
With a soft sigh, I dreaded my next question. “What are the conditions, Locke?”
Looking satisfied, he slowly slid his tie off and chucked it on the counter. He didn’t look elsewhere as he started to unbutton his shirt. My heart started speeding in my chest and my mind went crazy with wild ideas.
Surely not.
He wouldn’t expect anything indecent to happen between us. I wouldn’t allow it, no way.
He slid the top off and my breath caught in my throat as he slowly filled the gap between us. Stopping in front of me, he demanded, “What I want is your complete and utter compliance. What happens between us stays between us.
“Starting now.”
Change happened swiftly after Locke left that night. I felt like he left and took a chunk of my innocence with him.
It would be like that often, though.
I would come to get used to it.
Used to the abrupt visits.
Sometimes they were daunting.
Sometimes they made me cry.
Sometimes they… terrified me.
I learned Locke’s secrets, and I felt my heart crash in my chest when the texts began to trickle in. Texts that forced me out of my comfort zone and