Page 25 of Contracted and Claimed By The Boss

His hands curving around her shoulders had her blinking up at him. She swallowed, because his face wasn’t anything but gentle, and that was enough to break her heart.

‘Why didn’t you tell me?’ There was no accusation in his voice though, just curiosity.

‘Because I don’t want to be her,’ she said quietly. ‘It was a lifetime ago. I’m not that person any more. I probably never was.’ She gestured past him, to the TV. ‘That person is a construct of my parents, nothing more. I ran away from all of it a long time ago.’

‘Why?’

‘Because I hated it,’ she whispered. ‘They chose that for me. They had me at casting calls from practically the minute I was born. I landed a few commercials, then a TV show, then a movie, and by the time I was Amanda’s age I was famous everywhere. I couldn’t walk down the street without being chased and followed, and as for normal friendships, a normal life, forget it. I hated acting—I’m actually really shy—but I was the sole breadwinner in our family. They made me understand that I couldn’t let them down.’

His hands tightened momentarily on her shoulders in response to that, but he made a visible effort to relax.

‘So I acted. And I performed. I travelled the world and had my photo taken and went to premieres and photoshoots and, God, Max, it was so exhausting and I hated it so much. I was so miserable.’

‘What did your parents say?’

‘That I had to keep going. And I couldn’t. I just couldn’t. I made the decision to legally emancipate myself when I was sixteen years old.’

It was such a calm way to explain the tumult of that decision. It had been one of the hardest things she’d ever done.

‘My parents were furious when I left them. I mean, they had all my money tied up in a trust that I couldn’t access.’ This time, she couldn’t keep the bitterness from her voice. ‘I didn’t have the heart to fight them for it—I was just so immeasurably, inexplicably glad to be free. But I went off the rails. I mean, I was a mess.’ She shook her head. ‘I can see now that I had a form of PTSD and was just dealing with it however I could.’

He frowned. ‘Where did you live?’

‘On friends’ sofas,’ she whispered. ‘Wherever. I drank heavily. Partied too much. Anything that would kind of...numb me...to it all. And of course, the tabloids loved that.’ She grimaced. ‘They didn’t see a girl who was broken beyond repair by her parents’ choices, but rather a scandal they could exploit, and I was too stupid to realise it was in my power to change that, to stop giving them a story, to stop acting like such a fool.’

‘You were still just a kid,’ he growled, surprising her with how protective he sounded. But hadn’t that been her first impression of him? Protective, defensive, in a way she’d never known.

She pushed away the warmth she felt in response to that protectiveness. She couldn’t let him be her carer—she couldn’t come to rely on him.

‘In the end, it was an actress friend, who’d been cast as my mom in an early movie, that came to my rescue and made me see it all had to stop. Anna Cooper. She’s the one who got me the job in Dubai, with some friends of hers, and that was the start of my life turning around.’

He stared at her without speaking, and her heart beat faster.

‘Anyway, apparently the money’s all gone because my parents have written a tell-all book about my childhood and my slide into delinquency,’ she said with a grimace. ‘It’s coming out in a few days.’ She bit down on her lip. ‘And I know I probably should have told you all this upfront, but the thing is, it’s never been an issue in any other job and I came here, I took this job, because I just wanted to...’

‘Escape,’ he finished the sentence for her, squeezing her arms.

She closed her eyes, nodding. ‘I don’t want to be that person any more, Max. I never did.’ Her lips parted. ‘The thought of it all starting up again...’ She blinked hard, squeezing her eyes shut.

He didn’t say anything; nervousness exploded. Paige whispered, ‘If you want me to go, I will. I mean, I want to stay. I want to help Amanda, but if this is all too much, if you’re worried that something is going to spill over into your life...’

‘I’m not worried,’ he said with so much strength and confidence it stopped her tears in their tracks. ‘I’m angry with her, if I’m honest. She had no business exposing you like that.’

Paige shook her head. ‘It’s not her fault. I think someone said something at school. One of her friends. I’m sure she recognised me.’

‘Even so, she should have spoken to you, or privately to me. This is what I’m talking about—I don’t know who she is any more. Six months ago I would have said my daughter doesn’t have an unkind bone in her body.’

Paige shook her head. ‘She didn’t mean anything by it. She’s obviously confused.’ She pressed her fingers to her temples. ‘This is my fault. I should have been honest. It was naïve to think no one would recognise me. I’m so sorry. If this changes things, if you want me to leave, I will. No hard feelings.’

He swore gently. ‘Listen to me.’

She scanned his eyes, waiting.

‘Everyone deserves to make their own life. Of course I’m not going to fire you because your parents were selfish assholes.’

She dropped her head forward, sucking in a shaking breath, but he moved then, catching her face, holding it between his hands, lifting it towards his.

‘Don’t cry.’ It was a command, but it was also a plea, and her heart stammered because she felt so much in that simple instruction. She felt, most of all, that he didn’t want her to cry with every single part of himself.

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