Bartered Surrender: The Billionaire's Wife
Ava Lore
Part IX
We drove back home. To Anton's house. It was awkward, the way we sat in silence the whole way there, staring out the windows, but deep inside it was also a huge relief. Whatever happened, the stasis would be over. We could move on.
Wherever that would be.
My palms began to sweat.
When we finally reached the house, I was a ball of nerves. I didn't know if Anton had seen my work, or if Sadie had only told him I had been arrested. Though now that I thought about it, she probably had made sure he knew exactly why I'd been arrested. She's an artist, too. She understands the fundamental Look at me! motivation that underpins all works of art. So I could be ninety-nine percent certain he'd seen it. What he thought about it was another matter entirely.
The moment the door of the foyer closed behind us, we were alone in the house, and the atmosphere became oppressive. I tried to play it off, reaching up and shaking my hair out of its ponytail. I ignored Anton as he took his coat off and walked into the kitchen. I needed coffee. And something more substantial than goddamn ramen noodles.
There was a jar of sweet pickles in the fridge. I swiped it, popped it open, and began crunching away as I busied myself with making coffee.
Anton followed me and installed himself in the breakfast nook, leaning against the back door. He crossed his arms and watched me as I bustled around. I didn't know what he was thinking, but it didn't matter. I'd said what I needed to say. The ball was in his court now.
Turning the coffee maker on, I took my jar of pickles and sat down at the table. I met Anton's glittering green eyes full on. For the first time, I felt like we were meeting as equals, and I could see it made him uncomfortable. I tried to help him.
“Pickle?” I asked him, proffering a gherkin.
He smiled, though it looked pained. “Felicia...” he said.
I waited, the trick he'd taught me. Waited for him to fill up the silence.
Finally he sat down at the table and rubbed a hand over his forehead. I thought he'd rub his face right off, he was so forceful. He was working up to something. Something he didn't do much.
“Felicia,” he said at last, “I am so, so sorry.”
Those words were sweet, and necessary. But not really what concerned me.
“I know you are,” I said. “I understand.”
He looked at me in surprise. “You do? I mean... I am not... not the best at conveying my feelings. You know that.”
I laughed. “Yeah, I know that,” I said. “I know that really well.”
“This is hard for me.”
I shrugged. “You gotta learn how to do it some time, right?”
He took a deep breath and blew it out in a long stream. “Yes,” he said finally. “You are right.”
Abruptly he stood up, the legs of the chair he sat in scraping over the floor, and held a hand out to me. “Please come with me, Felicia,” he said. “There's something I want to show you.”
“Is it your cock?” I asked. “Because I've already seen that.”
To my complete shock, his face broke into a sheepish grin. A grin.
Anton Waters knew how to grin.
Well, how about that? I thought.
I placed my hand in his. Immediately that old familiar fire flared up, and I inhaled sharply. His hand on mine was electric. The very nearness of him made me hum, as though we vibrated along the same frequency. I wanted to fall into him, but getting sidetracked by our mutual desire was what had made it so dangerous for us in the first place. Firmly pushing my sudden breathlessness aside, I rose and we walked hand and hand back into the foyer.
He stopped in front of the basement door.
“Oh, wow,” I said. “Is this the part where you show me the dismembered bodies of your other wives?”
He looked faintly offended. “What are you talking about?”
I grinned at him. “Sadie and I were wondering what was in the basement.”
“You told me you were wondering if there was a sex
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