Chapter Eleven

I couldn’t help but follow him with my eyes.

His words should have made me nervous, but they just made me curious. I believed him when he said he was dangerous. But I saw something else, too.

I felt like we were playing a bit of a game, and I didn’t know what the prize was. He was tense, and angry, but trying to hide it. I didn’t think it was aimed directly at me, but somehow my presence, and our conversation, was making it worse.

John rolled up his sleeves, and I saw that his arms were covered in tattoos. They were intricate. Much more complex than the new one on my back. His had words and symbols and they all swirled together in a beautiful pattern. I wondered automatically how far up they went, and if he had them anywhere else. I looked away, then chastised myself for feeling such a ridiculous mix of emotions.

Maybe that’s his problem, too, I thought suddenly, and then brushed it off. You shouldn’t be worried about his feelings. You should be trying to get away.

I watched him scrub the dishes. His tattoos moved up and down rhythmically as he scrubbed

And you don’t really want to get away, do you? I added mentally, and blushed.

“I’m going to need you.”

John’s abruptness startled me and it didn’t help with my red face—at all.

“For what?” I asked awkwardly.

He sighed loudly. “You’ve just put me in such an awkward position.”

“Not according to Billy,” I argued. “I’m just a coincidence.”

“So you were awake when all that was happening?”

He sounded like he had suspected as much.

“Sort of,” I admitted. “At least for a minute or two.”

He finished washing up and set the dishes in a drying rack. Then he came back to his chair in front of the couch where I sat. His face was tense.

“The thing is, I can’t just let you go,” he said, and he seemed almost annoyed by that fact.

“Why not?”

“I can’t be totally honest with you, either,” he said without answering my question. “Though I wish I could.”

His face was completely sincere and open for just a moment, and then went so quickly back to looking irritated that I thought I’d imagined it.

“You’ve really put me in an awkward position,” he repeated.

“I don’t think that I did anything, actually,” I replied. “I didn’t exactly kidnap myself.”

I felt a little guilty as soon as the words were out of my mouth. His kidnapping me was just a side effect of his saving me.

“You don’t need to keep reminding me.” He winced as he said it.

“Let me go,” I suggested, and John’s eyes darkened.

He banged his fist on the table suddenly, giving in to whatever frustration he’d been trying to hide. I cringed against the couch.

“Why did you have to jump onto Monato’s radar?” he almost-shouted.

“Sorry,” I whispered. “I didn’t mean to—”

“No. I’m sorry,” he cut me off in a carefully restrained voice.

He looked like he was trying hard to compose himself again, but his eyes were still blazing.

Dangerous indeed.

“What’s the awkward position?” I asked, trying to steer clear of his anger. “Maybe I can help make it...less awkward?”

“I claimed you as mine.” John had the grace to sound embarrassed.

As the words came out of his mouth, I had to push down a strange little flutter in my chest.

His.

“And?”

“If I don’t follow through, or if I rescind that claim, Monato will move again,” he explained. “He’s already tried twice, hasn’t he?”

He was leaving something out, and I was trying to figure out what it was.

“And he’s somehow a more dangerous man than you are?” I pushed.

“To you at least…Much more.”

“For how long does he need to think that I’m yours?” I asked.

I blushed as I said it. I thought I must be feeling even more uncomfortable then he was.

“I don’t know, exactly,” John told me. “Either long enough to make a clean break between us seem plausible, or long enough for him to lose interest. Probably both.”

“Then you’ll let me go?”

He hesitated for less than a second. “Yes.”

“Okay.”

“Really? You’re just going to go along with what I ask you to do?” He sounded perplexed and relieved.

Almost all of the guarded tension left his body.

That was it? He wanted me to stay?

“Yes,” I said firmly, and he relaxed even more.

“Why?”

“Because even if you’re not a hero, I do think you saved my life,” I admitted. “And I’m not all that interested in finding out what it is Monato’s after. He seems…determined.”

It was a half-truth, but I didn’t want to think about my other reasons for agreeing. Mostly because they directly involved John’s mocha-brown eyes.

“Fair enough,” he agreed quickly.

“Just tell me what you need,” I said.

“First, I’m going to need you to pretend—convincingly—to be my...girlfriend,” he told me.

“Why not just say what you actually mean? Be honest. Is girlfriend an accurate description of what you need me to be for Monato’s sake?” I wanted to know.

He frowned slightly as if surprised I had picked up on something he hadn’t meant to give away.

“Listen,” I said. “I get that you can’t tell me the truth about everything. There’s things I don’t like to share, too. But don’t lie about anything you don’t have to lie about, John.”

“I like it when you say my name,” he told me with a small smile.

“What?” I blushed.

“Just being honest, like you asked.”

“Don’t be honest about that,” I suggested as my face refused to cool down.

“Okay.”

“Tell me. What do you really need me to pretend to be?” I wanted to know.

I saw the slightest bit of colour in his cheeks, and suddenly the tables were turned, and I was holding him captive. He looked away first.

“To Monato, women aren’t anything more than a possession,” John said. “He won’t put any value in my stake on you if you’re just my girlfriend. I’m not even sure if it’s going to work this way.”

His voice was tinged with a sudden, dark anger once again, and when he finally met my eyes, I saw it reflected there, too. His body was even tenser than it had been before, and I noticed even though he was keeping very still, he had balled his hands into fists.

So there’s something more. A momentary sense of disappointment that it wasn’t just about me made my heart drop.

“So you need me to be what for you? A possession?”

His eyes burned. “Yes.”

