Because He Plays Me (Because He Owns Me, Book Seven) (11 page)

M
y mouth opened
wide and I stared at Madden Cross, unable to even speak.

I heard him wrong, I had to have.

The handsome billionaire had gone from paying me for one weekend of pleasure to asking for my hand in marriage.

“Engaged?” My voice squeaked out like I’d been inhaling helium. “That’s ridiculous. We barely know each other.”

Madden lifted one eyebrow and his gaze fell to where the sheet hung off my shoulder. “I know that your eyes crinkle up when you get confused, and I also know you spasm around my fingers when I touch you just…”

“I’m not talking about sex.” I swung my legs out of bed and stood. He was insane. And he was the last person I’d ever want to marry. “Why me? What about one of your other women?”

“This is the most expedient solution. You’re here with me now.” He held up his hand when I started to argue. “It’s only for one day, two at the most. Long enough for the news to latch on and run with it and forget about the other stuff.”

I sat across from him and he poured me a cup of coffee and added cream and one teaspoon of sugar. He handed it to me with another lift of his eyebrows.

“Just because you know what I put in my coffee doesn’t mean we should get engaged.”

Although, having said it, I had to admit that I liked this a bit too much. That he’d paid enough attention to know such a little detail about me caused a warm thrill to tickle my stomach.

He sat back and crossed his arms over his chest. Today he had on a dark blue suit that brought out specks of grey in his eyes. Guys in suits never really did much for me, but seeing Madden in one had changed my mind pretty fast.

“It’s not
real
, Skylar.” His lip twitched into a tiny grin. “But this has to happen right now. Jenna has created a press release to be fed to the media in an hour. Then we head back to Boston so we can be seen together at a few strategic places, and once the story takes off, I’ll have what I need.”

“All this to bury speculation that you plagiarized a paper years ago?”

It seemed too extreme. Who would go through this big of a lie just to hide something that happened back in college? Something that couldn’t even be proven. It seemed to me that there had to be more.

“What’s really going on?” I asked, suspicion tingeing my voice.

If he had a good enough reason, then maybe I would help him. That was a big maybe.

“How much?” he asked, uncrossing his arms, picking up his mug and lifting the cup to his lips. He watched me over the rim with indifference. Like we were discussing the weather or something mundane like that.

Coffee sloshed over my hand and onto the white tablecloth as he asked the question. “What?” I said, my heart beating faster now.

“I’m already giving you ten thousand for this weekend. How much more to agree to be my pseudo fiancé for two more days? Twenty five thousand? A total of thirty five for your time?” Madden put the mug down, sat back and adjusted the cuffs of his dress shirt like it was already decided.

“Not everything is for sale,” I muttered.

He threw back his head and laughed. Something tightened in my stomach at the rich sound. It sank right down to my bones. Until he spoke. Then ice filled my veins.

“You’ve already proven otherwise, Skylar.”

I pushed away from the table. A sick feeling filled my stomach. I had my reasons before, but agreeing to anything more at this point went beyond what I needed. “No. The answer is no. You could offer me a million dollars and it would still be no.” Without looking back, I hurried into the bathroom. Before he could actually do it. If he offered me a million dollars, which was absurd, I’d cave. Anyone would.

I turned on the water and waited for it to fill the tub.

Thirty five thousand dollars.

My stomach rolled and I sat down on the edge of the tub. I could go anywhere with that much money. Go so far away that Jacob would never find me. Two more days of pretending, would it be so bad? I caught sight of my reflection in the mirror over the marble vanity. At what point would it be impossible to look myself in the eyes if I kept doing this?

No more money from Madden. No more bargains.

I shed my robe and sank down until everything but my head was submerged in hot water. It wasn’t just compromising my principles that stopped me. It would be bad because if my name, if my face were splashed across the front page of every paper in the country, Jacob would know where to find me. It would be like putting a glowing red beacon on my head.

The twenty five thousand that Madden offered me would be enough to get away. I had to take what I had, for my own safety. It hadn’t been a bad experience either. This weekend, shotgun engagement aside, had been pretty good. The sex had definitely been better than I’d ever had, at least that first night.

I frowned and ran my hand through the bubbles. The first night I actually felt a connection with Madden. He was giving, very giving and in tune with what I needed. He had taken me by surprise too.

I’d expected to be tied up. I’d assumed that was what he liked. His anger didn’t make sense and then the second time, when he did tie my hands; he took. It was all about him. There was no caring about me or my needs.

