“He was not my husband,” I said through my teeth. “He was my sub. That was a scene.”
He threw his hands up. “If that was a scene, then why did he mail you this package? This DIAMOND? I thought you broke up a long time ago,” he said. “Or divorced. Whichever.”
I sighed, and answered, “It was a scene, William. He did it because he wanted it to be real. He wanted a commitment. Somehow he heard that you moved in with me, and thinks that he should come back now that I’m ready to settle down.”
He made a low whistle. “This is settling down? Moving in with your submissive? You don’t even love me.”
“That’s not true.”
He held up his hands. “I don’t even know you. You were fucking married and I didn’t even know.”
“I said that was a scene!”
“Why should I believe you? For all I know, you were hiding your past because of your ex-husband. Or, he could be your estranged husband. You could still be married for all I know.”
I seized his shoulders. “William, it was just a scene. I was never married.”
“Did you love him?” he asked, eyes searching my face.
I breathed in deeply and exhaled the truest words I had ever spoken. “You are the only man I have ever loved.”
His expression was unmoved. “I’m not sure I believe you.”
“Are you kidding me? You’ve been baiting me into this conversation for weeks! You’ve been pushing a commitment on me! Now you’re telling me you don’t believe me when I tell you I love you?”
He began to back away toward the door. “This whole thing just makes me realize how much I don’t know about you. Your past. Your exes. Hell, finding those planbooks was certainly an eye-opener.”
“Give me time.”
“What progress have you made since we had that serious talk about our future, Cerise? Have you applied for jobs?”
I crossed my arms sternly. “No.”
“Then how can I take you seriously? How can I trust you?”
I took his hands. “Because you submit to me. You show me your most vulnerable side and I take care of your needs. You lay yourself at my feet and you love it.”
He slipped his cool hands out of my grasp and turned toward the door.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m leaving.”
I made no move toward him. He was angry and had to blow off some steam—fine.
“When will you be back?” I asked, mentally planning ahead if he wasn’t able to make tomorrow’s scene. Maybe he’d go into work, or hang out with his niece for a while.
He sighed loudly and turned back to look at me. His expression spoke of his decades of loneliness. “Never.”
My hand flew to my mouth to muffle the strangled cry.
“Dominance and submission are just fine for the body, but not for the heart. I just don’t trust you with mine anymore.” His speed propelled him out my door and out of sight as I sunk against the wall in utter shock and despair.
William was gone.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Cerise
For a while, I couldn’t move.