Bound by Rapture (18 page)

“I don’t know…he doesn’t act like it.” Him calling me a whore earlier in the day popped into my mind. 

“He’s a man, Julia. A rich and powerful man. A whole other breed of man. Remember that.” She paused and I heard the voice of someone in the background. “But hey, Robby just came in with checkers. I’m gonna whip his ass like last night.”

I smiled, my face feeling tight. 

“And don’t worry, okay? Your momma missed out, not the other way around. Take the time while you’re there and enjoy New York. Don’t let all this BS get you down. Okay?” 

“Okay.” I nodded, wishing I could hug her and breathe in her scent. 

We both said goodbye and hung up. I pulled the phone from my ear and stared down at the screen. There was a picture of me set as the background. I was laughing and looking away from the camera. Sparkling gold lights illuminated me in the photo, and I immediately recognized the pink dress I had worn when we went to dinner in New Orleans. He must have taken it during dinner without me noticing. 

I wanted to be bothered by it, but I wasn’t. Something inside me warmed, like the foolish woman I was. I turned the screen off and started to climb out of the car when Cole’s phone began ringing again. I glanced down, surprise coursing through my body at the name that illuminated the screen. 

SIXTEEN

Julia.

“Vic?” 

“Jewel! Oh my God, thank goodness. I’ve been so fucking worried about you! Are you okay? Where are you? Tell me and I’ll come get you right now.”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair.

“It doesn’t matter where it is. Just tell me and I will come get you.” His tone was earnest, panicked. 

“I’m fine, Vic. I’m in New York, believe it or not.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” His voice seemed farther away for a moment. “That fucking sicko took her to New York.”

“Vic, calm down. It’s okay, really. I’m fine. He didn’t hurt me.”

“Didn’t hurt you? Are you being serious right now? I saw the way he dragged you into that dressing room and the way he dragged you out. Like you were some sort of slave or something.”

I snorted. “Slave? Vic, really?”

“He looked like he wanted to kill you,” he said darkly. 

“Well, he didn’t. I’m fine…no thanks to you. What was that all about on stage, anyway? Why did you do that stuff?”

“What stuff?”

I rolled my eyes. “Take care of Weasley for me please. I have to go.” I wasn’t in the mood for this. Not right now. Vic was my best friend, but I had too much on my mind to deal with him. 

“Jewel, wait.” He paused and I heard feet shuffling, and the distinct sound of a door opening. “I…about last night—”

“Save it,” I muttered. “You’ll take care of Weasley while you’re there?”

“Yes, but—”

The door to the limo opened and Cole stuck his head inside. 

“I have to go, Vic.” I hung up and held the phone out to Cole. I didn’t miss the venomous expression on his face.
Whatever, he can be pissed if he wants. I don’t care anymore.

I followed him into his building and we rode on the elevator in silence. Once inside his penthouse, he took off his suit jacket, laying it over the back of the couch before moving into the kitchen. I wanted to go into his bedroom and sleep forever; just the thought of it was tempting, but I couldn’t. I physically couldn’t make myself go in there, not without talking to Cole. Agitation burned under my skin. The look he’d given me as I hung up the phone in the car remained at the forefront of my mind. 

He pulled a big black glass container of dark colored alcohol out of the freezer and poured himself a glass. 

“You’re not going to say anything?” I walked closer and leaned against the counter. 

He glanced up at me, his gaze searching mine for the briefest second. “Sure. You want a glass?” 

“That’s not what I meant, but yes, I do.” A drink was more than appropriate tonight. 

He poured me one and scooted it across the marble counter. But he didn’t say anything. I took a sip, letting the alcohol burn its way down my throat. It was different from anything I had ever tasted. I was certain it was whiskey, but no kind I’d ever had before. 

“You like it?”

“It’s okay.”

“Huh. Just okay? It’s one of the top ten most purchased whiskeys in the world.”

I took another sip, thinking his words over while the liquid warmed me. “Obsidian liquor was always too expensive for me, and when I finally had enough money after I started stripping, the club didn’t carry it. So, I’ve never tried it.” 

It seemed weird to think I was here in the penthouse of the man behind that billion-dollar business. The business that made everything from scratch, every bottle crafted from volcanic glass. They had their own wine, their own whiskey, vodka, everything. There were distilleries worldwide that fed into his massive company. Locations in tons of countries. Lately it was easy to forget. 

“He’s a man, Julia. A rich and powerful man. A whole other breed of man.”
Gran’s words echoed in my head.

“You never drank the wine I sent you.” It was a statement, not a question. 

I recalled waking up months ago after he had fucked me at Rapture X to yellow roses and Obsidian red wine, but I’d never drank it, and when I left my apartment I left it behind. “I didn’t.”

Silence spread between us. Cole stared at his glass of whiskey and I stared at him. He seemed angry, which of course was the story of his life apparently. Was there ever a time when he wasn’t fucking angry about something? 

“Just say it already, Cole.”

He glanced up at me; the dark blue pools of his eyes seemed to swirl with emotion. “Say what?”

 “Aren’t you going to yell at me and call me a whore again? I figured that’s why you’re pissed, ‘cause I was talking to Vic?” I raised my eyebrows at him. “Or better yet, are you going to fuck my
ear
to prove it belongs to you, too?”

He narrowed his gaze and leaned toward me. “We both know your ear isn’t big enough to handle what I’m packing.” A small smile crept at the edges of his lips, hidden among the contours of his dark expression. 

I was so surprised he was teasing me that I nearly smiled myself. I caught it before could happen. “I’m not playing around.”