“There’s something else you’re not telling me,” I persisted.

“Why are you pushing this?”

“I just want to know what I’m agreeing to,” I replied.

“I may have implied to Monato…” he trailed off and cleared his throat.”I’ll just show you.”

He reached into his pocket and yanked out a ring box. He opened it slowly, and I eyed the ring nervously. It was a stunning piece of jewellery with a red stone set in four delicate claws and surrounded by tiny diamonds. It looked like an antique.

“Is that a ruby?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

“I’m not. Marry me.”

I looked into his eyes, and saw something raw there. It made my heart ache to say yes.

But I was still missing something.

“John?” I asked, and he seemed to relent.

“The truth is…I’m not exactly giving you a choice here, Cass. Whatever you decide, it won’t matter,” he sighed, and my illusion of control vanished. “You can agree—as you seem to have done so far—and I will compensate you. Or you can disagree, and then I’ll have to keep you here anyway until my own business with Monato is complete and I can find a way to let you go.”

So there it was. Or rather…there I was. He’d saved me, only to make me his own prisoner.

“So…be your wife? Or be your hostage?” I asked softly.

He shrugged. “I’ll accept the term fiancée.”

A flash of annoyance surfaced, and I tried to bury it. His voice was too calm—and it made him seem once again to be exactly what he claimed to be. Dangerous.

“Can I ask some more questions?” I wondered out loud.

“Yes.”

“Will you answer them?” I added.

“To the best of my ability.”

He waited as I weighed my options. There weren’t any. I stared into his face, enjoying the soft patience in his eyes.

“I’ll do it,” I agreed.

John made a confused face, and he looked almost boyish. I held in a compulsion to reach out and smooth his crinkled brow.

“I thought you had questions,” he said.

My face reddened. Anything I had been thinking about asking had gone right out of my head.

“I do. But I’m saving them,” I stated.

He accepted my lie with a laugh, then got up and walked into the bedroom. He returned with a slip of paper in his hand. He held it out, and I when took it and read it, I gasped.

“I just addressed it to ‘Cass’ because I didn’t know what last name you wanted,” he explained.

“It’s Cass Mayer. But it doesn’t matter. I can’t take this money.”

“It’s not enough? I’ll tack on whatever you lose in wages during your time with me, too…”

“I’m on vacation for another week,” I said faintly.

“It’ll be a gift, for tax purposes,” John added. “No need to share it with the government.”

“You’re joking, right?”

He had to be joking. It was a check for one hundred, fifty-three thousand dollars—an amount that I would barely make over the next five years. I held the check up. It was embossed with a business emblem—Seever Enterprises—and it looked legitimate. What kind of business John was really in, and what made it so dangerous? He didn’t look like a thug. His tattoos made him seem a little less than white collar, but I supposed anyone could commit fraud if they were smart enough, and put their mind to it.

But the amount was suspiciously specific. It was an amount that would cover everything I owed and still leave me with exactly an extra twenty grand.

It’s really Dean who owes it, I reminded myself.

And then my head snapped up as I leaped to logical conclusion.

“Did you look into my finances?”

“I wouldn’t…” he trailed off and sighed. “Yes, I did, a bit.”

“Why?”

“Because I needed to know if you were going to be an asset, or a liability,” John explained. “And I needed to know what your price would be.”

“I don’t have a price,” I argued. “I’m not a…Wait. That’s not what you’re really after, is it? Because no amount of money could get me to…”

John was laughing, and I flushed.

“Do you think I’d have to pay for that?” he wanted to know.

“No,” I said, but I was suddenly doubtful.

He had said he was dangerous. He was obviously wealthy. And the way he’d discussed me with Monato when we were at the club, and all the talk about women as possessions…He hadn’t actually said he’d disagreed with the other man’s position on that. I had just made the assumption that he did.

John was suddenly beside me on the couch with one tattooed arm around my shoulders. My heart jumped into my throat as his fingers curled around my upper arm. I tried to swallow, but my mouth was dry. John turned ever so slightly, and used his other hand to tip my chin up. Our faces were so close that I could see every detail of his face.

His eyes were an even deeper shade of brown than I thought. Dark chocolate instead of milk. His eyebrows were thick, and well-shaped, but imperfect. His skin was tanned, and he had a tiny mole right underneath the left side of his full lips. A day or so worth of stubble grazed his cheeks and chin, and I had an urge to reach out and feel it—just to see if it was as rough as it looked.

“Do you think, Cass...that I would have to pay for this?” he whispered.

I could feel his breath on my own lips.

No. I tried to say it, but all I could manage was a small gasp.

I shook my head very slightly instead, and John drew his hand from my chin up to my mouth. He traced their shape, and my whole body tingled in response. He ran his fingers along my cheek, up through my hair, and down along my neck.

Then, abruptly, he stopped.

The air around me was hard to draw in, like the wind had been knocked out of me and didn’t want to come back. I took a gasping breath.

John stood up and stared down at me.

“I apologize,” he said in carefully measured voice. “That was inappropriate. If the amount I’ve offered you doesn’t work, please just let me know, and we can come to another arrangement.”

“It’s fine,” I managed to reply. “I would’ve done it for nothing.”

“I wouldn’t have allowed it,” he told me coolly.

“Just let me know what you need me to do, and for how long, and I’ll do it,” I said, trying to sound equally frosty and failing miserably. “But I’ll really need to let Blair know I’m not dead.”

John’s face froze for a second and then he nodded sharply. “I’ll bring you a phone.”