Page 31 of Control

“Come on. I’ll give you a ride,” I said, standing up and checking my watch for the time. “Let’s meet up with your husband for dinner somewhere?”

“Sure.” She grinned. “Let me text him and tell the nanny to put the kids down for bed.” She typed out her messages on her phone, before grabbing her purse and the flowers.

I followed her out of the office, hitting the lights on the way out.

Chapter XIII

Claire

Class had been particularly grueling today. My seven-to-nine-year-old group was more exhausting than usual. The girls had an attitude every time I asked for their focus. When they regained enough composure to listen to my instruction, their form was completely off. It must have been a full moon or something because these wildlings were untamable.

I was elated to soak in a shower, though it would be lukewarm at best, and slide into bed early, finally putting an end to this exhausting day. The TV was on, but I barely paid attention to whatever rom com was playing for the hundredth time on the stolen cable box that came with apartment. Instead, I stared at my phone waiting for him to call.

Jai had texted me this morning to check in while I was rushing to get to my first lesson of the day. I couldn’t give him the amount of regard I wanted to, but he hadn’t seemed to be put off by my curtness.

Images from the night before sent goosebumps spreading like wildfire over my skin. The command he wielded on my body was unlike anything I had ever felt before. Coming under him, fully dressed, was an entirely new experience to me. Before him, I had only been able to reach orgasm if I was on top, controlling the pace. Relinquishing that control to someone who so expertly compelled my body to submit thrilled me and scared me at the same time. If he hadn’t laid into me about the safety of my neighborhood, I probably would have invited him up to ride himsans vêtements. Without clothes.

The blankness of my phone screen in no way reflected the chaos of thoughts in my head. Maybe he was blowing me off. Had I read too much into our connection? He had seemed genuinely interested in me this morning, so I never questioned his promise to call. But the longer my phone remained silent, the more doubt clawed its way into my consciousness.

Eerily enough, my phone lit up suddenly. Though, the caller wasn’t who I had hoped it would be.

“Hi, Amelia.” It was odd for her to be calling me so late at night. Our friendship was growing, but I wouldn’t have said we were close enough for her to be calling me after dinnertime. “How are you?”

“Claire. Jai’s been in an accident.”

My heart lurched in my chest. “What?!”

“The car who tailgated us. Our car flipped over. There was a crash. Glass everywhere.” Her voice was shaky, and her sentences barely made any sense to me with how fast she was spitting them out.

The pounding of my heart in my ears did nothing to help my comprehension either. “Wait. Slow down. I don’t understand.”

“God, I’m sorry.” She took a huge breath on the other end, then exhaled into the phone, causing the line to momentarily fill with static. When she resumed, she enunciated her words carefully, like she was afraid her voice would start up in a panic again. “I was with him in his car when we noticed another car getting too close. Before we could react, we veered off the road and our car flipped over. Jai unfastened his belt and threw his body over mine to shield me from the glass from the shattered windows.”

Mon dieu. Oh God.“Are you hurt? Is Shyam with you?”

I heard her breath waiver, like she was about to panic again. “Yes, he’s at the hospital with me. I’m okay. Shaken up, but okay.”

Relief washed over me temporarily, until I thought of Jai. “Where is Jai?”

Her voice broke again, the tears that fell causing her voice to shake. “He’s been unconscious ever since they pulled him out of the car. We’re in the waiting room now waiting to hear from the doctor.”

“Which hospital?” I bit back my own tears that threatened to fall.

“Manhattan. Mount Sinai.”

Merde. The anxiety of being so far away rattled my insides. “I’m at home. It’ll take me at least a half hour to get there.”

“I figured you were home by now, so Shyam had Jai’s driver to come get you. He remembers where you live.”

“Wasn’t his driver with you guys when all of this happened?” I asked.

“No, Jai was driving.” I could sense something that sounded like regret emanate from her voice.

“Shit.” This was worse than I’d thought. Visions of Jai unconscious with glass protruding from his skin and blood drenching his clothes suffocated me just like when I found Maman dead in a pool of her own blood. I had already lost her, and I couldn’t lose Jai like this too.

Voices could be heard in the background. They sounded deep, like they belonged to men—one of them probably belonged to Shyam. “The car should be there in about fifteen minutes,” she said.

“Thank you,” I replied gratefully. “Text me as soon as you get any updates, please.”

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