Perfect Submission by Roxy Sloane Page B

consumes me. I couldn’t live like
this, every minute of every day. I’ve barely spent the night in
that cell, and already I feel like I’m losing my mind.
    What would I do for a week? A month?
    Twenty-five years?
    By the time we reach the main precinct
lobby, I’m barely keeping it together. Faces blur together, cops
and people are all staring at me. I wonder what they see: a spoiled
brat getting what she deserves, or worse, the killer Brent says I
am.
    “Isabelle!”
    A voice cuts through the commotion. I turn.
Cam is striding toward me, a furious look on his face.
    I cringe back in shame, but he barks at the
cop. “Get those cuffs off her!”
    His voice is harsh. The cop fumbles to obey
him.
    “Come with me,” Cam says, taking my arm.
    “My things…” I start, but he cuts me
off.
    “I have them. Let’s go.”
    My emotions are a whirl as he leads me out
of the lobby and down a back hallway. He’s angry, I knew he would
be. He can’t even look at me.
    “Where are we going?” I whisper, hating
myself for putting him through this.
    “The back exit. There’s paparazzi all around
the front. Vultures.”
    The newspapers. They’ll have a field day
with this. And then even people who weren’t at the party will know
the truth. There’ll be no hiding after this, no running away from
my problems the way I came so close to doing.
    Maybe I should have run, when I had the
chance. I would have spared Cam the humiliation of guiding me
through the precinct, a total mess from my night in jail.
    He takes me down a staircase and through a
fire exit out back. We’re in a parking lot; his car pulls up in
front of us, and Cam opens the door for me.
    But I can’t get in. I can’t take another
step, not with this tension on his face.
    “I’m sorry,” I tell him, choking up. “I’m
so, so sorry. I know you must hate me, but I never meant to drag
you into this. Just drop me at a hotel.”
    Cam turns now, frowning. “What are you
talking about?
    I swallow. “You don’t need to do anything
else for me. You’ve already done so much.”
    “Is that what you think of me?” Cam takes my
cheek, forcing me to look at him. His eyes blaze darkly. “Isabelle,
I don’t hate you!”
    “But you’re angry—”
    “At Brent!” he explodes. “At myself for not
protecting you! At the waste of space foster dad who started all of
this. But not you. God, Isabelle, I could never be angry at you.
Not for this.”
    The tension in my chest splinters. “So, you
don’t want to end this?” I sob, finally giving in to the tears I’ve
been holding back all night.
    Cam cradles my face tenderly. “No. You’re
mine, Isabelle. You belong to me just the same as you did before
tonight. That means we’re in this together.” He draws me closer, to
rest against his strong chest. “I promise, I’ll fix this.”
    I used to be able to handle things on my
own, but now that I’ve found Cam, I’ve let my guard down. I’ve
gotten soft. I need him.
    I collapse into his embrace, relief surging
through my veins. “I can’t do this without you,” I gasp, holding
him tightly. “I’m so scared, Cam.”
    “I know, sweetheart, but I’m here. Whatever
it takes, I’ll protect you,” he promises. “I swear, everything will
be OK.”
    “But how can it be?” Because the truth is,
I’m not innocent.
    “I’m your Master, aren’t I?” he demands,
tilting my chin up to meet his gaze.
    I nod, loving the sound of those words on
his lips.
    “Then trust me. That’s an order.”

TWO: CAM
    I try my best to keep my anger under
control, for Isabelle’s sake. She’s scared and vulnerable right
now, and I can’t imagine what she’s been through tonight. The last
thing she needs is my rage too.
    Not at her, but Brent. The cops. Every
person who laid a hand on her tonight and brought such fear to her
eyes. I want to tear them all limb from limb.
    But most of all, I’m furious at myself.
    I’m the one who let her down. When she
confessed her dark