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Considering the circumstances, I did.
Chapter 38
JUNE
Things aren’t improving, so I try another tactic. “I’m not sure what you want from me, but there isn’t anything you can get from me here that I can’t give you from my home. Surely, the threat of taking me away is just as effective as actually doing it.”
He laughs much harder this time. “Ms. Devlin, I’ve never been fond of lady comics, but you are a talent.”
A swing and a miss. “If?—"
“How well do you know Anderson?”
Oh boy. There’s no good answer to that question. Except maybe the truth? I mean, our past is sticky at best, but depending on what Andre knows, it might be the right option. Pissing him off isn’t going to win me a friend. Should I just tell him everything, blather on until I annoy him so he’ll send me away? Would that even work?
Or should I tell him about the auction and let his imagination run wild, so he’s distracted?
“We went to school together. Tonight is the first time I’ve met his family.” Simple. Straightforward. No room for error.
“Hmm,” is the only response I get out of him.
“Why me? The Wests have a ton of relatives—hell, I met a bunch of them tonight. I’m not attached to the family in any formal way. So, why me?”
“I told you. You are their collateral.”
“Right, but why not anyone else?”
A hint of a smirk draws the corner of his mouth tight. “Are you saying you would wish this fate on a stranger?”
Don’t like him talking about fate, like this is the end of the line for me. “I’m saying that strategically, it makes more sense to nab anyone but me. I like to play chess, and as a strategy, this one isn’t a winner, so I’m just trying to understand.”
“Glad to hear it. I play as well. Perhaps, one day we will play together. In the meantime, do not underestimate your value.”
“I’m just surprised, is all. We haven’t been dating that long.”
“From the sometime after the Chamberlain Auction, according to my sources.”
My face flushes hot, but there were two auctions that night. Hopefully, he means the first one. “Um, yes. A worthy cause, the Chamberlain?—
“Yes, it is.” He pauses. “But I’m not speaking of the public auction. I’m speaking of the private one.”
Okay, that’s a little too much honesty from my kidnapper. “Right well, we’ve been together since after then. Just a few weeks. So, see? Not a brilliant strategy for you.”
He grins. “You blush prettily, Ms. Devlin.”
“And easily, so it’s no mean feat that you’ve managed it.”
“The thing you’re overlooking in all of this is that it’s not the length of time that you dated Anderson. It is the quality of that time. I have never seen that boy as smitten as he is with you. He would do anything to get you back.”
Okay, that’s nice to hear, but hearing it from Andre and hearing it from Anderson are two different things. “Guess I hope you’re right. Wait—you’re not trying to hurt him, are you?”
He sits back, a curious look on his face. “And if I were?”
“Please don’t. Whatever this is all about, there has to be another way to handle it. Anderson can be a jerk sometimes, but I’m sure whatever this is, he wasn’t trying to hurt anyone.”
“You have that much faith in him?”
I nod rapidly. “I’ve seen him at some of his worst times. It was never who he really was. He’s a good man who had a lot of bullshit thrown at him from a young age, and he’s struggled to make the best life he can since then. He deserves another chance. Please don’t hurt him.”
