“Physically I was fine, but they could still see it in me. The light was dim, almost out, but they knew what I needed: a purpose to keep going, even after not hearing from me for almost a year. They told me about their hotel in Budapest being a destination for some international sex trafficking ring and asked me to look into it. It was nowhere close to where I thought I’d end up, but one operation provided information on another, and I have been operating like that ever since. They gave me a mission.”
“What happens when the mission is over or the information stops coming?” She wiped tears from her cheeks. “I mean, I don’t think it could happen, but it could. Is that why you hired me? And if I wasn’t here, what would your next mission be?
“It’s a fair question.” I held out my hand, and she took it. “I think maybe that’s why the universe sent me you.”
She yanked her hand away. “I’m not a mission or a problem that needs solving.”
“No, I know.” I nodded. “And you’re not a placeholder or a distraction. It’s easy to dedicate yourself when the problem is so horrific. No one can blame you for your moral stance or drag you for dedicating yourself to it, except for the people who know you the most.”
“I don’t understand.”
“I want a life, Kylie.” I paused to gather my thoughts. I was sharing my heart. “I want a little girl in my life, a special woman who understands my need for control and dominance and thrives under it. I don’t want someone to capture and consume; I want someone to offer me their submission as the gift that it is and then spend my life treating them in a way they never have toquestion why they gave it to me in the first place.” I caressed her cheek. “I don’t want a new mission. I just want a life... with you.”
“Oh, Patrick.” Tears pooled in her eyes. “You are such a sweetie. I am sorry for all the mean things I thought about you before I got to know you.”
“What did you think of me when we first met?”
“Well, I don’t know what I thought.” She waved her hand over me. “But I didn’t think this.”
“Thank you.” I took a breath, laying it all on the line. “So, what do you say? Do you want to be my little girl?”
CHAPTER 34
KYLIE
Idrew my legs up and hugged myself. I wasn’t trying to get away from Patrick. His words hung heavy in the space between us, his question left unanswered in the near silence. The air conditioner ran. Laughter from the hallway seeped into the room as a couple passed by.
Patrick's gaze grew darker as he waited for me to answer him or speak to what he had told me. I wasn’t sure what to say. While I understood him more and shared his needs. He had a hole in his heart I could fill; I needed someone to fill that hole in my heart left by my sister. I’ve never felt able to grieve properly because I didn’t know what actually happened to her. I grieved the emptiness she caused in my life, but not her death. Somewhere deep down, I held onto a sliver of hope that she would return, like Tinley did.
The phone on the nightstand interrupted my thoughts.
The phone in Patrick’s hand rang simultaneously.
I crawled to the other side of the bed and answered it.
“Hello?”
“Ms. Stands?”
“Yes?”
“This is Marcus from the front desk of Quad II.” His voice sounded equal parts confused and annoyed. A woman’s voice was squawking in the background. It sounded vaguely familiar.
“A woman is here asking to speak with you.”
“Who is it?”
“Charlotte Peterson.”
I watched Patrick pacing and then stopped as the color drained from his face. “What the fuck is she doing here?” Apparently, the answer on the other end didn’t satisfy his curiosity. “Where’s Tinley?”
The answer made him angrier.
“Put her in the VIP lounge and lock it down until I get there.”
He stormed towards the door.
I shut off the phone and jumped off the bed to stop him.
