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Needless to say, he hadn’t planned on coming back. So he’d get what he got.
“Thank you, sir.” She smiled and then said, “Can I get y’all anything else?”
Dad ordered a margarita to go, causing the woman to laugh. “Sorry, but we’re not allowed to send alcohol home. We don’t have any fancy to-go drinks that are ‘tamper proof’ like Daquiri Express.”
Dad chuckled and waved her on. “We’re good, darlin’. Thank you.”
She left with a smile on her face, and I waited for the rest of them to finish up their meals before taking everything that wasn’t touched.
A steak, macaroni, and cornbread.
Why I’d taken these things when I didn’t eat them, I didn’t know. I knew it would be suspicious, that my parents and siblings would question it, but I did it anyway.
The place had the second-best macaroni I’d ever tasted, as well as the best wagyu steak you could get in a hundred-mile radius.
Their cornbread was also to die for.
But again, I maintained a very strict diet. Only when I could stand it no more did I eat the macaroni that my personal chef made for me.
“You’re taking the cornbread?” Katrin narrowed her eyes. “Why?”
“There’s a stray dog that I pass every day,” I lied. “I like to feed him the leftovers.”
There was a stray that I passed, and I did feed him my leftovers. But the animal was a cat, not a dog. And I couldn’t get anywhere near the damn thing.
It was like he judged me as I threw him food that he ate.
Yet I did it anyway.
“You’re such a softy, Winston.” My mother stood and swept her skirt into place. “Always have been.”
I wasn’t.
But there was no use arguing with your mother.
“Are y’all heading straight home?” I asked.
We’d walked here, the best steak restaurant only a couple of blocks from my office.
It was Dad who answered. “We’re gonna walk.”
Dad and Mom lived in a high-rise a few blocks from the office. My sister lived in a one-bedroom even closer. It was my brother who lived far away now, over thirty minutes where he went to a technical school right outside of Terrel.
“Are you staying with Mom and Dad?” I asked.
“I left my car there so I could walk with them,” he said as we neared my office.
My heart was freakin’ pounding.
The closer I got to her, the closer I was to punishing her for tonight.
And my one-time sex thing was about to fly right out the window…
“I thought you got that for your stray dog?” Katrin asked, eyes narrowed as we reached my office.
“I didn’t see him,” I lied. “Did you?”
Katrin sighed. “Have a good night working your life away.”
I went inside as they kept going. My dad’s plan was probably to walk my sister to her apartment before heading to their own condo.
“Hello, sir,” the night security guard said as I entered.
I nodded my head to him and walked past without a word, heading straight to the elevator.
I didn’t go all the way to the top, though, because I didn’t want her to hear me arrive.
When I was on the floor below mine, I got out and headed for the stairs.
Anticipation was zipping through my veins as I walked through the door. I knew the minute I walked inside she would freak out.
And for some reason that only made the anticipation all the greater.
I silently opened the door to the stairwell and immediately spotted her across the room. She was sitting on my desk, legs swinging, as she checked out the night sky.
I walked silently across the floor toward her, undoing my tie as I did.
The moment I was close enough to her, I glanced down to see what she was doing on her phone.
It was our text message thread as if waiting for me to reply.
Of course, I hadn’t replied to her last message. I had saved her photo to my phone, though. And might’ve even added that photo to my favorites, and put it under her contact information.
Taking the tie in my hands, I moved until I was close enough to loop it around her throat. Then I pulled her backward to me.
She gasped, her hands going to her throat.
I pulled her until she was looking backward and up at me and said, “What did I tell you?”
Her eyes were wide as saucers, pupils dilated, as she said, “I thought you were kidding.”
I smoothed one hand down her throat, then gripped it. The silk of my tie felt soft and sweet under my grip.
Her breath started to come out in pants as she struggled to get away. Which only set me off even more.
I liked that she was struggling. I liked that she was staring at me with fear in her eyes. I also knew that today was going to be my breaking point.
There was no going back. She was going to be mine after today, whether she wanted to be or not.
