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His arm draped over the back of the chair, his fingertips touching my shoulder. “What are you doing out here, Lovely?”
“I came out here a while ago and lost track of time…”
His hand moved to the back of my head, and he gently touched my hair, his fingers working my scalp. Affectionate touches like that were becoming more frequent. He stopped grabbing me by the neck when he wanted something and treated me like a human being. “Something on your mind?”
There was my opportunity. “Kinda. It’s nothing important, and I don’t want to bore you with it.”
His fingers stopped moving in my hair. Instead, he grabbed the back of my head with his fingertips and gently shifted my face toward him. “You could never bore me, Lovely. Tell me.”
He never told me anything, but I didn’t bring that up. I got him to stop seeing other women, which was already a big gesture, so I couldn’t be too picky. “I guess I miss my brother. It’s his birthday…and I always call him on his birthday.” That was all bogus. It wasn’t his birthday, but Crewe probably didn’t know that. I kept looking over the fields without expressing any expectation. I didn’t want to outright ask if I could call him. It’d be much easier if Crewe showed some compassion and made the offer on his own.
Crewe didn’t say anything at all. His fingers moved through my hair again.
Damn. Was it stupid of me to actually think it would be that easy? “How was work?”
Crewe moved to the back of my neck and massaged the muscle, his thumb and forefinger powerful. Anytime he touched me, he always made me feel good. When his touch was sexual, it always lit me on fire. When it was comforting, it made me feel incredible. “You can call him.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and pulled the number on the screen. Then he handed it over to me.
Oh my god. It actually worked.
I stared at the phone without taking it, my eyebrow raised. “What?”
He continued to hold it. “I’ll give you ten minutes. Here.”
I finally took the phone, feeling my hand shake. “You’re being serious?”
“Yeah. It’s not like there’s anything either of you can do anyway.”
I stared at my brother’s number but didn’t press send. Now that I actually got my way, I didn’t know what to do. “Can I have some privacy?”
Crewe stared me down, his expression unreadable.
“You just said neither one of us can do anything…”
Crewe considered my words before he finally nodded. “Ten minutes. Not a second longer.” He leaned into me and kissed me on the mouth before he left the bench, his shoulders tense and his posture rigid. He carried himself with perfect grace every second of the day. Even if he went to the bathroom in the middle of the night, he still held himself like a soldier.
When he walked inside, I was still frozen in shock. That went over way easier than I expected. It almost seemed like a trick, but there was no way it could be unless Crewe had expected me to do this from the beginning.
I remembered my ten minutes were running, so I hit send and press the phone to my ear. It rang as I realized the balcony of our bedroom overlooked this courtyard. Crewe could be watching me, and if I spoke too loudly, he could hear me.
Joey answered. “Crewe.” He spoke with a voice pregnant with hate. I’d never heard that tone in his voice before. Even when we fought as kids, that kind of unbridled rage never made an appearance.
“It’s London. He said I have ten minutes to talk to you.”
“London?” His voice completely changed when he realized it was me. “He let you call me?”
“Yeah. He’s not around. I can speak freely.”
“Don’t be so sure. He’s not stupid.”
I was certain I really had the privacy I asked for. I think Crewe trusted me, on some level. “No, we’re alone.”
“Why would you let you speak to me alone?”
“Because I’ve been working on what we last talked about.” No need to spell it out if Joseph knew what I was talking about. “I think I’ve made a lot of progress. Things are different. I don’t know how much longer this is going to take me, but we’re definitely on the right track.”
This was awkward for Joseph. No easy way to discuss the fact that his little sister was being fucked every night by the guy who captured her. Joseph had always been protective of me since we lost our parents, and I knew he felt all the guilt of the entire situation. “Well…that’s good. You think he’ll eventually let you go?”
“I don’t know…maybe.” I wasn’t sure how long that would take to happen. Once I asked for my freedom, all my cards would be on the table. He would know everything between us was just a lie. “But I think I could at least ask for him to turn off the transmitter in your head for good. That wouldn’t be unreasonable.”
