“Crew,” she said sharply. “Go with Mindy.”
“But Mommy,” the kid whined.
“Now.”
Her chin trembled, but she held out the contract in her hand to Noah. He didn’t take it. I’d let them read it, taken twisted pleasure at the realization that had settled over them yesterday when I’d dropped by unannounced to tell them to rustle up their son for me.
“You’ll do as your dad says. I’ll not have your sister’s dancing career derailed by this horrible business. And Crew is starting at the Arts Academy preschool this year. That’s thirty thousand dollars right there. You will do this, and we won’t speak of it as a family again. Family makes sacrifices, Noah.” She didn’t say anything else, and he stared at her like she’d gone insane.
“The drama’s boring, ma’am. Let’s move this along.”
She prodded Noah with the contract I’d had my lawyer draw up. It wasn’t enforceable anywhere in the world, or at least I didn’t think so, but it spelled out clearly that I would be calling in every freshly purchased dollar of Divine debt today if Noah didn’t leave this house and stay with me willingly for six months. If I did that, their only choice would be bankruptcy, and they’d probably have a class action lawsuit or twelve on their hands from all their other creditors. Oh, and there were a few other tidbits in the contract that would raise the hair on any average person as well.
Noah snatched the contract and pen from his mother. Quickly, he scanned the first few short paragraphs, which I hadn’t actually expected him to do. He flipped through the multipage document and paused on the last paragraph.
“The aforementioned, Noah Divine, will comply with all requests of any nature made by Alton Bouchard. What doesall requestsmean?” He stared at me, and his jaw was so hard that the dimple in the middle of his chin stood out sharply.
“Anything I fuckin’ say.”
He jutted his bottom lip and appeared to think on what that might entail. I eyed him up, decided to have some fun, and licked my lips obnoxiously. The wink I sent him was pure gold.
His top lip curled, and I stepped in, pushing his father back. I grabbed hold of Noah’s hair and used it to pull him in against me. His firm, warm body was every bit as fucking delightful squirming against me as I’d imagined it would be. I tried to kiss him, but he slammed his lips closed and refused to open them when I pressed mine to his. I nipped his bottom lip, and he shoved at my chest. I let him go and stepped back, but my blood pumped fast through my veins and I was excited now. I’d have to break him. I’d hoped for, but hadn’t counted on, so much fun.
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. I’m not a countess in a regency novel.”
“No, you’re a spoiled fuckin’ prince on Vert Island. Sign the damned paperwork.”
He glared for a second, then shocked the hell out of me when he turned toward the wall and scribbled his name on the bottom. He finished and tossed the pen at my face. I reacted without thinking and grabbed him by the back of the neck, dragging him in the direction of the front door. I’d be spanking his ass as soon as I could reasonably do it for that little stunt, and my gut tingled happily at the thought. The kid started crying from somewhere back down the hallway and the mom yowled. Edison Divine followed hot on my heels, but I held up a hand. It was very gratifying to see him stop in his tracks.
“Y’all will be receiving a letter by courier later this afternoon.” Noah struggled in my grip, and I leaned down to whisper, “You will walk out of this house with me and go sit nicely in my car, and if you don’t, you’ll fuckin’ regret it.”
“You can’t do this,” he hissed, those pretty gray eyes of his flashing hate. I loved it.
“It’s already done.” I shoved him forward, and he almost fell to his knees but righted himself at the last moment. He straightened up, smoothed down his shirt, and walked with his head tall to the front door. I followed along behind him. When he jerked the door open, he ran, and I doubted it was to do what I’d told him.
Grinning, I waited. My security team was with me and knew why I was here. He wasn’t going anywhere—except into my car.
3
NOAH
I should have knownI wouldn’t get far, not with three men the size of football players chasing me. I assumed they worked for Alton, and one of them must have been faster than the others because someone tackled me to the ground, crushing my face into the springy lawn my dad’s gardener obsessed over. The fresh-cut-grass smell invaded my nose and I inhaled some of the clippings, making me splutter. It was late in the season for mowing, but nothing could ever be less than perfect here. The guy’s weight hurt my lower back, and I let out a cry of pain as whoever it was lifted me to my feet like I was a lot lighter than my one hundred and seventy-six pounds.
His grip went to the nape of my neck, fingernails biting into my flesh until I winced at the pain, and he dragged me back toward the house, where Alton waited for me outside the front door. I glanced at the man in a black suit next to me—tall with wide shoulders and bulging muscles, clearly the protection—and glared.
“Let me go!” I yelled, but the man ignored me and shoved until I collapsed on my knees in front of Alton’s towering figure. Everything about him felt imposing, a man with influence, money, and power, and I felt equally scared and impressed. No words could do his handsomeness justice, with his high brows and freckled skin, and the last thing I should have been doing was approve of his appeal. “Why do you want me? I’m a nobody.”
The bodyguard shoved my shoulder, and I grunted when I fell forward, my palms digging into some of the small stones that had escaped from the driveway as I caught my balance.
“You’re somebody to me, Noah.” He moved down the steps away from the front door and shifted closer until his shiny black shoes crunched the few loose white pebbles beneath them. I startled when he held out a hand to me, and I hesitantly slipped mine into his, letting him help me to my feet. His dark gaze turned on the bodyguard. “If you ever touch him that roughly again, I’ll cut off every one of your fingers, am I clear?”
The muscleman swallowed and nodded quickly.
Alton raised my hand to his lips, laying gentle kisses over my skin. I couldn’t look away, stunned into stillness as my mind raced with ideas of how to escape. I let him lead me to the car because there was no way in hell I could run away now. My fate had been set.
I glanced over my shoulder at my parents, who’d approached the door.
My mom, in her favorite pearls and tight black dress, stared impassively at me with Dad at her side. She reminded me of the Grim Reaper on days like this, when she’d turned into the obedient housewife who kept her mouth shut. She wasn’t always like that. Once upon a time, she’d smiled at me like she loved me. I didn’t know when it changed or how.
