“What did she say?”
She shook her head, coming around the kitchen island. “What do you think she said? She doesn’t approve. She expected to clean up after one of your one-nighters this morning, and didn’t expect to find me here. My mother wants better for me.”
His parents wouldn’t understand that logic. To them, better meant wealthier, having more power and influence. In Adora’s world, it meant happiness.
She tried to skirt around him to get to the bedroom. He grabbed her arm, yanking her against his chest. She struggled, tears filling her eyes. He refused to release her, letting her vent her emotions. Adora was such a sensitive little thing. It would be a full-time job to ensure the darkness in his world didn’t destroy her. He had to s
helter her, make sure she never felt the same desperation Maximus once suffered through.
“Stop,” he whispered, kissing her atop the head.
“I’ll never work,” she repeated. “We’re too different. I need to get out of here.”
“If you think it’s over, you’re wrong,” said Tobias. “When you took my cock last night, screaming my name, you signed up for the long haul, baby. I never plan on letting you go. I don’t give a shit what my parents think, what your mother thinks, or what the whole goddamn world thinks. This is between you and me. You’re my woman now. Nothing and no one is going to change that.”
He released her.
After stepping back, she stared at him for a moment.
“Have a little faith in me, Adora.”
She walked away.
****
What was I thinking? Adora hailed a taxi on the downtown strip. She could only imagine what she looked like with her black evening gown on and oversized t-shirt tossed over it. Her hair was in tangles, and her eyes felt sore and puffy from crying.
She hadn’t bothered saying good-bye to her mother, not when she was an emotional basket case. Why was she a mess?
Because she was in love.
And it could never work.
He may say his family didn’t matter, but given time, he’d start to resent her. She’d always be the black sheep, and her baby would probably never be loved by his family. Adora clutched her stomach as the taxi weaved through the morning traffic. Could she be pregnant? If she was, history was about to repeat itself.
Adora arrived at her apartment in the shitty part of the city, a sharp contrast to where she’d been picked up. She slammed her door behind her, threw her purse, and dove onto her threadbare sofa in tears. Adora was angry with herself for going along with Tobias’s plan, for giving up her life for him. And now for not wanting anything more.
Why did she leave? She should have stayed and talked things out, allowing him to fend off her fears. But his family had made her feel so small, and that woman had been beyond beautiful. Adora had been standing in his kitchen in just an old t-shirt with morning hair, and her insecurities had gotten the better of her. It was hard to believe that Tobias could want her more than a fashion model.
She cried until there were no more tears. All she wanted was Tobias, and for their circumstances to have been different. Adora was in mourning, wanting something so badly but knowing it was forever out of reach. But she had to be strong, to try to pretend none of this whirlwind had ever happened. The midnight hour had passed, and her Cinderella fantasy was over.
Adora hung up her dress in the closet and jumped in the shower. She needed to wash Tobias’s distinct scent off her body, to start anew, and focus on her homework. Her mother had managed to move on after heartbreak, so she could do the same.
When she finished changing, still towel drying her hair, her cellphone rang.
It was him.
She reached to answer it, but stopped herself. Her emotional state was too fragile right now, and she’d too easily fall for his sweet words and promises. For the rest of the weekend, she needed to focus on her priorities.
By the time Monday morning came around, Tobias had called well over a dozen times before she finally turned off her phone. He’d have to give up sooner or later. Maybe a little time would help him realize how stupid it was to hook up with the maid’s daughter. Maybe his mother would help him see thing clearly.
She strolled through the campus grounds to her first morning class, her books cradled in her arms. The birds sang in the branches above her, the usual sights and sounds soothing her. You can do this, she assured herself. It was any other Monday.
Before she reached the building, she heard someone jogging close from behind. When she turned to look, the man stopped beside her, walking at her pace. He worse a suit and carried a briefcase. At first, she assumed he was a professor … until he spoke.
“I’m Jeff Langley. I represent Mr. and Mrs. Bennett. I’ve been authorized to pay a generous amount in your name.”
She stopped dead and faced him. “And what do I have to do?”