Page 45 of Forbidden Desires

James’ nostrils flared as he took a measured breath in. It gave me pause—not because his frustration threatened me, but that he had the frustration at all. James was not a man to unravel in the manner in which he currently seemed to be. He was far toococky and arrogant to show that kind of weakness—so what was going on?

I carded my hands over my desk, head tilting as the realization hit me. The reason why James wanted Shoreside so desperately. “You need the property because you’ve fucked up somewhere along the way and that property is the key to getting you out of a mess of your own making, isn’t it?”

That theory seemed to touch a nerve with James, giving me my answer. A vein popped at his temple, and his jaw clenched. “I don’t fuck up.” He pushed away from my desk, straightening his back. “I’m sure you’ll be seeing me around. You have your hands on things that I want and we just can’t have that now, can we?”

Not just the Shoreside property, now he was intimating Jasmine. I all but bared my teeth at him. “We’re done here, James. Get the fuck out of my office.”

James stormed out, clearly pissed off, not that I cared—unless he dared to approach Jasmine in any way, then all bets were off.

Once he was gone, I immediately sent an email to a security firm I did business with, one that had an investigative division that conducted deep dives into all sorts of people and ventures. I told my contact exactly what kind of details on James I was looking for, then all I had to do was sit back and wait for the report.

It didn’t take long, which was the beauty of having them on retainer. Before noon, I received files that provided in-depth information on the business ventures connected to James’ name. The properties and buildings he’d acquired over the past few months riveted my attention the most, all prime locations, fronted with huge amounts of cash. The amounts weren’t necessarily the problem, not for someone like James. It was the fact that the real estate had been paid with cash, but that money couldn’t be accounted for or traced.

More digging into James’ records revealed something equally interesting, that he seemed to be in a massive amount of debt. There were numerous lines of credit, refinanced mortgages, and the like, upwards of five million dollars. I couldn’t help but wonder, was he in debt because he was randomly buying up properties, or was he buying up properties because he was in debt? If he planned to do something with those buildings and use the revenue to pay off his debts…

Whatever the case, James was in a distinctive money bind, and the Shoreside property I had purchased for the new art space was worth the most—it would have turned over the most profit if he had decided to turn it into a cash making machine. It would have been the smart thing to do if someone was angling for a steady cash flow, that was for fucking certain.

Satisfied with what I’d discovered, I saved a copy of the files to peruse in more detail later. I might have found the leverage I needed to get rid of James, at the very least ammunition to show him who held the ultimate control so that he’d think twice about crossing paths with Jasmine, or even myself, again.

He’d started this war, and I planned to win it.

CHAPTER 21

Jasmine

Much to my relief, I didn’t see James after talking with Eric. A few days of looking over my shoulder just in case I was being followed when I left my apartment, then a week passed and…nothing. Eric never said explicitly that he would keep James away from me, but he hadn’t had to for the fact that James hadn’t come by my place or cornered me in any of the other businesses that I frequented, either.

I hoped that maybe the whole entire thing with James had been a false alarm. A misunderstanding between two men—one a narcissist, and the other incredibly protective of me who clearly wanted to make sure I was aware of my surroundings at all times. Just in case.

I sat in the spare room I’d tuned into my art studio, happily inspired as I immersed myself in my newest painting, set up with everything Eric had bought me. I had several easels outwith paintings drying from the last few days, and a dozen more propped against the walls. It seemed my creativity knew no bounds and I was delighted that my return to art was so effortless.

Eric had said he was busy with office work for the week but wanted me to relax and enjoy myself between our next meetings. So I did just that, content to be surrounded by color, by texture, by the things in my imagination made real by the pigments, brushes, and tools that transferred them to canvas.

This was the first time in years—since before my parents’ death, actually— that I felt this kind of peace. My ease came so naturally, and I chose to revel in it, really let it sink in and settle in my bones. Music played in the background and I absently hummed along with the songs. There was a pep to my metaphorical step and I knew, for the most part, Eric was responsible for that.

So caught up in what I was doing, I almost didn’t catch the fact that my cell was ringing. I heard it, a faint sound under the music. I cursed softly, setting my brush absently into the mason jar of paint water and jumped up to get the phone before I totally missed the call.

I smiled when I saw Eric’s name on the display. I was also surprised because he didn’t normally call during the day and I had that moment of wondering if everything was okay. A part of me hated that ours wasn’t a normal relationship, one where I could pick up the phone and call Eric just because I wanted to hear his voice, or I had a funny story to tell him, or anything else.

Despite the fact that I’d been with Eric for over four months now still didn’t give me those privileges that I wanted more and more with each passing day. It didn’t help matters that the previous weekend, after attending an event together, we’d headed back to his place and after a round of hot sex when I’d teased him about his age and stamina—which the man truly hadno issues with—the topic had somehow turned to the age gap between us. Twenty-two years to be exact.

It had been a playful conversation at first, then more serious. I never really considered Eric’s age as any kind of deterrent, but he clearly considered mine one. The fact that I was so young, and he was…seasoned clearly bothered him. A man in his forties who was used to living a certain way, did not see marriage or children in his future, and had even had the nerve to say to me,if you ever want to end our contract to pursue someone younger, I understand.

Yeah, that stung. He wasn’t letting me go, but it was clear that he had no intention of keeping me forever, either. There was still an expiration date to our arrangement, while I kept falling deeper in love with him. And even though I knew that someday I was going to end up with a broken heart, I couldn’t bring myself to end things before he did. I wanted to cherish every single moment I could get with Eric, even while a foolish part of me hoped that maybe, somehow, he’d realize that despite our age differences, we really were perfectly matched.

The phone rang again, jarring me back to the present. Swallowing the knot in my throat, I connected the call. “Hey, Eric,” I said in a neutral tone. “What’s up?”

His answer was a heavy sigh. “A lot. I know that this is last minute and unplanned, but may I come over?”

There was a weight to his tone that I didn’t expect. Granted, things seemed a little more tense these days after the run in with James—or maybe just more tiring with the amount of work Eric had on his plate.

I checked the time. He’d be going to lunch by now. “Uh, sure. Will you have time to get back to the office if you do? I can come to you—”

“No. I’m taking the rest of the day off,” he interrupted. “I just—I would like to see you.”

The slight desperation was another surprise, and I didn’t hesitate to agree. There was nothing in my universe more important than any time I could spend with Eric. “Of course.”

Seeing that I had enough time to clean up around my projects and get a shower in before Eric came over, I did both. About forty minutes later, I was out of the bathroom, drying off, when a knock sounded at my door.

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