Justin fell silent, perhaps afraid, despite his sister’s reassurance, that too much talking would betray his emotions. He just held on tight and soon they began walking again. Jewell had to keep her promise, no matter what it meant for her, and no matter what would come next. She couldn’t let her brother down.
After dropping her brother back at the foster home, she rushed to the bus stop and chewed her nails during the long ride. But that was silly. There was still plenty of time. Blake wouldn’t even know she’d been gone. Still, she had a presentiment of doom when she got off the bus and rushed down the street toward his apartment building.
Once the front door opened, Jewell took a step back. Blake was sitting in a chair there in his entry hall, glaring daggers at her. This wasn’t going to be pleasant.
He didn’t say a word as she walked in. Nevertheless, she maintained an expression of poise and confidence, though her body shook with terror. She had only one more night left with him. Tonight. What could he really do?
When he stood up and took a menacing step toward her, she figured she was about to find out.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Gazing into Blake’s frigid eyes, Jewell tried to tell herself to be strong, tried to assure herself this was only one more bump in the road. He wouldn’t hurt her physically — not that anyone would care if he did. After all, she’d signed releases at Relinquish Control, and she knew he could do with her what he wanted.
But though he might think she was nothing but a money-hungry whore, she still knew who she was. The cold fury in his expression was the only thing that was shaking her up. She’d never seen a man so angry before. His mouth remained in a hard line; not a muscle moved on his chiseled face.
“Where were you?”
Ice ran through her veins at his words, spoken quietly yet harshly. Yes, fury didn’t even begin to describe what the man appeared to be feeling.
“I needed to get out of the apartment for a while, so I took a walk.” Should she try to move past him or not? She thought the safest thing would be to stay right where she was.
“You’re lying to me.” She waited for him to say more, but nothing else came from his tightly pressed lips.
“Do you have any idea how stir-crazy I get when I’m stuck here all day with very little to do? No, you probably don’t, because you leave here at the crack of dawn. I will say this again — I needed to get out and walk off my ‘cabin fever.’” She was trying desperately not to change her story.
He took a sinister step forward. “I spoke to McKenzie. She said you disappeared last Saturday as well. Is there a man you’re meeting every Saturday, Jewell? Don’t you dare lie to me!”
His voice rose just a little, but that was enough to show her he was barely in control. Maybe she shouldn’t have come back to his place. It looked as if this wasn’t going to go well for her — not well at all.
She didn’t know what to say to his unfounded and totally unexpected accusation. But she was damned if she were going to stand there and take his verbal beating. If she stood her ground, refused to back down, refused to allow him to intimidate her, then wouldn’t he stop? Isn’t that what she’d been taught years before when she’d taken a self-defense class?
“Look, I wasn’t with another man, Blake. I swear to that, and anyway, that makes no sense. You know I was a virgin before you. I just had something I needed to do today, and it’s something that I can’t talk about.” She moved forward and edged by him, but made sure not to bow her head.
He didn’t grab her, didn’t try to stop her. That was a positive. She walked into the living room and went straight to the couch, afraid to stand any longer for fear that her legs would end up buckling.
“I don’t believe you, Jewell. You may have been a virgin, but there are a lot of ways to get off. There had to have been someone pretty damn special for you to sneak out of my place to meet with him. Did you try to save yourself for him? Or was he the one who made you become a little whore?”
He came closer but still kept about five feet of distance between them. Was it because he feared he would forget his self-mastery if he touched her? That sent a shiver of fear down her spine. She wanted to spit in his face and tell him exactly what she thought, but she decided to be more judicious.
“I’m sorry if you don’t believe me, but there’s not another man. I neither want nor need a relationship with anyone, and that includes you. Your suspicions are simply stupid, and if you were as smart as you think you are, you should know that. Anyway, I leave here tomorrow and go back to Relinquish Control, and we can forget all about each other and what happened over the past few days.”
There. Maybe pointing out the fact that they weren’t in a relationship would change his attitude. Yes, he sort of owned her this week, but their time was pretty much up, and she owed this man nothing. She’d done everything he’d asked of her and more. A few more times with other men and she could get away from this place, leave Seattle even, and she and Justin could live happily — just the two of them.
If the state tried to keep him from her, she would take him away in the middle of the night and the two of them would go somewhere no one would ever find them. Alaska seemed far enough away. Maybe. It was still in the U.S. and if they were found, Washington state officials might still try to take her brother back, but would they search that far? She could live in some Eskimo village. It didn’t matter as long as they were together.
“Follow me.” He turned, confident that she would do as he said.
“One more night,” she whispered to herself as she got up off the couch and walked behind him to the back of the apartment, where his office was.
As soon as she stepped through the door, her throat tightened. This was all his domain, where he spent his time when he wasn’t away at work or in the bedroom. She knew he was coming in there because this was his fortress, his place of power.
If he wanted to intimidate her, he was doing a damn fine job.
She couldn’t help but notice that it was more decorated than the rest of the place; it boasted expensive artwork, hardwood floors, and antique furniture. But no clutter was permitted in this space, making it in that way consistent with the rest of the house.
“Sit down, Jewell.”
He indicated a stiff leather chair in the corner, but she didn’t want to sit, didn’t want him towering over her. Yes, her knees were still shaky, but she wasn’t sure she’d be able to get up this time if she sat back down. She was on the verge of collapsing and she just needed to get away from him.