Chapter 40: Chapter: 40

ANDREA

We only walked for a few more minutes before we finally came to an open space with a desk and a middle-aged brunette who was busy with the computer. The instant she saw Nicklaus her face split with a warm smile.

“Hello Nick,” she greeted. Nicklaus said a few words over the phone, then ended the call and slid the phone inside his pants back pocket.

“Hello Helena, how are you?” He replied fondly and kissed her cheeks. I was left with my mouth wide open. Nick is smiling at this woman. Wow, this is a first. She must be a really good friend.

“How is Delgado? Is he giving you a hard time?”

“He's okay, that man will never change. I'm thinking of quitting and looking for another job. Only then will he know how fortunate he is to have me work for him,” she said, exasperated.

Nick smiled. He actually smiled! “Take pity on him, don't leave. This firm will never be the same without you,” she beams.

“I know, right? He can't do anything without me, I'm literally running this firm of his,” she said conspiratorially. They both laughed amicably.

“It's good to see you. Go on in, don't let me keep you.” Her eyes run over Logan; she nods at him, smiling. Then they finally found me, and she narrowed her eyes infinitesimally.

“It is good to see you too, Helena, let me get inside; he must be waiting for me,” Nick says, already heading towards the glass door.

“He is,” she agreed.

I bite my lip, uncomfortable with the suspicious look Helena is sending at me.

Logan strolled past her, and I undoubtedly followed. The office was bigger than the average lawyer's office I've been to. There's a big table with black leather chairs, three large, equally black leather settees in the shape of a U, and a table between them.

The glass doors and windows have shutters. Delgado Enrique is a handsome man, younger than I first thought when his secretary and Nick were talking about him.

He's older than Nicklaus for sure, but not by much. They greeted each other with the familiarity of old friends, asking about each other's lives.

Helena came in with a silver tray with three mugs of coffee. She passed the coffee around and excluded me. I didn't blame her; she seems to adore Nick, and there's no question she knew a little of what I did.

Nobody said anything about her behavior. Nick passed me his coffee mug after he'd taken a drink.

“Here, drink.” It was an order; there's no question about it. His eyes were dark as he held my gaze captive.

I didn't want to obey him, but my hand had already reached for the mug unbeknownst to me. The heat of the cup made me pull my hand with a hiss.

“I don't want to,” I said belligerently. Trying to prove to him that he may have choked me, starved me, but he didn't break my spirit, and I'm not afraid of him.

“Take. It,” he said, our eyes locked in a battle of will, I didn't want to be cowed by his intimidating glare anymore. I refused to blink first, but Nick's eyes were dangerous, cold, hard, and very intimidating.

Those cold, dark eyes could turn a strong man into a blubbering idiot, and I'm not a man—just a tiny woman with no experience to counter his.

Nick's older and has more experience with formidable opponents than I do. I couldn't hold his gaze for long.

I blink and lower my eyes, angry at him and myself.

I don't know what is going on with me, him, or both of us. I refuse to look at him or any of them. Nick took hold of my chin and raised my face to look at him; the tears I've been fighting slid past my defense.

I hate him and how helpless he made me feel. He stared at me for a moment, searching, his face blank, his eyes dark after a few seconds that felt longer.

He nodded approvingly and released my chin. He took the cup and handed it to me.

“Now drink.” He watched me bring the cup to my lips and took a sip.

Only then did he turn to Delgado, whom I had completely forgotten was here, and who I'm sure had witnessed Nick display his dominance over me.

I felt ashamed that they'd witnessed our interaction, angry that I had given in.

“Did you get the contract ready?” Delgado cleared his throat and passed a long printed paper that had been stapled together to Nick.

“Did you add all the stipulations I've mentioned?” he asked as he leafed through the pages.

“Yes, everything is in here, check the clause on the first, third, and fourth pages,” Delgado replied, then came around the table to point out the pages.

I drink the coffee as I listen to them, my heart beating so loud I thought there's no way they didn't hear it. The coffee sat in my stomach like a heavy lead.

They kept talking, discussing, and making changes to the contract. Then Helena printed everything out when they were finally done.

Throughout it all, Logan stayed silently behind me, like a wall. I was close to screaming my head off at that moment. We had been here for a couple of hours.

“Sign here, here, and here,” Nick said, opening the pages to show where I'm supposed to add my signature. My stomach sank with dread.

“Why do you want me to sign that?” I asked in a small voice. He raises that arched brow arrogantly.

“Do you want to go to jail? I could make it happen. But instead of three years, you would be expected to serve the prison term specified by the Stephanie law, in addition to the fine. I will make it ten years of prison time, I have the money and connections to make it so.”