That’s how it had been with Jenna when I saw them in the office. Which made me even more confused because what exactly was that first night? What had any of it meant to him—or to me? I sank my head under the water and let the warmth seep into my head; easing the pounding that had started the second Madden said we were getting engaged.

When I came back up, Madden was standing next to the tub. I should have been surprised to see him, but after only two days, I knew he was the kind of man who did whatever he wanted. He stared down at me and I watched as his gaze moved down to where my breasts were just above the water, the suds doing nothing to cover me.

His eyes got dark and I heard him inhale raggedly. Part of me wished the he would strip down and join me, but he didn’t seem the type to take bubble baths.

“Have you changed your mind yet?” he asked.

Part of me wanted to, could not stop thinking about the money, but the reality was that I couldn’t take the chance. Not with Jacob looking for me. It had only been a week since I left and I knew my ex well enough to know that he would eventually find me if I didn’t disappear soon.

“I haven’t.” For one second, I thought I saw a flash of vulnerability in Madden’s eyes, but then he blinked and the hardness was back. He nodded curtly.

“Very well, I’ll call Jenna and tell her to nix the story. The plane will be ready in an hour. We’ll be leaving then.” He turned and strode from the bathroom and a wash of cold air made me shiver.

As I stood and toweled off, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I had somehow let him down. Heaviness sank into my gut and only got worse when I heard Madden’s raised voice from our room. I wrapped the oversized towel around my body and opened the door.

“I told you to wait on that,” he shouted into his phone. “Pull the god damned press release now.” He listened for a few seconds and a vein in his forehead stuck out. “Are you fucking kidding me? So now what?” After a few more seconds, he threw his phone down on the table.

“Bad news?” I asked.

He turned slowly and after running an assessing gaze over my half naked body, he looked into my eyes. “Jenna sent the notice into the papers first thing this morning. The Associated Press grabbed it and it’s front-page news already. I didn’t authorize the release, but my people screwed up. It is what it is.”

I thought I saw remorse in his eyes, but my entire body started going from hot to cold. It was on the front page of the Associated Press? Jacob would see it. He’d see me. Tears burned the back of my eyes and I spun away from Madden. One stupid mistake by Jenna and my life was in danger.

And I couldn’t escape the feeling that perhaps Madden had even secretly intended it to go this way. If I accepted, he got the story and if I refused…he still got his precious story.

And he could even claim plausible deniability.

“I want to leave now.” My voice shook. I couldn’t think straight. I ignored all the new clothes that Madden had bought for me and pulled on my jeans and peasant blouse, ignoring the feel of his stare on my naked back. I had to get my car at the motel. Money, I needed the money that Madden had promised. Maybe I’d have time to disappear before Jacob tracked me down.

My heart pounded against my ribs.

If he found me, I was as good as dead. Especially with a story like that taunting him.

“How long will it take to get me my money?” I asked. My hands shook as I carefully folded the towel and set it on the unmade bed.

“Skylar.” I could hear concern in his voice, but I didn’t turn around.

I didn’t want him to see how scared I was. Jacob was my problem and I could deal with it as soon as I had the means to go away. All I needed now was for Madden to stop asking questions and take me back to the motel.

Time was running out and the longer I waited, the easier it was going to be for Jacob to track me down. I inhaled a long breath and looked over my shoulder. I tried to look as uncaring as possible.

“The weekend is over. This...this is over, even though your PR person screwed up. You’re smart, you’ll figure out something to tell the press, but you have to call this off. I don’t want to pretend to be your fiancé. I just want all of this to be finished.”

His eyebrows dipped down and he started to say something.

I held out my hand. “Please, can we just go?”

After a moment’s hesitation, Madden relented. “I’ll have someone come and pack your things and I’ll call for the car. I need to take care of a few last minute things before we leave.” When the door closed behind him, I walked out onto the balcony.

I hated to leave this place. It was a world away from my real life, one that I’d be returning to after a short flight. Would Madden leave me at the airport, send me along in a cab? Part of me hoped so because being around him made things too hazy. Most of the time he was a controlling, arrogant businessman, but I’d caught glimpses of a man under the exterior and he was nothing like I expected.

I liked the Madden who laughed over dinner, who stood and watched the sunset with me and who had made my body respond more than I ever thought possible. Trying to figure out which version was the most dangerous was futile. The woman who finally tamed him, not in a fake engagement sort of way, but the real thing, was in for the ride of her life.

But that woman could never be me. For so many reasons.

