Chapter 11 Chapter Eleven
My phone buzzed, and the name Madam Carie flashed across the screen. Without a second thought, I swiped left, ending the call before it could disrupt the quiet.
I turned back to Nina, watching her face soft in sleep. Peaceful.
But then—
The screen lit up again. Madam Carie.
My jaw tightened, rage coiling hot and sharp in my veins. The relentless buzzing grated against my nerves. My fingers twitched with the urge to hurl the damn phone against the wall, to shatter the device into a mess of glass and circuits just to silence her.
But I didn’t.
Instead, I exhaled slowly, forcing control over the simmering anger. Without hesitation, I powered off the phone and tossed it onto the nightstand.
Whatever she wanted, which was, of course, sex. Whatever threats she thought she could dangle over my head—it didn’t matter. Not right now.
Not when I had everything I wanted right here in this bed.
Madam Carie could ruin me with a single decision just cause of her call that was left unanswered. She could take everything, strip me down to nothing, leave me clawing my way back up from the dirt.
That was the kind of woman she was.
“Kane, You're still here?” Nina sat up, rubbing her eyes sleepily, her gaze flickering between excitement and uncertainty. It was as if she was relieved to find me still there, yet afraid I might vanish the moment she fully woke or dared to blink.
“Of course I am,” I smirked playfully.
Nina~
Kane was still here.
My fingers trembled as they reached for his face, tracing the sharp lines of his jaw and the slight roughness of his stubble. His skin was warm beneath my touch, real. Solid. And yet, fear curled inside me like a cruel whisper.
What if this was just a dream? A figment of my desperate imagination?
I swallowed hard, my heart tightening. He could be anywhere right now—servicing a client, lost in someone else’s touch—while I lay here, foolishly believing he belonged to me, even for a second.
The thought sent a sharp ache through my chest, and I had to blink back the sudden sting in my eyes. But then his voice broke through the silence—low, smooth, laced with amusement. That voice, the one that could weaken knees and melt resolve.
And his smirk. That playfully arrogant curve of his lips.
He was here. With me.
For now.
But I knew it wouldn’t last. The moment he found out about the test, he’d leave. Not because he wanted to, but because he had to. The contract made that clear. And Kane… he was a man who followed the rules.
If he had been just another escort—some struggling, inexperienced worker—I might have considered buying him out. But Kane wasn’t just anyone. He was the Kane. The highest-ranked, most sought-after name in the industry.
The articles I’d read a few nights ago put his yearly earnings between fifty and sixty million dollars.
To keep him for myself, I’d need at least a hundred million.
And that kind of money was far beyond my reach, even in the next hundred years to come. I knew that if my sister were here, she’d laugh and call me pathetic. And maybe she’d be right.
Just a week—barely more than a handful of nights in his arms—and I was already too attached. Too desperate to hold on, even knowing it would end with my heart shattered into a thousand irreparable pieces.
Maybe it was inevitable. A lifetime of being starved of affection had left me like this—needy, hopelessly foolish.
Pathetic.
Pathetic enough to want him all to myself. To crave something I had no right to ask for.
To wish, against all logic, that he could love me back. Tears welled in my eyes again as I grabbed the nearest piece of cloth and sniffled against it.
Why am I so emotional this morning?
Is this the infamous mood swing every pregnant woman experiences?
Isn’t mine a little too early?
I snapped back to reality when Kane’s voice rumbled against my ear, low and commanding, dripping with dark amusement, "If you don’t stop thinking so hard, I’ll fuck the thoughts right out of that pretty little head of yours."
A shiver ran down my spine, heat pooling low in my stomach. His fingers traced the curve of my neck, deliberate, possessive as if daring me to keep drifting away.
"That got your attention, didn’t it?" he murmured, his breath hot against my skin, “I would have loved to fuck you right now but I think you're too spent to handle that. I made breakfast to replenish your strength”
What?
Did he make breakfast for me?
After saying that, Kane scooped me up, and only then did I realize my fingers were still tightly clenched around his shirt. My gaze dropped to the nearly dried mucus on his chest, and horror dawned on me—I had used his shirt to wipe my nose during my emotional breakdown just minutes ago.
I flushed in shame and Kane smirked teasingly at me, making my shame double over. He placed me in front of the dishes and started to uncover them slowly while I just stared at him in utter speechlessness. He placed the spoon and fork next to the food and then stared at me expectantly.
I picked up the spoon, hesitating for a moment before scooping up a bite of what he had prepared. Bringing it to my lips, I took a cautious taste, letting the flavors settle on my tongue. My eyes widened. It was delicious—rich, perfectly seasoned, and far better than I had expected.
This wasn’t just good; it was on par with the kind of food served in five-star restaurants. A guy could cook this well? Better than me? That stung a little.
I had never imagined he even knew how to cook, and if he did, I assumed it would be barely edible. But this… this was something else. And to my shock, I actually wanted another bite.
I looked back at Kane, his eyes shimmering with anticipation—like a puppy wagging its tail, eager for praise and affection.