She rubbed at her temple and he saw how pale she looked.
He opened the top drawer of his desk, removed two pain pills, and then grabbed a bottle of water from his fridge. He offered them to her.
“What are they?” she asked.
“The legal kind of painkiller. It will help your headache.”
“How did you know?”
“I know a lot, Mira. I know you’re desperate. I know you want to find anyone else but me to save your brother. You also know that at the cost of your body and your womb, you’re going to give yourself to me.”
“You’re so sure of everything. Why didn’t you just take it?” she asked.
“There is a condition with all of this,” Drake said.
“More conditions?”
Drake smiled. “I’m a businessman.”
“Tell me,” she said.
“I expect you to be willing.”
“What?”
“You heard me. I expect you to come to my bed as a willing participant. I don’t want a corpse in my bed, and I don’t do rape. You will come to bed and play just as I will. Anything less and your brother’s life ends.” This was enough for today. He checked the time even though he didn’t have another meeting, but he needed Mira desperate.
He’d wait for an answer, but they both knew what it was going to be.
Chapter Two
“You have no idea the position you’ve put me in.” Mira had been ranting for the past half hour. She’d stopped by her brother’s apartment once he got home from the hospital. It was hard getting mad when both his legs were in casts. He looked so pathetic and helpless.
But she managed.
“Forget him. I’ll figure things out.”
“No, Nigel. That’s not how any of this works. Drake told me everything. I know everything!”
Her brother rubbed both hands down his face. “I’m sorry, Mira.”
“You’re sorry? What happened to you, Nigel? I get you’re upset about Dad, but what about his legacy? Don’t you even care about the shop? About me?”
“I got in over my head. I’ve got a problem.”
She scoffed. “You’re telling me. Now I have to live in that sociopath’s bed and pump out his kids just to save your ass.”
“Mira—”
“Don’t, Nigel. No more talking. We’re out of options and you know it.” She ran a hand through her hair as she paced in front of him. The doorbell sounded.
“Who’s that?”
“The hospital sent me a Personal Support Worker for a few hours a day. I can’t do anything with these.” He pointed to the two big white casts from his seat in the borrowed wheelchair.
She needed to get out of there. As furious as she was with Nigel, she didn’t want to hinder his recovery. And she couldn’t stop obsessing over Drake’s unorthodox offer.
“I’ll check on you later. Don’t do anything else stupid,” she said before leaving his apartment. She passed the PSW on her way to the elevator.
Her cell phone rang soon after she got in her car. It was Drake again. She’d been ignoring his calls the past two days. Her mind was a mess. He represented years of bad memories when they were in school together. All that couldn’t just be forgotten and wiped out. On the other hand, she was undeniably attracted to Drake—every single thing about him. Part of her wanted to tell him to shove his offer and the other part wanted to sign on the dotted line, and it had nothing to do with Nigel.
But since Nigel was a major factor, she could blame her choice on her brother. She was doing the right thing. Nothing more. Drake didn’t need to know she enjoyed the idea of being owned by him. The way he’d touched her in the office was farther than she’d gotten with any man in her life. At thirty, that was pathetic. And no one would even believe she was a virgin.
That was fine with her.
It was embarrassing to admit she had no social life and no experience with men. Every time she tried to get close to a new guy, her nerves would fire up so bad that she’d make a fool of herself. Drake was familiar, even if in a negative context, so she didn’t fumble the same way. He took control so she didn’t have to do anything but follow his lead.
She turned off her cell phone at the next red light. Maybe if she ignored Drake, all her problems would magically go away. Mira sighed, tapping her fingers as she waited for the light to change. When the light turned green, the car in front of her didn’t move. She gave him a courtesy honk, but still nothing.
You’ve got to be kidding me.
Mira honked twice, then checked her blind spot to see if she could veer around his car. But the guy in front got out of the vehicle. He was huge with a facial tattoo. Why did she honk so many times? Her heart began to pump wildly in her chest as he approached her driver’s side window.
He stood there, waiting for her to roll it down. Should she ignore him? Call the police?
She lowered the window down just a couple of inches.
“There’s a call for you,” he said, holding out a cell phone.
Mira narrowed her eyes, completely confused. She took the phone through the crack in the glass.
Tentatively, she put the phone to her ear. “Hello?”
“You’re hard to get a hold of, sweetheart.” It was Drake. His voice deep, calm, and controlled.
“What’s happening right now? Who is this guy and how did you know where I was?”
“I had you tailed. What would you do in my shoes? I have a lot of money riding on your brother,” he said. “You have a short memory.”
“I remember.”
“It’s been two days. I expect an answer today by
