His to Command

Kate’s breath caught, but she knew it was a lie. “I don’t believe you.”

Ileana’s lips turned up in a predatory smile. “I know you don’t.” She reached into her shoulder bag and pulled out an iPad, then flipped it on. “But I have proof.”

After a few touches of her finger on the screen, she turned the device to face Kate.

Shock careened through her as she stared at a picture of Ileana and Matt together, Matt slipping a huge diamond ring on her finger, Ileana beaming like … well, like a woman who’d just been proposed to.

Kate glanced up at the woman’s smirking face.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about Matt. Shall I fill you in?”

The Submission

Kate’s blood froze. Matt had told her Ileana had meant nothing to him. That he’d only dated her for a short time, then ended it when he realized how manipulative she was. Now she was staring at proof that he’d been lying.

Ileana flicked her finger across the iPad to display other pictures of her and Matt while they shopped for a ring, the two of them smiling and laughing, just like any newly engaged couple would while searching for the perfect symbol of their love.

Kate felt ill.

“Everything was great between me and Matt until he saw you running through some shopping mall a couple of weeks ago.” She said it with distaste, as if she wouldn’t be caught dead in a mall. “Then he decided he wanted to go after you again.”

Ileana turned off the iPad and slid it back into her purse. “He told me he just wanted a quick fling with you. Since I know how much he’s always wanted to train you into total submission, he hoped I’d be understanding enough to indulge him.” She shrugged. “I’m pretty open-minded. I don’t mind swapping partners, and definitely threesomes are great, but…” Her sharp gaze locked onto Kate. “I draw the line at an obsession like you. I told him he had to choose. You or me.”

“And he chose me,” Kate said, but found no pleasure in it.

Ileana took a sip of her water, then nodded. “But don’t get too excited about it. I know Matt and he knows me. He figures he’ll have his fun with you, then when it’s over, he’ll come chasing after me again, assuming he’ll be able to win me back.” She smiled. “And ordinarily he’d be right. But this time, I’ve decided not to let him have his way. So I’m leaving for good.”

“Is that why you came here? To tell me he’s all mine now?” Kate said with sarcasm, wondering what was really at the heart of this woman’s visit.

She just laughed. “Don’t kid yourself. You won’t be able to hold on to him any more than I could. He’s an incredibly screwed-up guy and he’s incapable of a normal relationship.” She put her glass down and paced across the room. “No, I’m here because I made a mistake. I gave him back his ring and now I’

m having second thoughts.”

Kate frowned. “So you want him back?”

Ileana laughed. “No, I don’t want him back. I want the ring.”

“Oh.” The word escaped from Kate’s lips, as she wondered how Ileana could possibly let Matt slip away if she had a choice. “Why?”

Ileana shrugged. “I’m moving to L.A. Making a new start. That ring will go a long way to a down payment on a condo. I think I deserve that.” She walked toward the stairs. “So I’ll just go get it and get out of your hair.”

Kate stepped in front of her. “I think not.” Kate was not about to let Ileana, or anyone else, take something from Matt’s house without his permission.

“It’s my ring.” Ileana glared at her.

“Not once you gave it back to him. If you want it, you’ll have to ask Matt for it.”

Ileana turned thoughtful. “I would think you’d help a girl out. After all, he betrayed you, too.”

“I told you, I don’t believe Matt was in on that horrible incident you arranged at the party.”

Ileana’s lips turned up in a condescending smile. “I wasn’t talking about that, sweetie. I bet he didn’t tell you that—”

A beeping indicated that Kate had received a text. She pulled the phone from her jeans pocket and glanced at it.

“Matt will be here in a few minutes,” Kate said.

“Well, that will be awkward. Look, why don’t you just be a dear and run up and get the ring for me? Then I’ll be out of here and you can return to whatever little games you and Matt have been playing. The ring’s in his bedside table. The one nearest the window.”