Bella
Last night I had assumed it was only me, Cal, Peter, and Cal’s attorney on the island. Now it’s been confirmed that there’s a Michelin star chef, a housekeeper, and a couple security guards.
I haven’t spoken to Cal since he assaulted me at breakfast, so I’ve taken it upon myself to get familiar with the property, even though the job feels moot at this point.
Peter is showing me to the back yard while I take notes on a clipboard. It’s an open exit with no wall covering or doors. There’s another arch positioned overtop where the cement continues. A round glass table and a couple wrought-iron chairs sit around it.
We step outside and I draw in a deep breath of fresh air. ‘This is gorgeous,’ I say to Peter as he walks beside me. ‘Could use a little upkeep, but there is so much potential back here.
‘Little is too weak of a word. I’d say massive is more fitting.’
I chuckle. ‘Okay. Massive.
“I envision a wet bar made of stone with pillars that extend up to an overhead canopy.”
There’s a curtain wall in the distance that looks like it goes beyond the length of the castle. To the right, I see a wooden bridge that doesn’t seem stable enough to hold a small child, let alone an adult. I walk closer to see what’s beneath it, and it looks like it’s a man-made pond, though it’s very small and only runs under the bridge. It’s very pretty, though, and I can only imagine what it could become.
I continue to babble as we walk. “A separate garden area with wildflowers and fountains. Maybe a pond with goldfish. All of this with the breathtaking view of the mountains that rim the backside of the island. The possibilities are endless.”
A gust of wind sends chills down my spine. Peter had mentioned a storm heading for the island, which had me a little nervous, until I remembered that this place has weathered storms for over a century and it’s still standing tall.
Looking up at the sky, I take it all in. For a brief moment, I feel at ease. That is, until I level my eyes and see Cal standing five feet in front of me.
‘Lunch is ready,’ he deadpans.
I don’t even humor him with a response. Tilting my head, I look back up at the sky where a flock of birds flap hurriedly, likely fleeing the storm that’s coming.
‘Peter,’ Cal says, ‘please see Ms. Jenkins to the dining room.”
Peter acknowledges him with a nod.
Once Cal is gone, I look at Peter. ‘You don’t have to escort me. I can find my way.’ It’s obvious Cal is angry with me. Hell, he might even hate me. After the way he fondled me, I should hate him.
Maybe my coming here is some sort of revenge scheme he’s cooked up. After the tension during breakfast, I’m not sure that I’m ready to have a quiet meal with Cal again, at least not yet.
‘Boss’s orders. Besides, it will be my pleasure.”
‘I’m actually not very hungry.” It’s a lie. I didn’t eat much at breakfast and I’m actually starving.
Peter shrugs a shoulder. ‘Mr. Ellis makes the rules. I only follow them.’
Once I finish up my walk through the yard, or what will eventually be a yard, we head back inside. Peter follows behind me, hot on my trail. Instead of going to the dining hall, I go straight to the first floor where the kitchen is to get a plate of food directly from the chef.
“Ms. Jenkins, I do think you should have lunch with Mr. Ellis. You wouldn’t want to anger him on your first full day.”
“Oh, I think I’ve already angered Mr. Ellis.” I smirk as I pull open the stainless steel door to the kitchen.
Just as I’m about to step inside, in my periphery, I see Cal coming out. Ignoring him completely, I go into the kitchen. Peter hangs back and I can hear his chatter from outside the door. “I tried but she’s a mulish one, that girl.”
“That she is,” Cal hisses, jerking the door open. I step to the side, hoping to hide from him like a child, but it does no good.
Cal grabs me by the arm hastily. ‘Hey! What are you doing?’ I attempt to jerk my arm away, but his grip tightens as he walks me out the door. ‘Let me go.’ I jerk again to no avail.
‘You are here on a contract and that contract states that your living quarters are upstairs. Your lunch is waiting.’ He gives my arm an aggravated shove and heads toward the elevator.
My arms cross over my chest and I scowl at his backside. ‘And what if I don’t?’
Cal eats back up the space he just took and gets right in my face. ‘Then you’re breaching your contract. Do I need to tell you what happens when a contract is breached?’
I swallow hard. He’s dead serious right now.
‘Cal?’ I say his name in question. ‘Why are you doing this?’
I’m upset that he’s behaving this way, but more than anything, it hurts.
He doesn’t respond, just breathes fire into me as he clenches his jaw.
‘I can’t live like this for six months. If you expect me to work for you and abide by your rules,’ I air quote, ‘then I want answers.’
He’s silent for a moment before he exhales a drawn-out breath. ‘We can discuss the terms of your contract if you have lunch with me.’
My head shakes. ‘That’s not enough.’
‘Fine. We will discuss the terms of your contract and I’ll tell you why you’re here.’
With my head held high, I walk to the elevator and press the arrow going up.
At least he’s giving me something.
I don’t have to turn around to see if he’s coming. Something tells me that Cal will be one step behind me for the next six months.
