Descent (Black Heart Romance)

“And what will I do instead?”

“Whatever you want.”

He says that like it’s so simple, but it’s not.

I haven’t broached the topic since the night we went out, but that demand reaches a little too far and forces my hand. “Look, I’ve… I feel like I’ve been a lot better this week. I haven’t done anything to deliberately provoke you, and I have treated you like I would a boyfriend I consented to have, but… asking me to cut back on work…”

He watches me, waiting for me to finish that sentence.

I don’t know how to without annoying him. “It’s not… I can’t just work less, because if I do that now, I might not be able to get back to my current workload in the future. The people I work for could be annoyed or just find someone else to work with.”

Calvin shrugs. “Let them. That will give you more time to focus on your own projects. Why should you spend every bit of your time working for someone else and put your own ideas on the backburner? That’s nonsensical and unnecessary now that you have me.”

“I don’t have my own stories to work on. I mean, I’ve had ideas flit across my mind, sure, but nothing that will pay my bills right now. That’s why I work for other people, Calvin—to make money. Even with this credit card for expenses… that’s nice and all, it really is, but I still have the same bills to pay that I had before. I don’t want a roommate, and I have to keep up my apartment even though I’m not living in it right now so it’ll still be there when I have to move back to it.”

“That’s another thing. We’re going to cancel the lease on your apartment.”

I gape at him. “What?”

He nods. “I don’t like your landlord, and you don’t need it; you live here now.”

“Well… yeah, for now…”

“Even if you didn’t, I wouldn’t want you living there. I would buy you a safer apartment, one with a bit more space in a better part of town. Hollis and Arson have both told me a strong wind could knock your door down; it’s a miracle no one has ever broken in given you’re a beautiful woman living alone.”

I put down the fork and stare at my plate for a few seconds before shaking my head. “I can’t turn down money I know I’ll need just because you say so. If you’re going to make me turn down a job, then… I mean, I hate to say this, but I need you to match it. Pay me what I would have made from that work so that when I go back to my real life, I’ll have a bit of a cushion in case the people I work for have an attitude or just gave my job to someone else.”

“That’s not a problem. Actually, I can do you one better. Tomorrow I’ll have my lawyer draw up a contract to make it official. Independent of what you make on your own, I will give you $100,000 per year as long as I keep you.”

My heart nearly stops—both because of that figure, and because the way he says that, like he considers it possible that he will keep me for longer than a year.

I open my mouth to speak, but no words come out.

Since I haven’t answered, he looks at me across the table. “Is that sufficient?”

“I… What? I mean, what if you drop me before it’s been a year?”

“Wouldn’t matter. You’ll still get the full 100 grand. We can set it up on a renewable, year-by-year basis. This way you have a dependable supplement to your income and you can feel comfortable lightening your load to free up more of your time.”

I’m still speechless.

Possibly misunderstanding my silence, he adds, “And your credit card has a $14,000 limit. I’ll pay it off monthly, and of course, if you need more, you can always ask.”

His tone indicates he would relish me asking, but I’m still totally thrown by all of this.

“You really think there’s even a chance you’ll still want me a year from now?” I finally ask.

His brow furrows with something like concern. “Why wouldn’t I?”

I don’t know.

I just know men tend not to stick around, and I don’t know why one with as much to offer as he has would.

I don’t want to say that and sound insecure, so we drop the topic for the moment and finish dinner. Afterward, he gives me my phone so I can check everything before he takes it away again.

The first thing I notice before any of the other notifications is that I have a barrage of text messages from my bestie. I don’t know if that means something is wrong, so I swipe the screen quickly and tap Charity’s name to see what’s going on.