Page 125 of Wicked Proposal
Eventually, she sighs with relief. “Thank God—there’s no Eli.”
“He got lucky,” I agree. “Couple of inches taller, and that window shot would have caught him.”
“There’d be pictures of him at school, right? If Brad knew.”
It’s not that simple,I should tell her.This is just one camera. We have no idea what else that P.I. gave him.
But I don’t. I don’t want to be the reason the relief on Mia’s face morphs into worry again. After that panic attack earlier, I’ve realized just how thin a thread she’s been hanging from all these years.
If Brad wants anything from her, he’ll have to go through me.
“Mia.”
She turns to me. “Yeah?”
“About our contract?—”
“Mommy!” Eli calls. “Can we watchSkyfall?”
“For the millionth time? Sure. Let’s break all records.”
“Yay!”
“Sorry,” she smiles apologetically. “You were saying?”
Tell her,the human part of me screams.Tell her you don’t want her to keep working for you. That she doesn’t need to. That you’ll pay her anyway, give her everything she needs to go far, far away.
Give her back her freedom.
But I don’t.
Ican’t.
I need her.
“Nothing,” I say.
“Oh, okay.” Her face falls, just a little, but she schools it quickly.
“I’ll have my men follow Eli tomorrow,” I tell her. “Just to make sure.”
“You’d do that?” The gratitude in her eyes is blinding. “Really?”
“Of course. You’re my employee.”
She rolls her eyes, but fondly. “So you treat all of your employees to private bodyguards?”
“Only the ones who matter.”
A shiver runs through her. She’s beautiful like this, in the chaos of her home, with gratitude in her eyes and flour at the corners of her mouth. If temptation has a face, it must be Mia’s.
“Thank you,” she whispers. “For everything you did for me. Today, and every day since we met.”
My chest goes dangerously warm. “It’s nothing.”
“No, it’s not nothing.” She takes my hands in hers. Her thumb strokes my bruised knuckles, uncaring of the blood that stained them. “It’s more than anyone has ever done for me. For us.”
It’s like the static before a storm. I can feel it in the air between us, that spark of electricity, ready to ignite into something bigger than either of us.