He sighed but didn’t say anything. Disappointment welled up inside me, along with everything else I was feeling. How was it, that in spite of everything, in spite of all the shitty things that had gone on—today alone—that Cole still had the power to hurt me? I expected him to be sorry; maybe that made me weak, but I wanted him to be sorry. I wanted to curl up in his arms and forget all the bad things. I just wanted to be. With him. We could
be
together. It would be simple. That’s what I craved. Simple. 

But nothing would ever be simple with him. I downed the rest of my drink and headed to the bedroom. I stripped down and took a shower, letting the hot water cleanse me as best it could, though it didn’t really help. And when I emerged, Cole was in the darkened bedroom wearing only boxers, yelling angrily into his phone.

“What the fuck do you mean?” He paused. “I want answers now! I don’t care who you have to fuck to get them, but I want it.”

I paused in the doorway, clutching the towel to my chest. 

“I’m done playing this guessing game. Done!” I could hear someone frantically talking on the other end, but Cole ended the call before they could finish what they were saying. 

He glanced up at me. I stood frozen, water dripping down my back. “What happened?” I didn’t want to ask. I didn’t think I could stand more bad news. 

He let out a deep breath and shook his head. “This is all so fucked up.”

I nodded and moved around him, slipping into the silk nightgown he had laid out on the bed. The only light in the room came from the big LCD TV hanging on the wall, playing some muted action movie. 

“I got a text while you were in the shower.”

“From who?”

“From an unknown number.” 

My heart jumped into my throat and I spun around. “What?” 

He ran a hand through his hair, tugging at the long strands. 

“What did it say?”

Cole clicked around on his phone for a second, then read the message aloud. “
You clearly don’t know how to listen, bitch. So it looks like I’m going to teach you. By the way, nice show the other night. I had the best seat in the house
.”

My skin prickled and I glanced around, nervous.
They were there the other night? They watched me dance after all? 

“That’s—”

“That’s all it says.” He tossed his phone on the bed angrily. “My men are on it.”

I nodded and climbed into bed. Fear twisted at my insides, but I hardly felt it. Something like indifference spread through my limbs, numbing me all over. I laid as far away from Cole’s side of the bed as possible and curled into myself. 

Why me? Why is all this happening?
I had no doubt that message was meant for me. How did they have Cole’s number? How did they know any of this? 

I heard the TV click off just as his muscled arm looped around me, pulling me into a spooning position, my back to Cole’s front. 

“We’re going to figure out who it is,” he said with certainty.

“Okay,” I whispered. I didn’t have the energy to climb out of his embrace.

He was silent for several moments and I could feel the thrum of his heart against my back.

“I’m sorry.” 

The words surprised me. “What?”

“I’m sorry,” he said again. “For earlier. For calling you a whore.” He squeezed his arm around my waist as if he was afraid I would float away. “Shit gets so tangled up in my head. Things with you. They’re so tangled I don’t know where my love begins and my obsession ends.” He let out a pent-up breath, tickling the back of my neck. “I don’t think you’re a whore. I just…when I saw you with him last night…” He flexed his fist at my waist. “I couldn’t handle it, Julia. I still can’t fucking handle it.”

“I did it to help you.” The words burst from my lips and I turned over, facing him. “I did it to try to save you. I didn’t want anyone to hurt you. But I guess it was pointless. Whoever it is…they’re just fucking with me now.” I could barely make out the contours of his face. I blinked hard, trying to bring him into focus and push the panicky thoughts from my head. “I didn’t know he would do that. It was never a part of the—”

“I know.” He cut me off. “The fact that my mother was there, and Elaine too, proves it wasn’t your fault. It was probably something they cooked up with Vic so I would see on purpose.”

“Vic wouldn’t do that,” I said instantly.

He snorted, but didn’t say anything.

“I don’t know what that was all about. I just wanted for all this to be over.” 

He trailed one of his hands along the side of my face. “I know, baby.” The endearment made my heart thump quicker. “Can you forgive me?” The words rolled off his tongue with a desperate ring to them, like he needed my forgiveness more than anything. 

I nodded slowly, knowing he could feel my movement. 

“I love you,” he said quietly.

The word
love
made me think of my mom. I don’t know why, but she jumped to the forefront of my mind, filling me with doubt. “How can you love me? Even my own mother doesn’t love me.”

“No. Julia, don’t say that.” Cole gripped my face with his other hand. “Fuck her. She’s the one who’s missing out.”

“That’s what Gran said, too.” I sniffled. 

“
I
love you, Julia. And I’m sorry about the shit I pulled this morning and going crazy possessive on you last night. I shouldn’t have, but I love you. Almost too much. It ripped me apart to see you with him. That’s the only reason I reacted the way I did. It’s the only reason I said that shit to you this morning.” The words poured from between his lips quickly as if he’d been considering them carefully, memorizing them. “I was hurt and I wanted to hurt you. It was wrong in any situation, but especially after all the shit you’ve gone through. I—”

“Cole.” I pressed my fingers to his lips, wishing I could see his handsome face. “It’s okay.” And it was. I understood. A memory pushed at my mind. “I was wet for you that night.” 

“What night?”

“The night I first saw you with Elaine, when you came to Ecstasy, the afterhours club.” The memory flashed into my head, the way the warm bricks bit into my back, the way his hands felt on me. It made me shiver. “You asked if that bartender I was dancing with had made me wet. I told you he did, but he didn’t. It was you. Only you.” I had wanted to hurt him like he had hurt me. And now he had done something similar and I got it. I
fucking
got it. 

Cole was silent and I wondered what he was thinking. The inches separating our faces was filled with a gorge of unspoken words, feelings, and thoughts. I wanted to crawl inside his head and know all his secrets. I wanted to know everything.

“Thank you.”

His words surprised me. “For what?” 

“I’m not like him.”