Page 25 of The Jealous Boss

“You said you were going into Twinge to meet Heather, but she’s all over her sister’s social media, eating breakfast in New York. Where were you, Drew?”

“I was getting this.” He slides his free hand into his pocket and pulls out a ring.

Oh my God…

But he continues, not giving me a chance to react. “And firing you was the only option, I’m afraid. I can’t marry you—let alone fill your belly with my babies—if you’re my employee. And after I kissed you, well, I realized that’s the only tenable outcome. Because I’ll lose my goddamn mind, Anna, if another man comes anywhere near you.”

And maybe it’s foolish of me, but at that moment, everything makes sense. We want the same things. We havealwayswanted the same things. Things other people might not understand or approve of but that are right forus.

And maybe I am abnormal, obsessive, needy, oversexed. I think I must be, that the nuns weren’t totally wrong. Because if I were normal, I’m not sure I’d be so okay with any of this. But that’s the thing, if I’m abnormal, so is Drew. And while we aren’t screwed up inexactlythe same ways, we fit together—two halves of a whole.

Smiling, I release his hand. “You do realize, Daddy, that nothing in what you just said was a question, right?”

“That’s because it wasn’t a question.” He grabs my left hand, sliding the ring onto my finger. “Originally, I meant for it to be, but it can’t be—can it? It’s just a fact. You’re mine.”

“Yes, Daddy, I’m yours, and… I love you, too.”

“Only mine, forever, and you’ll do as I say?”

“Of course, Daddy.”

Standing, he walks over to his desk, returning with a pen. He takes the pages of the contract off the floor and hands them to me along with the pen.

“Sign.”

“Do I need to read it?” I glance at the stack of papers. “This is longer than my original employment contract.”

“That’s because it’s notjusta severance agreement, angel. It’s a prenuptial agreement giving you half of my assets, including half of my stake in Twinge, if we ever divorce.”

At this, I feel a pang of doubt. Just a small one, but it’s there. Could I have been wrong about us wanting the same things?

“You’re planning for us to get divorced?”

“Of course not, but I don’t ever want you to feel trapped or like you don’t have options. This puts us on equal footing.” He sighs. “I know I just made you promise to do what I say, but you can have a lawyer look it over if you want.”

Oh, how very…Drew. It’s endearing really, the way he’s always trying to protect me… even from himself. But I don’t say that, I simply flip straight to the last page, signing my name with a dramatic flourish before tossing the papers aside.

He shakes his head. “You didn’t read a single word.”

“Why would I?” I shrug. “It’s meaningless.”

“And why is that?” He raises an eyebrow.

Grabbing his belt, I pull him between my legs as I sprawl backwards onto the couch. I don’t let go, tugging until he takes the hint and falls on top of me, his weight pushing me into the aged leather.

“Because,” I whisper, wrapping my arms around his neck, pulling his head closer until our lips are nearly touching. “We’re both too obsessed for divorce to be a possibility, and you know it. Now fuck me, Daddy. We have three years of lost time to make up for, and only six hours until Elijah comes home.”

And my life truly is magical, because he captures my mouth in a bruising kiss and then he does—in every single room of the house, ofourhouse.

Epilogue

Six Months Later

Anna

When I foundout that Drew thought of the safe room as “the monster’s lair,” I became so enamored with the name that now I can’t call it anything else. It just has a certain ring to it—even if Drew isn’t a monster, not at all. How could he be when he’s my hero, my daddy, the man who keeps all the bad things away?

I consider leaving the package there, in the monster’s lair, but then I have an even better idea. It will be tricky to pull off, though, so I do something naughty. I enlist my stepson’s help.

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