I was trembling and blinking so hard. “No, no, you can't. I know my rights, okay, you can't force me to sign anything,” I said, my voice was so thick and shaking, I can't go to jail.

“Oh, yes, I can, Andrea.”

I can't be a convict; it will ruin my life. My future, every dream my parents ever had for me, and the life I have envisioned for myself.

I pull my legs up on the leather seat and hug them. “Delgado, Logan, could you give us a minute?”

“Sure thing.” Delgado stalked out of the room, and Logan hesitated before joining him.

“Look at me, Andrea.” The hard tenor of his voice made me lift my head instantly and look into his eyes.

“Come here.” I did. Without arguments, I just know that at that moment I couldn't say no to him.

His eyes were dark and intimidating. I moved closer to him, and my tears blurred my vision. I was shaking so hard that the coffee mug slipped from my hand and almost tumbled to the ground.

Nick's quick reflex saved it from breaking, although he couldn't save the warm liquid from ruining Delgado's gold colored rug carpet. His hands were stained with black coffee. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped them clean.

Then he turns his focus back to me. “Closer, Andrea.” I covered the last space between us until my knee brushed his hard thigh.

He brings his other hand and uses his thumb to wipe my tears away. The other hand buried in my hair, he began to massage my scalp, his dark eyes still held mine prisoner.

“But I don't want to.” He was running his long fingers through my hair even as he spoke.

“Are you letting me go? Is that why you need me to sign the papers?” I asked naively, even if a big part of my heart already knows that's not what the papers are for. His eyes darken.

“Even you are not that stupid, are you? I'm not a forgiving person, Andrea, I fuck with those who fucks with me, and I do it hard. Here's the thing: you, Andrea, are the exception. You have something that I want, so I'm choosing to make a deal with you.”

I was confused. “But I don't have anything to give you, nothing at all,” I choke out, my voice clogged with more tears. His gaze hooded, then lowered to my lips, down my throat, and fixed on my falling and rising chest.

“That's not true, Andrea, you have everything—your beautiful, delectable, sexy body. I have had you. And surprisingly, I want more. I liked that I'm your first. It gives me ideas on how to explore and train your body for the things I like.” My face instantly flushed with color.

“You'd be the first woman I had ever owned. If you agree to sign the contract, you will be mine for six months of your life.”

I tried to shake my head helplessly in his grasp. How could he do this to Jules?

He wipes my cheeks as my tears fall endlessly, still massaging my head and brushing my strawberry strands, my entire face in his two hands.

“You will be mine in every sense of the word, you will do what I want when I want it. You walk and talk when I want. You will wear and eat what I give you, and you can never say no to me. You don't fucking breathe without my permission. For those six months, you are completely mine.”

I stared at him in horror, my eyes wide with panic. I was terrified of what my life would be like if I agreed to this insanity. But even in my panic, I knew I had little to no choice over what happens to me.

I did this!

This was my fault; I should never have gotten between a married couple. But I was desperate, afraid of getting hitched to someone that I hate, so I made a rash decision.

The wrong decision, from the looks of it, seeing as I'm beginning to understand it wasn't as easy as Jules had painted it to be.

This job has proven that I had underestimated my mark, and I'm now paying for it.

I still have the chance to do something.

I have to do something, anything, to save me from my own foolishness. I tried to scramble away from Nick, to get as far away from him as I possibly could, leave the country, and go as far away as I could get.

But I couldn't detach his fingers from my hair; despair twisted my stomach. I couldn't even free my hair from his grasp.

How do I hope to leave the country like this? I don't have the strength to fight a man like Nicklaus. I only get one option, so I beg.

“No, please let me go, Nick, I'm sorry, I'm so fucking sorry. Please just let me go, let me leave. I would leave New York. Go back to my town, and you will never see or hear from me again.” I sob out hysterically.

He tugged my hair hard until it stung, and my eyes finally focused on him. His face was blank, emotionless; there was no sign of mercy for me. Those blue orbs were icy cold as always.

“I'm sorry, Andrea, I can't do that.” He said, kissing and nipping my neck and ear, then he sucked hard on my neck until I was sure he'd left a mark. It would bruise and leave a big, ugly hickey.

“It's already too late. I enjoy your body too much to let you go. I love the thought of owning you, of having you at my beck and call. From now on, I will make every decision regarding your life.

Until the six-month period of your penance is over. Only then will I let you go; I will destroy the evidence I have against you. And you'll once again be a free woman to live your life as you wish.”

He'd said it so nonchalantly as though he wasn't talking about my life. As though I were a thing, not a living, breathing being. He wanted control over my life, and he's not even remorseful towards me.