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  “Are you sure? I can boost your allowance if you need more,” he said in a neutral tone that somehow managed to sound as if he were baiting her.

  Her mind was racing. It had worked. He was here. He was here. He. Was. Here. Dear God. “No, I’m good. I just didn’t feel like going.” That kiss. Oh, my God. That kiss on her eighteenth birthday. He’d meant it. It had been for her. She took a deep breath and then another. She would not hyperventilate.

  “Didn’t feel like going,” he repeated flatly, as if he didn’t believe her. “With your girlfriends. To the beach. You expect me to believe that?”

  Her eyes flared as her heart continued to beat in triple time. “It’s the truth.”

  His lips curled into a snarl. “Where is he?”

  Oh, my God. Oh. My. God. Seriously, he was really jealous. “Where is who?” she asked as evenly as possible.

  “The new boyfriend,” he bit out, his anger conveying itself blatantly.

  Her muscles tensed as she realized just how pissed he was. And that she had misled him in an effort to get him here. “I don’t have a new boyfriend,” she quickly denied.

  His arms crossed over his chest. “Courtney,” he exhaled her name on a breath. “It’s been a long day. It was a tedious flight. I want the truth.”

  She lifted her chin as a slow, insidious feeling of equality hit her. They were even. He cared about her, too. My God, it was literally too much to take in. Where should they go on their honeymoon? Was she thinking too far ahead? Stop it, Courtney. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  He clenched his mouth in irritation. “You told my mother you have a new boyfriend.”

  She shook her head in denial. “I did not. When was this?” And she hadn’t, not really. She’d only talked about her friend a little too much.

  Nick’s gaze intensified. “Earlier this week,” as he said the words, his gaze dropped down to her bare feet, where he seemed to study her pink toenails before moving up and settling on her legs in a way that caused wet heat to land between her thighs.

  “Is that why you’re here?” She asked softly and innocently. Maybe too innocently.

  At her question, or maybe it was her tone, his eyes lifted to hers and he stilled completely—and it was clear to her at that point that he’d suddenly realized something more was going on here.

  He watched her intently for long moments, his eyes narrowing as a subtle tension invaded his frame. “What are you trying to do to me, babe?” he asked in a low voice.

  Courtney dragged her bottom lip through her teeth and shook her head, her heart pounding. Babe? Christ, had he just called her ‘babe’? “Nothing,” she whispered, her eyes holding his, her pulse escalating by the second.

  He watched her in silence for a moment and then he seemed to almost visibly shake himself. “Are you lying to me? You told my mother you have a boyfriend,” he repeated in accusation, looking confused, looking for once as if he didn’t have a complete handle on everything.

  “No, I may have mentioned something about one of my friends, but he’s in no way a boyfriend.”

  “Are you telling me that she took it the wrong way?” he asked in disbelief.

  “I guess,” she prevaricated.

  He shook his head sternly, obviously not believing her. “Let me get this straight. You purposely made her think you have a new boyfriend.”

  “No—”

  “Yes, you did,” he said quietly yet firmly. “Why would you do that?”

  She shook her head again, not ready to admit the truth and not knowing how to say what she felt.

  “Why?” he questioned again, more succinctly this time, wanting an answer to his question.

  With the blood rushing too quickly through her veins, Courtney held his beautiful brown eyes. Looking at him through her lashes, she confessed in a whisper, “Because I missed you.”

  At her admission, he froze, standing eerily still for a second. Then his eyes closed and he dropped back against the sheetrock, the wall supporting him as he leaned against it.

  When he opened his eyes, she didn’t know what to say. Or what to do, or how to act, or how to stop the wild bloom of color on her face that was giving her feelings away even more. His brows furrowed and he studied her for a few drawn out seconds before his gaze swept down her body again and for the first time, she remembered the pajamas she was wearing. “Courtney. We have a problem, babe.”

