“Good. Thought I would have to argue with you more.”
“Griffin already made his case. Said I needed to do it.”
He nodded in approval. “I used to hate that guy. But now…he fits right in.”
“Yeah, he does,” I said in agreement. “He was the one who helped me, got the body to replace Mia. Burned the house for me…did everything.”
Conway leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “You can say this woman doesn’t mean anything to you, but you put everything on the line for her. I didn’t tell Sapphire I loved her until much later, but the moment I paid a hundred million dollars for her, I should have known. This is no different, Carter.”
“I didn’t drop any money for her,” I countered.
“But you put a dead body in your house and burned a bedroom. The damages alone are gonna cost a hundred grand.”
“You think a hundred grand means anything to me?”
“It’s still inconvenient.”
Mia had a significant impact on me, made me feel things I’d never felt before. I’d never wanted to fuck a woman the way I did with her. I pounded into her ass last night and enjoyed every single second. I’d never gotten that much pleasure out of someone before. I wasn’t sure what to make of it. “She’s a good person. It was the least I could do. I bought women in the past with the intention of saving them, not giving them to their tormentors.”
“So, what’s the plan? Just let her live here?”
“She cooks and cleans. She’s basically the maid.”
“Who you screw at night.”
I shrugged, not sure what else to say. “We’ll see what happens…”
“I’m not sure what our parents will think about this.”
“It’s my life, so I don’t really care what they think.”
He narrowed his eyes on my face. “Cut the shit, Carter. We both care. When I told my father the truth about Sapphire, I was fucking terrified. Not scared of him punching me, but of him being disappointed in me. He’s made a few comments to me in the past…and they always make me feel like shit. Don’t expect your parents to be happy about this. They’ll probably be livid, honestly.”
I didn’t want to admit that I put our family in danger, especially after everything that happened to us. But I didn’t want to live by their opinions either. What was done was done. I couldn’t go back and change it.
“And they aren’t going to be fine knowing you have a slave.”
“She’s not a slave,” I countered. “It’s not like that.”
“That’s not what you said to me earlier…”
“She’s treated well, and she has nowhere else to go.”
“She said that?” he asked.
“No…but I can tell.” She’d been a prisoner for three years, and she was just getting her son back. After everything she’d been through, she wouldn’t be able to just go back to work like nothing happened. She had to focus on her relationship with her son. And the schools in the area were some of the best in the country. “One day I’ll get tired of her, and she’ll leave. And if she never wants to leave, I need a maid anyway.”
Conway kept looking at me, the judgment in his eyes.
“And you think you’re any better?” I asked incredulously. “You did the exact same thing with Sapphire.”
“And I fell in love with her. Sounds like the same thing is happening to you.”
I refilled my glass so I would have a reason to break eye contact for a moment. “If I felt that way, I would just say it. But I don’t. My livelihood doesn’t depend on my sex life, so whether I’m monogamous or not, it doesn’t matter. I’m not interested in being a stepfather, and I’m not interested in love either. I care about her…a lot.”
“Enough to put everything on the line.”
I ignored his jab. “But I don’t love her. Think whatever you want, Con. That’s the truth.”
He kept his arms crossed over his chest, watching me like he didn’t take me seriously. “Whatever you say, Carter.” A slight grin came over his face, like he couldn’t wait to tell me I was wrong when the time was right.
“Can we talk about your wife now?”
His grin became wider. “Yes, my pregnant wife…she’s doing alright. She’s about to pop any moment, so she’s a bit…how do I put this politely…difficult. She can’t sleep, has a hard time eating, she’s not in the mood for sex anymore…”
“Maybe that’s because of you, not the pregnancy.”
That wiped the smirk right off his face. “It’s the pregnancy, trust me.”
“Seem a little defensive about that.”
“Shut the hell up, Carter.”
“If she’s about to pop, what are you doing over here?”
“Came to check out your new place. Seems like we haven’t talked in a while, and obviously we haven’t because your life has been pretty damn interesting the last few weeks.”