It only took fifteen minutes for the housekeeper to pack up all the clothes that Madden had bought for me to wear. I had no intention of keeping any of them. They were part of the weekend, the fantasy. Hopefully his driver kept my bag and didn’t throw it in the nearest garbage can.

“Are you ready?” Madden asked from behind me.

I knew he’d come into the room a few seconds before, not by the click of the door, but because the room felt smaller all of a sudden. I turned and he stood only a foot behind me. He looked far too handsome in his suit. It fit him perfectly, I’m sure because it was made for him.

He looked even better out of it.

I shook my head to clear the image and took one last look at the ocean. It was the same one in Boston, but it looked different here and I wanted to remember it.

“Thank you,” I said, finally turning back around. It should have felt weird thanking him for a weekend that he’d paid me to participate in, but I really was thankful. I never would have been able to do something like this on my own.

“If there’s something going on, Skylar, I can help you. But you need to tell me what it is.” His jaw was tense with determination. The hard planes of his face were more pronounced and even though he was wearing a designer suit, the coiled tension in his frame bespoke something dangerous lurking just underneath the surface.

But just because we spent two days together didn’t mean that my problems were his now. Despite everything that happened, we were still pretty much two strangers. I didn’t trust him enough to tell him the truth.

“There’s nothing. I’m ready to go.” I ignored the way his mouth tightened and pushed past him.

We were less than two hours away from being back in Boston and then, I could disappear.

A
slick black
town car was waiting for us when we landed just after noon.

A different driver loaded our bags into the car and I slid onto the plush leather seat. Madden was right behind me, and the car seemed to grow smaller when he settled into it.

I kept my gaze focused on the passing scenery as the driver made his way back to the motel. Nice houses faded to run down apartments until the one story building came into view. In the light of day, it was even worse looking. It didn’t matter though, because I wasn’t going to be there much longer.

There were a lot more of cars in the parking lot of the motel, and about a dozen people milled around outside.

I wondered what the commotion was about.

It wasn’t the best area and maybe someone had gotten hurt, mugged—perhaps a car had even hit someone. The driver slowed the car to a crawl, getting as close to the building as possible before stopping.

The crowd turned as one and then rushed our vehicle, encircling it.

“What’s happening?” I said, feeling like they were going to rip the doors off like zombies in a horror movie.

“It’s a circus,” he said. “They must’ve found out where you were staying.”

“They?”

“The media,” Madden clarified, looking at his phone, typing into it as he spoke. “Everyone.”

Everyone. I couldn’t believe it had gotten this bad, this fast.

“What the hell?” Madden growled. He pushed a few buttons on his phone. “Shit. This is what brought them out in force.”

I turned from the faces pressed against the glass, trying to see into the blacked out windows. Madden turned his phone toward me slowly, revealing a large headline from the Daily Globe.

Cinderella and Prince Charming! How An Ordinary Girl Landed the World’s Most Eligible Bachelor!

I read further down and sucked in a breath.

Skylar Kinsey; what do we know about the mysterious girl that stole Madden Cross’s heart?

It went on, listing facts about my life without a care for my privacy. Where I was from. Where I went to college. When my grandmother died. My life was exposed for anyone to see.

“How did they get all this?” My voice came out as a hoarse whisper. My chest hurt. “How did they find me so fast?” I glanced outside and saw the cameras pointing at the windows. They were waiting for us to make a move. My body started to shake. If they found me this easy, then Jacob would have no problem either.

I had to get my stuff and my car and go. Leave this city far behind. Right now.

“Let me out of the car,” I whispered, as the paparazzi banged on the glass and shouted questions that were inaudible.

“We should go somewhere safe. This place is compromised.” Madden’s voice came through a thick fog in my head. The car faded in the edges of my vision. All I could hear now was my heart pounding in my ears.

I had just wanted to disappear. That’s all. That was the entire reason for me coming here in the first place. And now my life was splashed across dozens of headlines.

All because of Madden Cross and his need for a story to suit his own agenda, regardless of how it affected me.

My stomach twisted.

“I…I have to leave…” I said, but my voice was soft, as I tried to think straight.

“Go, step on the gas,” Madden growled at the driver.

“Yes, Mister Cross,” the driver replied, his voice tense. The car lurched forward, pushing through bodies that were reluctant to move. I watched in a detached fascination as one jumped back, almost getting run over.

The crowd dissipated as the vehicle surged, finally clearing the chaos surrounding the motel.

Madden put his hand on my leg, his heat burning my thigh. “Just let me take care of everything,” he said.

“Take care of everything?” I said, blinking, as if I was coming to from a blackout. “How are you going to do that?”