  Her pulse took on an even more rapid beat. “There’s no problem,” she denied.

  “You don’t think, sweetheart?”

  She shook her head.

  He stared at her and bared his teeth in a painful grimace. Courtney could tell he was thinking hard, contemplating the situation at hand. She stood back and let him take the lead. After a moment, he seemed to give up and asked, “You missed me?”

  Slowly, she began nodding her head.

  After an abbreviated pause while he contemplated her silently, he lifted his fist and began banging his chin as if the idea of her missing him was causing friction in his soul. His eyes held hers.

  At his continued silence, she cleared her throat. “I didn’t really think you’d come,” she admitted the truth softly.

  At her words, and at the meaning behind them, his body went still. “But I did, didn’t I?” he admitted before a low groan came from deep in his chest. “I need to get out of here before I fuck-up completely.”

  “Don’t go,” she implored from her soul.

  His arms came over his chest and he crossed them again, as if in defense against her. When he spoke next, his words were harsh as if he’d come to a decision that she would have no input into. “How many more months? Three?”

  She knew what he was asking. She’d be finished with school in three months. “Yeah.”

  “What are your plans? You’re coming home, right?”

  The word ‘home’ had been confusing to Courtney for a while now. Was Florida not her home anymore? Was her home now in Missouri? Really, the only place she wanted to be was where Nick was. But she couldn’t be too obvious to him. It was bad enough that he knew she’d missed him so much that she’d all but lied to get him to come see her. “Yeah, probably.”

  “Probably? What does that mean?”

  “I need to find a job. If possible, I want to be in a place that’s familiar to me. That’s either Florida or Missouri.”

  “St. Louis,” he narrowed it down emphatically.

  She nodded her head, but negated that with, “Maybe.”

  With her answer, he pushed off the wall and began to head toward her. Her stomach clenched with hot anticipation. His footsteps stalled when he was less than two feet away and he seemed to shake himself. His features became strained as he held himself in suspended motion. “You promised me you’d come back to St. Louis.”

  “I know.”

  “You need to make good on that. Your promise was the only reason I let you leave in the first place.”

  At the look in his eyes, she felt like she had to settle something with him. “Nick,” she began slowly, “You didn’t let me leave. I wasn’t yours to control.” She studied him, noting the anger that slowly spread across his face at her words. She continued, trying to show a bit of independence, that truthfully, she couldn’t care less about. “I want to go back to St. Louis. If I don’t get a job here, then after graduation, I’ll—”

  He cut her off when he stepped into her personal space with a glare. “Not mine?” She backed up a step and he followed her until she bumped into the back of the sofa. He didn’t touch her but the threat was there. When she came to a halt, he repeated incredulously, “Not mine?” and reached down and fingered the necklace that she always wore. Her heart beat loudly in her ears as he gripped the charm that dangled from it. His eyes narrowed and he asked for the third time with a ferocity that couldn’t be ignored, “Not mine?”

  The oxygen stuck in her throat and she shook her head, as she remained trapped by his gaze.

  He tilted his h
ead as if in sarcastic thought. “If you don’t belong to me, who the hell do you think you belong to?” he asked in a far-too soft voice that didn’t reflect any gentleness at all.

  When she remained mute, he continued, “I don’t see anybody else taking care of you. I don’t see anybody else flying halfway across the country to make sure you’re all right and that there’s no mother-fucker trying to take advantage of you.” He sucked in oxygen and continued, “And who, exactly, do you think pays your bills?”

  She swallowed and leaned away from him, feeling the pull from the chain around her throat, but he didn’t let go. She glanced down at the tendons corded in his neck and then back up to the fire in his eyes as he continued, “Who do you think paid for these useless little pajamas you’re wearing? Who do you think pays for all your clothes, the food you eat, the allowance you get?” His eyes held hers with ruthless intent. “Who do you think paid for that pretty little car you drive?”

