Obsessed(39)

"Actually I can." He leisurely reaches for his wine glass downing the last of its contents. "You have an exclusive contract with Veray to sell your work. You can't sell it anywhere else."

I feel defeated and weak. I collapse back onto the couch taking a deep breath to try and fuel myself. "I'll figure it out somehow."

"This is how." He reaches for the check again, holding it in front of me.

"No." I shake my head from side-to-side. "I can't."

"Why not?" he asks sharply.

"I can't be indebted to a man again." I steel myself as I continue, "don't you see? I'd be going from being under Mark's thumb and control to being under yours."

"And that's a bad thing because…" his tone suggests he's trying to make light of the situation.

"I don't even know you." I hold my head in my hands feeling a rush of pain at my temple. I'm no stranger to stress headaches and I can feel an intense one barrelling down on me. "How could I just take your money?"

"I'm offering it to you." He kneels in front of me. I feel his finger trace a line across my forehead. "You're not taking it. It's a chance for you to start over. You can get your own place."

"I can't." I pull back harshly from his touch. "Besides, you must want something in return."

"I don't."

"That can't possibly be true." I stand readying myself to make my exit. I need to get home to my own bed so I can nurse my headache and sort through this evening.

"Where are you going?" He stands too so his body is blocking my path to the door.

"Home," I push past him. "Or technically, Mark's apartment."

"Not yet." His hand clenches my elbow forcing me to stop.

"We're done here." I turn abruptly and wrench my arm free. "I'm not for sale."

"Fine." His jaw tightens. "There must be something you own that has some value that you can sell to me then."

"Hmm…let me think." I place my finger on my chin clasping my teeth together as if in deep thought. I know I'm being childish but at this point I don't care. "There's nothing. I'm a pathetic loser who has to rely on her cheating ex to provide for her. My mother would be proud of me if she was alive today."

The look of horror on his face mirrors what I feel inside. I can't believe I'm discussing my precarious financial situation with him. How did we go from talking about intimacy at dinner to this? I feel suffocated and the door out of his apartment is my only escape hatch. "I just want to leave and you have a plane to catch."

"I do." His eyes tear into me but the kindness and tenderness that was there this afternoon in my bedroom is now replaced with something darker. It's clear he's not happy with my resistance and I fear that I haven't seen the last of that blank check that now rests squarely on the table.

"Thanks for dinner and…everything," I manage to awkwardly say.

"Leonard will drive you home and he'll be available all weekend if you need a driver. He'll give you his number."

"That's generous but I can make it where I need to be on my own," I mutter. "I don't have any plans anyways." I know he can hear the disappointment in my voice. I was looking forward to spending time with him over the weekend and more than that, looking forward to our promised intimacy. That has not only collapsed beneath his need to rush out of town but it's been shattered into fragmented pieces by his desire to hand me a blank check so I can shift from being Mark's kept woman to being his.

"I'm sorry I offended you. That's not what I wanted." He clutches my hand leading me to the door of his apartment.

"I don't like the situation I'm in but I'm not for sale." I open the door and glance back at him.

He reaches above my head to close the door. "One more thing." I feel his finger slide over my jawline before he tilts my chin up so my eyes meet his. "Don't talk to Mark or Liz this weekend."

I don't respond. Instead, I stare into his eyes for a moment, before I shake my head, open the door and walk out without looking back.





Chapter 16




The insistent buzzing of the intercom jars me awake. I look at the clock by the bed and realize it's already after ten. I'm not a late sleeper but I spent much of the weekend pacing and thinking about Jax's offer to give me a clear path out of Mark's life. I finally fell into bed at three this Monday morning, emotionally exhausted but also timidly excited of the prospect of a new space to live and work in.

"Hello." I clear my throat once I realize I sound sleepy and uninterested. I pray it's just one of the doormen and not an actual living, breathing visitor.