Page 122 of Peasants and Kings
A knot formed in my stomach. “What does that mean, exactly?” When he didn’t reply, I pressed, “Hadrian. Tell me.”
He ran a thumb across his chin. “When I transferred the money into your account I also settled with The Rex.”
“Settled what?”
“You were never going back to The Rex, Sterling,” he said calmly. “I wouldn’t have allowed it.”
“Excuse me?” I screeched. “You wouldn’t haveallowedit?”
“Before you get upset, let me explain. Even if you left here and decided not to stay the six months with me, I couldn’t stomach the thought of you working at The Rex. So, I paid them not to take you back even if you wanted to go.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“No. I’m not.” His phone buzzed again, but before he could reach for it and dive into his text conversation, I grabbed it and held it behind my back.
“May I have my phone?” he asked in amusement.
“In a moment—after you explain things to my satisfaction.”
“Speaking of satisfaction—”
“Hadrian,” I snapped.
“Sterling,” he mocked. “I always get my way. You should know that by now.”
I bared my teeth in an angry snarl. “I am not a chess piece you can maneuver.”
“I don’tmaneuver.”
“No?”
“I tactfully manipulate.”
“THIN. ICE.”
His hand reached out to settle at the curve of my hip. “If you didn’t want to stay, I would’ve let you go. It would’ve killed me, but I would have. I can’t handle the idea of other men—of you with them.”
I understood his possessive vein, but Hadrian couldn’t make my choices for me.
“You need to promise me something,” I said.
“What?”
“Moving forward, if you want me to do something, just ask. Don’t go behind my back and pull my strings like some puppeteer.”
“Just ask,” he repeated. “That’s all it would take?”
I nodded.
“Sterling?”
“Yes?”
“Will you kiss me?”
Before I could respond, he dragged me closer so that I was pressed against him. My arms reached up to loop around his neck, and I played with the hair at his nape. I stood on my toes, attempting to reach his mouth. “You’re a fast learner.”
When his mouth covered mine, I lost all rational thought. His arms tightened around me and it felt like he’d never let me go. I lost my desire to remain a separate entity, in spite of my hopes for the future.