  Guilt running through her from all the things his family had supplied over the years, she licked her lips and whispered, “The corporation.”

  He began shaking his head as if she had it all wrong and a new agitation took hold of her senses. “Not the corporation?” she asked quietly.

  “Nope. Not the corporation.” His eyes blistered into hers. “Me. Just me.”

  “Wh—why?” she stuttered. “I don’t understand.”

  “Nothing to understand, sweetheart.” He lifted his free hand and took a lock of her hair and began twisting it between his fingers. “Damian assumed responsibility for Erin. You came next and I got you.”

  “Got me?” she squeaked as his fingers continued to twist in her hair.

  “Figure of speech,” he replied slowly as his hand spread through her scalp. “I took responsibility for your upkeep.”

  Courtney began to hear a fine buzzing in her head. “Justine—”

  He cut her off. “Doesn’t have any money of her own. Doesn’t own the company. Our father was a good man, but he died mired in debt. What you see, we built from scratch, the three of us. Any money our mother has comes from us.”

  Her heartbeat stalled before picking up again, running way too fast, at the new insight.

  Still holding the charm with one hand, he released her hair and ran a single finger down her cheekbone in a gentle, yet possessive caress. “Now you want to argue with me about who you belong to?”

  She remained completely still and concentrated on taking one breath at a time.

  “But it’s not really about the money, is it?” Annoyance shadowed his face and then turned into lines of implacability. “Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to finish school and come home to St. Louis, exactly as you promised. When you get there, we’ll figure out what to do. But you owe me that much, Courtney, understand?”

  She hesitated a moment before answering, conflicting emotions frustrating her.

  “Understand me, Courtney?” he snapped.

  “Okay,” she answered.

  He stared into her face as if gauging the honesty of her agreement. “Okay,” he agreed. “In the meantime, stay clear of men. Stay clear of boys. You don’t need the distraction and I don’t need the goddamn headache.”

  Her breath snagged at his demand.

  “Do you understand me?” he questioned hotly at her silence. “You’re still too young for that shit and I swear to God, I can’t handle it right now. Got that?”

  Too young? Christ, she was twenty-two. Her eyes dropped from his but she nodded her head. Agreeing to that demand was easy, because really, all other men were basically invisible to her.

  At her non-verbal confirmation, he took a deep breath. “Okay, are we good?”

  When she nodded her head again, he placed the charm, very carefully, on her pajama top. He moved slowly, and then wrapped both arms around her, and held her against his chest in the hug she’d been wanting for months now. Courtney closed her eyes and absorbed his strength. She breathed in his scent and felt herself relax against him. His arms tightened almost immediately.

  His mouth came to her ear and he whispered, “I missed you, too.”

  Her breath snarled in her lungs and she felt lightheaded as she closed her eyes and rejoiced in his embrace.

  He held her that way for some minutes, and then he pulled back and placed a single, fleeting kiss to her forehead. “I’ll see you in three months, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “Be safe.”

  “Yeah, you too.”

  He’d watched her steadily for a moment, then he released her, turned away and walked out of the apartment.

  Of course, it hadn’t worked out the way he’d mapped it out. She had received the scholarship for graduate school that she’d applied for. She’d stayed in Florida another two years and it had been a test of fortitude to finish the courses she knew she’d need for her future.

  And dear God, Nick had been so pissed at the delay that she knew the two extra years had almost driven him crazy.

  But now those years were over.

  And she was finally home, just as he’d demanded.

  But now it was time for her to get what she wanted for a change.

  And she wanted Nick Rule.

  Chapter Three

  Courtney came back to the present as she heard a noise behind her. Turning around, she clutched a pair of low-heeled pumps to her chest as her heartbeat took off at a full gallop. Nick stood well inside her bedroom suite, at the door to her closet as if he owned the place, which she supposed he did. He was silent as he stared at her and the blood pumped furiously through her veins.

