That’s it.
He has enough evidence to bury me.
My eyes lower to the check on the floor before me. I could take it. Runaway and never come back. The amount he’s offering is one hundred thousand pounds. Enough for me to start over. Not enough. It would never be enough. My breath catches, and I hold my head up. “I don’t want your money. Tell the school, tell everyone.” I don’t care anymore. It can’t be worse than having to tell Romain what I did. If all Hayden has is my journal, then he has nothing at all. “Romain will stand by me,” I hear myself say.
“Not enough? How about these.” He takes some A4 images from off the snooker table and hands them to me. “They’re stills from some pretty interesting videos.”
It’s Romain and me on my bed, in various stages of undress.
I recoil when I look at them, but it changes nothing. I offer them back to him, shaking my head. “I don’t care if I lose my job.”
He doesn’t take them but bares his teeth in a devious-looking grin. “Oh, you pathetic slut. Look at you. You’d lose more than your job. Do you know why Romain never came looking for you the first time you seduced him? Because he was underage, and I had every right to keep my son from a predator like you.”
Dread spikes in the depths of my gut. I glance up at Hayden. “He told me he was sixteen.”
Hayden chuckles—a horrible sound. “My son’s quite a convincing liar when he wants to be. Unfortunately for you, it doesn’t matter what he said; he was a minor when you fucked him.”
I’m screwed.My whole world comes crashing down. I stare at him, willing him to laugh and say it’s a joke or tell me he is just trying to scare me. But my chest constricts, and I can’t breathe. I close my eyes, feeling the air come in short gasps.
“So now, maybe the money is looking a little more appealing?” I hear Hayden say.
“I don’t want it. But I’ll leave. Tomorrow. You won’t hear from me again,” I croak out, trying to keep myself calm.
How the hell did it get like this?
I feel hot and cold and breathless. There’s a pain clawing at my chest, taking all the air away. I’m back on the bed, with Romain strangling the life out of me.
Breathe, Bella. Relax. Don’t fight it.
I open my eyes.
Hayden is picking up my journal from the snooker table. “Take the money or don’t, I don’t give a fuck. Just be gone before the morning. You mention a word to Romain about our little chat, and I’ll make sure you leave Reynard in handcuffs, my dear.”
I don’t notice Hayden or Zane leaving. I just sit there, unable to process everything, unable to move. Eventually, I get to my feet and fix my dress as best I can. My makeup is smeared when I check myself in the mirror in the darkened hallway that leads back to the main ballroom.
Romain storms up to me. “Where the fuck have you been? I thought—” His eyes darken as he takes me. “Who hurt you? Zane? What did that bastard do?”
Tears prick my eyes. I’ve done my best not to cry but seeing Romain has my throat closing up and my entire body shaking. Romain takes me by the hand, walking quickly, pulling me through the darkened house and upstairs to a room that’s the size of my whole apartment. The room is polished tile floors and dark, antique furniture, and a huge canopy bed with oxblood sheets. Floral, clean scents of dried lavender and citrus fill the air, and the heavy drapes that shut out the outer world seem to close us in.
This room is one of the furthest away from the main party. I’m glad about that. I want to be as far away as possible from Romain’s family.
Romain gently guides me into the room and then wraps his arms around me. I’m surprised by his tenderness. He strokes my hair while I shudder and release the pain, in short, jagged gasps. “Tell me what happened. Who hurt you? Tell me?”
I shake my head. Hayden said I wasn’t to breathe a word, so I bury my head in Romain’s shoulder and let it all out.
Tomorrow I’ll leave.
Tomorrow, he’ll never see me again.
“Bella, talk to me, please.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard Romain say please, and it shatters my heart.
After I’ve cried every last tear out, drowned myself in the scent of his skin and the feeling of being safe, protected, I let him kiss me softly. I moan as he runs his hands through my hair and then sweeps me up into a princess carry to the bed. I fall back onto it as he hovers above me, one knee between my legs. His eyes are hungry for me as they roam over every inch, a feral light in his eyes meaning only one thing as he pushes me down onto the bed.
“I thought we were going back tonight?” I say, a little breathless, at least feeling like myself.
“Screw going back,” he scoffs. “I’ve wanted to fuck you raw all night. And then I saw you….” He sighs. “What happened, Bella?”
“Is this your room?” I ask, glancing around. I’ve not been in Romain’s room before, and I’m curious.