He licked his lips, his dark eyes studying my face. “I can help you. Whatever’s happening to you, we can handle it. I can handle it.”

Part of me wanted to believe him. But then I thought about how he’d manipulated me from the very beginning, using threats and money to convince me to do whatever he wanted. I could never trust that he would protect me. Not really.

Anger surged through me. I looked him straight in the eye. “
We’re
not going to handle anything.
You’re
not going to do anything for me. I’ve had enough help from you to last me a lifetime.”

His jaw twitched and he looked as though he’d been slapped across the face.

In a way, perhaps he had been.

“If that’s how you feel—“

“That is how I feel. And I want you to leave me alone. Do not contact me or call me ever again. In fact, forget I ever existed.”

For a moment, seeing the look in his brown eyes, my heart started to break and I wanted to take it all back. Take everything back, fall into his arms and make him whisk me far away—just as he’d promised to do.

“As you wish, Skylar,” he said softly.

I nodded, my lips pressed tightly together for a moment. “Stop the car,” I shouted. We were three blocks from the motel, and the driver did as requested.

The moment the vehicle came to a halt, I pushed the door open and jumped out, sucking fresh air into my lungs, as I slammed the door shut behind me.

The day was bright and sunny, but the darkness was taking over my mind.

I should have let Madden fire me on Friday and figured something else out. Agreeing to spend a weekend with him was absurd.

And now everything was ruined and I had only myself to blame for it.

The car idled momentarily, but when I looked over my shoulder, all that was visible in the shiny, tinted black windows was the reflection of my own tired, frightened eyes looking back at me.

It’s over. Just forget it and move on. Move on now and don’t look back.

Turning my back on Madden, I began walking, not even sure where I was going. As I walked, it seemed the car was following my progress slowly. Staying close to me.

The feeling of comfort turned to more rage. He couldn’t do this to me. He couldn’t pretend that he wanted to care for me and protect me one moment and then use me as a plaything the next. He couldn’t upend my life and ruin my privacy and then act as my savior.

“Just go!” I shouted at the car, turning. I pointed down the road. “Fucking leave me alone!” I shrieked at the mute vehicle.

I couldn’t tell what his reaction was, but a split second later, the car pulled away and sped off down the road, finally leaving me behind.

I
managed
to find a café nearby that was pleasantly empty, ordering myself a tea and then sliding into a booth away from the window. I sipped the tea and shrunk into myself, looking down, refusing to meet the eye of anyone who came inside during the hours I stayed there, waiting for time to pass.

As the hours drifted by, I began feeling the creeping sadness and devastation of how things had ended.

The image of Madden, his dark eyes wounded by my rebuke, haunted me.

Occasionally, a man would enter the café and as the little bell tinkled when the door opened, my heart would speed up and I’d find myself hoping to glimpse him, see his eyes, find him smiling at me the way he did sometimes.

That smile was almost worth the pain.

But there was no use dwelling on my conflicted emotions over Madden Cross. He was surely moving on by now, and I had bigger problems to deal with.

Jacob might be coming. Jacob might already have seen the news, seen my face in pictures and articles.

The mere thought of it chilled me to the bone. But I needed to wait and bide my time, so that the paparazzi wouldn’t catch me going back to my motel room to gather my things.

Finally, enough time had gone by and I was sick and tired of drinking tea and stalling. I was afraid to go back to the motel, but it had to be done.

I got up and tossed my plastic cup into the trashcan and then left the café, the chime ringing as I left.

My stomach was in knots as I walked the few blocks back to the motel, wondering what would be waiting for me. But the lot was surprisingly empty of the crowd of media and photographers that had been there earlier.

Maybe, having seen us show up and then depart had caused the paparazzi to go searching elsewhere.

But now the lot was empty and dark and poorly lit. It felt unsafe in a different way and I shivered a little bit.

My car was only three spots away from the entrance to the motel room, so all I needed to do was quickly grab my bag and I could leave for good.

The room was dark when I let myself in.

A faint odor of disinfectant hung in the air. The rest of my belongings were in a small bag that I’d tucked up in the far corner of the closet. I didn’t turn on any lights, too afraid that someone might see them (if there were any paparazzi lurking around still outside), so I made my way to the back of the room using the sliver of light coming in from the thick drapes.

My birth certificate and passport, my phone--which I’d turned off as soon as I left Maine so that Jacob couldn’t track me--and my laptop. Pictures of my grandmother and me in an album I’d taken from our apartment right after she died. A diamond ring that she’d worn every single day of her life that had been given to her by my grandfather.