  As she usually only visited St. Louis on major holidays, it had been months since she’d last seen him. His dark hair was unruly and in need of a trim, and the furrow between his eyebrows looked more pronounced than usual.

  As he remained silent, she cleared her throat. “Your mother left a few minutes ago. You just missed her.”

  He stared at her for a moment, his eyes running over her body and then moving to the contents of the closet. As he studied her things stored there, a look of satisfaction crossed his features before his eyes came back to hers. “You think I came up here to see my mother?”

  She knew he hadn’t. He’d cut his workday short for one reason. To see her. She knew he was still angry. He’d been angry and impatient every time she’d spoken to him during the last two years. Granted, those times had been sporadic at best but what was she supposed to have done? Thrown away a perfectly good opportunity for an expense-free master’s degree? And for what? He’d never promised her anything.

  Promises had never been Nick’s forte. No, his specialty was the threats he liked to make.

  She declined to answer his question and he continued about his mother, “I saw her downstairs. In case she didn’t tell you, she won’t be back for hours.” He stared straight into her eyes as his voice deepened even more, “And she couldn’t get back inside the penthouse even if she tried. I temporarily changed the code.”

  Another ill-concealed threat. One with sexual implications that had her heart racing. Even as she recognized the threat for what it was, Courtney’s breath quickened and she had to concentrate to keep it steady. As he watched her with a territorial glint in his eyes, her blood heated but she managed to ignore his sexually challenging words as she responded coolly with, “How are you, Nick?” She was proud of her even tone, but at the same time, she couldn’t stop herself from turning away and fiddling with her shoes; the ones she held in her arms she put away as she straightened another pair just to keep her hands busy.

  When he didn’t answer, she slowly turned back to face him. He was standing with his arms braced on the doorframe, and the walk-in closet seemed to suddenly shrink in size as he barred her inside the small space. She couldn’t decipher the expression on his face; his features were hooded and unreadable.

  Under his close scrutiny, her knees became weak and her insides began to quiver.

  After a few moments, his eyes
narrowed and he announced curtly, “I’ve got a couple of questions.”

  Butterflies took flight in her stomach. “Okay,” she agreed as evenly as she could manage.

  “Are you home for good?” he asked with rapid heat.

  The oxygen hitched in her lungs at the question. “I think so. As long as I can find a job—”

  He seemed to ignore the second part of her statement as he cut her off. “Are you all grown up now?”

  Her pulse accelerated as his torso moved infinitesimally closer. Control, Courtney. You’re the one in control. “I’ve been grown up for years now.”

  His lips flattened at the dare and then took on a challenging twist. “You sure?”

  Her heart stalled before starting again. Unable to get her vocal chords to work, she nodded her head.

  His eyes dropped and ran slowly down her body before lifting to hers again. Pulling his hands away from the doorframe, he stood to his full intimidating height and took a single step inside the closet, a step that screamed intent. He slammed the door closed behind him.

  Oh, shit. Okay. He wanted to do this now. Now wasn’t in her plan. She hadn’t even had a chance to give him a run for his money. Or to plan her strategy. To play hard to get maybe? To show him that she was in control now, not him? Yeah. Paybacks were supposed to be hell … she needed time to give him some hell.

  As Nick’s height and breadth dominated the area, the space immediately grew smaller, the four walls closing around them Did she actually believe that she was the one in control? The thought fled as she quickly counted the doors that Nick had secured to lock her inside with him. The penthouse door, the bedroom door, the closet door. Three freaking doors.

  No escape, even had she wanted one. Which she didn’t. The butterflies in her stomach and the rapid beating of her heart were telling her that much.

  He took four more steps forward until he stood only inches away. His supple muscles tensed, his features turning to granite in lines of intimidating strength. Lifting his arms, he placed his hands on the built-in shelving unit behind her, caging her in. He wasn’t touching her, but he was so close that Courtney could feel every breath he took, could feel the shudder that went through his large frame.