With every step Tucker took toward that laptop the pit in his stomach ached worse. He didn’t relish invading Maggie’s privacy. He should march into the bedroom and ask for the answers he sought. His feet stayed on their current path and he stopped short of her desk. The computer was still on and had likely gone into sleep mode after he’d arrived.
He tapped the mouse and watched the slim device come to life. Moments later a word document appeared on the screen and the word memoir flashed at the top like a god damned neon sign. Tucker took a deep breath and scrolled to the beginning. There were a lot of side notes already marked in different colors that stood out. Things like “research this info better” and “add more depth to this later”.
He easily imagined her sitting here with glasses perched on top of her head and her hair standing on end from pulling it in frustration as she worked. He’d have to make her write some while he watched. He’d study every facet of his submissive like she studied BDSM. Then he’d bend her over the desk and fuck her until they both exploded.
His name on a page caught his attention and pulled him from the fantasies he’d been planning to act out. About halfway through what she’d written his name came up. For a half a second he thought about simply walking away. Her work was none of his business.
Tucker sighed. That might be true if there wasn’t so much at stake. Page by page he scrolled through everything she’d written, only to discover every single detail of their encounters had been transcribed in vivid detail. The bondage wheel, the club, his house, the hot tub. Every minute they’d been together had been added to her memoir in depth. Apparently when she wrote a book about herself she went all in.
At the point where she’d left off there were some sidebar notes again with questions. One in particular stood out among the others. “Why would Tucker hide the fact that he owned the Purgatory club?”
His blood ran cold at the sight of that one line. He’d never actually told her that nugget of information. He’d planned to, but not until he’d bound her to him with his collar.
This couldn’t be happening again.
“Tucker, what’s going on?” She’d snuck up behind him without a sound.
“Isn’t that supposed to be my question? What the hell, Maggie? What is this? You’ve decided to share the intimate details of our relationship with the whole world without even checking first if I’d mind? Are you insane?”
He stood from her chair and whirled on her. She’d wrapped a small robe around her shoulders but still looked like the sex-ravaged nymph he’d left in bed.
“You went through my stuff?” The shell-shocked look on her face only served to piss him off more.
“That’s not the point.” He waved off the fact he’d invaded her privacy. “That’s not a fucking research paper, Maggie. That’s a tell all book and from the looks of it you plan to literally tell it all in dirty vivid detail.”
“You don’t understand.” She clasped the robe together covering her naked body from his view. “When I first came back home I was pissed and sick to death of being vilified in the media. It was the only thing I could think of to fight back.”
“And never mind who you hurt in the process.” He wanted to kick himself when the anger deflated on Maggie’s face and a look of defeat crossed it instead.
“So that’s it. You’re just another judge, jury and executioner out to crucify me without knowing shit about the truth.” She turned away. “I can’t believe this is what you assume of me after this week? No trust. No love. Only accusations. That’s rich, Tucker. Although why I’m surprised I’ll never know. You can join the lets beat up Maggie club if that’s what you want, but you can damn well do it on the way out the door. Get out.”
He grabbed her wrist and pulled her close. “Don’t try to turn this on me. I wasn’t the one planning to turn your life into a three ring circus.”
Her head bowed. “My life already is.”
“A relationship like ours has to be built on trust. Without that we have nothing.”
Her body jerked as if he’d struck her. Somewhere in the back of his head a voice told him he’d gone too far. That is was time to stop and get out while he still could. Unfortunately, he didn’t heed his own advice.
“You lied, Maggie. I thought I could trust you. Although I still don’t get it. What’s in it for you? Money? Did you plan on selling the book to the highest bidder? Is that it? If you wanted to sell yourself like that you should have just asked. I have plenty of money and I would have happily paid you for services rendered.”