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“What if I don’t want to?”
“You do want to. I know you do. You also want more than a month with me, I can tell that. I want more too but it is a bad idea.”
“But why? What would be so bad about being together more than a month?”
“My wants and needs are far more intense than most women could hope to handle. I am a dominating man. I would dominate you all the time. It would be suffocating.”
“Yet you’re happy to do it for a month?”
“With a limited duration, we are both free to explore. Make it open ended and there is no way out for you.” I take a deep breath before telling her the complete truth. “I would crush you, Ophelia. You are an inexperienced woman. You are not used to the kind of things I need from my partners.”
“So teach me.” She sounds angry again. “Isn’t that what this month is supposed to be about? Teaching me to submit? That whole thing back there. I obeyed, didn’t I? I let you do those things.”
“Precisely my point. Look at you now. Your mind is churning as you try to reconcile what happened with who you are. Are you the type of woman who can be humiliated in public like that? Who can come in the middle of the street simply because I tell her to? Or are you the kind who would see that happening to someone else and be appalled? Do you look at yourself in shock that you want me to tie you up? To spank you? To fuck you in the ass until you can hardly walk just because I have said it should happen? Who are you, Ophelia?”
She again speaks in a whisper when she answers. “I don’t know.”
“That is my point. You can’t commit to a longterm thing without knowing who you are or what you want. The month will give you the opportunity to find out what type of person you are, whether this is right for you.”
“Then how about we add a clause to our deal? If we both agree, at the end of the month, we commit to a longer term thing.”
I smile. “You sound like you’re talking about a business deal.”
“Isn’t that how you see this? As business?”
I don’t answer that. “After a month, we reconvene and, if we agree, we keep things going longer. I can accept that. But if either one of us wants it to end, we walk away and that’s it. Paperwork ends the marriage. You get your million.”
“And you get to remain commitment free.”
I glance across at her. She’s scanning my face, a strange look in her eyes. “I know about your fears,” she says. “You think I don’t know who I am? You got any clue who you really are?”
I don’t know what to say. I was certain. Until she asked that.
“You don’t know if you can commit,” she continues. “You don’t know if you should commit. You want to ask about my background? I bet somewhere in yours is the reason you think you’ll break me, that you break everything. You think you’re damaged goods, that you’ll hurt those you love and somewhere in you is the reason why. Also somewhere in there is the reason why it could work if you were brave enough to try it. I think you want a lot more than a month but you’re not scared you’ll break me, you’re scared of something else entirely.”
“Oh, and what would that be?”
“You’re scared you’ll fall in love and that will be the end of your freedom. You’re scared that if you get too close to someone, it’ll mean you’re having to open up and be vulnerable. You have all these basements and rooms and whips and chains to keep women from getting too close. You’re frightened of your emotions just the same as me, Vincenzo.”
“Enough,” I say, bringing the conversation to an end. “The wedding takes place tomorrow. You will go home and get plenty of rest. I will have you collected in time for the event.”
“The event? How romantic.”
“The dress will be delivered in the morning along with a check for your friend. I’m guessing twenty thousand will be enough to get her started.”
“Twenty? She was only trying to get a loan for five.”
“Then twenty will be no doubt be sufficient. Call it a gesture of good faith in return for you doing me this small favor.”
I pull up outside her apartment block. “Do not sleep late,” I tell her. “From now on, you will not drink to excess. You will eat healthily and exercise regularly. If you are married to me, you will take care of yourself.”
“And if I go up there and eat a tub of ice cream right now?”
“You will regret it.”
“Why, because you’ll spank me again?”
“Because you’ll feel sick after drinking so much wine. It might not seem like it but I’m interested in your health as much as my plans. Go inside and go to bed. Sleep well and be ready for when the wedding dress comes tomorrow.”