My worldly possessions, all in one small bag.

I pulled it down off the shelf and slipped the strap over my shoulder. With any luck, my car would make it quite a few miles tonight before I needed to stop and find another place to hide out and regroup.

I turned away from the closet and froze. The shape of a man stood in the doorway, backlit by the light from the parking lot. My hands shook.

“Hello sweetheart.” Jacob’s familiar voice sent chills down my spine. “Your car was here. I was hoping you’d come back so I didn’t have to chase you all over Boston.”

He stepped inside and the door clicked shut. The sound echoed in my head. I took a step back and my leg bumped the bed, causing me to stumble. He stood between me and the door. The only way out.

Jacob turned on the small lamp next to the door and I finally saw his face. At one time I thought he was the most handsome man I’d ever seen. He was attentive and giving and took care of my after my grandmother died. He was everything I thought a man should be. It wasn’t until much later that I saw the coldness in his eyes.

“What do you want?” I stammered. I had nothing to defend myself with. Everything in the room was bolted down to prevent it from being stolen.

“You, Skylar. Always you.” The way he said it, the cold tone of his voice, made my stomach drop. “Imagine my surprise when I read that you were engaged only a week after you left me and disappeared without so much as a word.” Jacob sat down in the chair next to the door and propped his ankle on his knee. He stared at me but I couldn’t see his eyes clearly in the dim light. “You take a while to warm up to someone, trust me I know.” A dark chuckle filled the room. “But worth the effort in the end. So knowing this about you made me realize that this must have been going on while we were together.”

He didn’t sound angry, but I’d found out the hard way that Jacob wasn’t like most normal people. How Jacob sounded, the expression on his face—all of that was disconnected from whatever dark emptiness existed inside him.

My knees shook. I’d also seen firsthand what Jacob’s position as a State Trooper allowed him to get away with. Just about anything he wanted to get away with, it turned out.

“It’s not what you think, Jacob.” My chest ached from holding in every breath, afraid I’d exhale too loudly and he’d take that as a sign of guilt. “There was no one else when we were together. I told you that before.”

He stood and I backed up until I was pressed against the wall.

“And I didn’t believe you before any more than I believe you now, you ungrateful bitch. Does this Prince Charming know that you spread your legs and fake your orgasms only when it suits you? That you are nothing but a cheating, backstabbing whore?” Jacob asked these questions as if he was asking me about the weather. In the darkness, his dark eyes looked dead and completely unfeeling.

He stalked toward me and I felt my way along the wall until the bathroom door was there. If I could somehow get inside the bathroom and lock the door…

“Don’t do this, please,” I said, bile rising in my throat. “You know that what we had meant a lot to me—“

I hoped that this lie might take him by surprise, cause him to reconsider. But instead it only seemed to infuriate him.

Jacob lunged and I threw myself at the entrance to the bathroom. Pain seared through my scalp as he grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked me backwards. I dropped my bag and wrapped my fingers around his wrist. His grip only tightened and fire exploded through me as I fell to my knees.

Tears burned my eyes when he lifted me back to my feet by my hair. I opened my mouth to scream but all I could do was whimper. He wrapped his other hand around my throat and pushed me back until I was wedged between him and the wall.

His fingers began to tighten.

“I’m sorry,” I wheezed out. Already I could feel the air cutting off. “I’ll come back with you.”

He threw back his head and laughed. “Do you think I want some used up piece of trash now? The only thing you’re good for is rotting at the bottom of the river. Which is where they’ll find you...eventually.”

He squeezed tighter and through my own panic, I finally managed to scream. The sound abruptly cut off when his fingers pressed on my windpipe. He was going to kill me. The realization made my entire body go numb.

My lungs started to burn. I opened my mouth, tried to take a breath, but I couldn’t. I dug my nails into his wrist, scratched as hard as I could, but he didn’t relent. Stars danced in the corners of my vision. My skin prickled all over and fire crawled through my chest.

The rapid pounding of my heartbeat slowed in my ears.

The spots had turned to blackness and it crept across my eyes.

My hands fell to my sides. There was no feeling left inside me. I felt like I was floating. And then...I was choking on oxygen. I slumped down the wall with nothing holding me up now. Sounds filtered into my head. Thumps. Voices. With each breath my vision cleared. Feeling returned to my limbs and I pushed up on shaky arms. Two figures were tangled together in the middle of the room. Fists hitting bone. Grunts and groans. My knees shook as I pushed to my feet.