“I don’t know what kind of sick game you’re playing, but just forget it. Until yesterday, I thought I had a job and a place to live. I had a shitty boss, but who doesn’t.”
I stare at my shoes, breathing in slowly, trying to count back from ten so I don’t overreact.
“Then you… You what? You buy up a charity, then spend millions at a phony auction you practically own anyway? Is that how rich people shift their money? Is it to avoid taxes, or is it just that millions of dollars are not enough you have to own people as well?” she asks bitterly, making me grimace.
I feel my face bunching up, my chest hurts and I can’t breathe anymore.
What the fuck happened? We were just coming back here to get her some clothes, so she felt was more comfortable. I was gonna spend the rest of the day-
A lot of what she’s saying doesn’t make sense but at the same time…
I can’t blame her for feeling this way.
It’s a bad look and it’s got my name on all over it, even if I am trying to set it right.
Thorne. The name synonymous with takeovers, with getting what he wants… with greed.
I can see it in her eyes now, the same look from all those people at the soup kitchen.
All asking me the same thing: How much is enough, buddy?
Her eyes widen, and her lip trembles. The tears she’s holding back are returning.
“Please,” she stammers, pointing to the door.
I don’t want to upset her any more than I already have, but I’m not leaving.
I go to the door, open it, and stand in the doorway. She turns away from me, but I have to tell her everything.
Everything I know anyway.
As it stands.
“You’re right about Thorne Industries buying up the neighborhood…But I only found out yesterday. It’s why I was so eager to win you at the auction. The soup kitchen is smack dab in the middle of the area marked for purchase.”
She keeps her back to me, her body shaking with tears.
“But Jules. I wanted you before I knew any of that. And when I found out what they’d planned, I made my own plans. To either buy out the company’s plan personally or to fire everyone responsible and take it over myself. I’ve even called a meeting for tomorrow to deal with the situation personally.”
I feel some life returning to me when she turns around.
“You didn’t even know?” she asks me, and I shrug. Shaking my head bitterly.
“No, I didn’t. I didn’t even know the company with my name on it was planning to make thousands of homeless and near-homeless people even more miserable. So I’ve taken steps to remedy that.”
She standing still. Quiet, except for a little sniffle.
“I’m buying them out. Whoever they pitched the investment to. And that auction money is going to be matched, dollar for dollar, like I promised, to fix the neighborhood, to build a bigger and better kitchen and a whole lot more.”
“And me?” she asks. “Where do I really fit in all this?”
In two steps I’ve closed the door behind me and taken her in my arms, pressing her hand against my heart.
“You belong here, Jules. With me. Forever,” I whisper hoarsely, my voice cracking with emotion.
She gasps and I brush my lips against hers.
“You belong with me because I love you Jules, and you mean more to me than any amount of money. You’re mine like I keep telling you. Can’t you just accept that and be with me?”
Her kiss in reply tells me her answer. Our mouths lock and her tongue swirls with mine as I grip her so hard I’m afraid she’ll break, but when I feel her hands on me gripping even tighter.
I know I’ve won her. I know she understands just how I feel.
“Then take me, Mason. Make me yours,” she whimpers, melting into me and clawing at my shirt, my jacket.
“And damn you,” she adds, still sniffing. “Damn you for being so perfect!”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Jules
I don’t know what to think when I hear Florence’s message, to think that Mason was down there, of all places.
I automatically jump to the conclusion that he’s just using me or playing with me.
But when he tells me the truth.
And I know it’s the truth.
Once he tells me he loves me.
It’s the three words, the only three words that make any sense of the feelings I have for him too.
Nobody’s ever told me they love me, and when Mason says it I know it’s the truth. It has to be.
Because it’s exactly how I felt since the moment I first saw him.
It sounds corny, until it actually happens, love at first sight. I mean… It’s hard to describe.
Nowhere near as hard as Mason though. Once he grabs hold of me, once I tell him to take me here and now, I lose all my doubts, any questions about myself or him loving me have vanished.
I want him now more than ever, need him inside me.
Being at home, in my own clothes, and near my own bed, having him tell me he loves me, it feels like the right time to give myself to him.
Heart, body, and soul.
Surprisingly, romance is the farthest thing from my mind. Once I decide it has to be now, I’m tearing at his clothes, itching to get him inside me as quickly as I can.
He helps me by sliding out of his jacket and shirt in seconds while I fumble with his belt buckle, trying to grip and rub his manhood through his pants at the same time.
He groans loudly, letting me work to free his dick, growling with satisfaction once I have it out, my hands trembling to match the whimpering sound coming from my own body.
I can barely hold myself up and once Mason can see I’m in a near faint, he scoops me up and carries