Hugging my chest, I position myself in the corner of the elevator and avoid eye contact. It’s too painful to look at him this way. Never in my wildest dreams did I think Cal, of all people, would treat me as if I were menial.
The elevator stops and Cal gestures for me to go first. Silence descends down the hallway as we walk to the dining room. I take a seat in the same spot I sat in for breakfast, sinking down in the chair. Whatever is under those lids smells damn good but lifting it up and eating right now means eating my pride as well, and I’m not ready to do that.
Cal pulls out the chair at the head of the table, his eyes fettered to me. Two arms lie flat against the table and he blows out a breath. “What would you like to know, Bella?”
I hate the way he says my name. It sounds so formal. Everything about Cal is serious now and my heart hurts when I think about what he must have endured to become the man he is.
I decide to start with the most obvious question. “Why am I here?”
Being the finicky person he is, he doesn’t answer my question right away. Picking up a glass of caramel-colored liquid, he gives it a swirl, ice clanking against the small glass. He takes a sip, darts his tongue out at his lips and I catch myself watching each precise movement that he makes.
His eyes lift, catching mine. There’s a glint of a smirk on his lips and it infuriates me.
Finally, he sets his glass down and levels with me. “You’re not an easy person to track down, even for a man of my stature. I always knew I’d find you. I just never expected it would take this long. If it weren’t for your submission to the job agency, it may have taken me another twelve years.”
“So you were looking for an interior designer?”
Cal spews a devilish laugh. “My family name has been refurbishing rags to riches for over a century. Vincent Ellis’s great-great-grandfather started this empire and it’s been passed down from generation to generation. We certainly weren’t in need of a twenty-three-year-old girl with an undergraduate degree and zero experience.”
Pins poke at my chest. A sensation that I wasn’t expecting. I’m actually rendered speechless.
“Come on, Bella. You have to have known that we employ top-tier designers from all over the world.”
Clearing my throat, I choke out, “I suppose you’re right. I guess I was a fool to think that was real.” I’m on the verge of tears but trying really hard to fight them off.
Cal pushes his chair back and comes over to where I’m sitting. Slouching down in front of me, his eyes smolder. “Cry, Bella. I can see you need to. Let me see those tears. Show me you’re not the heartless bitch I take you to be.”
I gasp at his words—completely caught off guard. “Excuse me?”
With knitted eyebrows, he watches me as if he’s waiting for me to completely break down. Instead of giving him the emotion he wants, I push him back. “Screw you!”
He catches his fall, anger rippling through him. The shade of his eyes shifts from dark to crow black. Grabbing me by the wrist, he squeezes so hard I can feel the quickening of my pulse against his palm. “You wanna know why you’re here, Bella? You’re here because I caught you. My own little toy to pocket and keep. Running is no longer an option. The life you lived outside these walls is over. You’re mine now and there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it.”
My bottom lip trembles. I’ve never been afraid of Cal before, but, at this moment, I’ve never feared anything more. “Why are you doing this?”
With flared nostrils, he sharpens his tone. “You did this.”
His fingers are still wrapped tightly around my wrist, so much so that I can see the paleness in his knuckles. I pull back slightly, but he doesn’t budge. No longer able to hold it back, tears fall from my eyes. Sliding down my cheeks and onto his cold, strained fingers. “I had no choice. You ruined everything that day by getting into trouble. In a split second, everything had changed and I had to make a choice.”
His jaw clenches, lip curled. “And now you get to live with that choice.”
My head shakes. “I want out of the contract. I’ll go home and you can just forget about me.”
“The same way you forgot about me?”
I’ll never be able to make him understand, mostly, because I don’t understand myself. I’m happy with the life I was given, but it took years for the guilt of leaving him to subside. Oftentimes, I ask myself if I would make the same choice if I had the chance to do it over again. And I don’t even know if I would. That right there is the reason why I can’t justify my leaving him.
My chin hits my chest as the tears continue to drop. “I never forgot about you. I thought about you every second of every day that first year. As time went on, you slipped further and further away. But, I never forgot and I never stopped caring about you.”
Cal places his thumb on my chin, tipping it up. “I can guarantee after your stay here, I will never slip your mind again.” His thumb slides across my lip, catching a tear before he pries my mouth open and jams it between my lips. The saltiness of my own woes hits my taste buds. I don’t even try to force his thumb out of my mouth as he watches his own movements. “As for the contract,” he continues, eyes locked on my mouth, “there is no escaping it.”
Turning my head, I pull back and his hand drops. “All contracts are expungable at a cost. How much is it? Double the salary?” I don’t have that kind of money to buy back my freedom, but I’m beginning to think that I’d find a way to come up with it if it meant I could leave. Cal isn’t just angry with me; he hates me. Mentally and emotionally, I can’t live like this for six months.
“That’s where you’re wrong. I have the best attorney in the nation and he was very clear in the contract that there are no provisions that give you the right to end the contract. If you do, I have the right to sue.” Cal pushes himself to his feet. His palms clamp down on the arms of the chair and he leans forward, invading my personal space. “It won’t get that far, though, Bella. I’ve ensured you will be staying here. If you don’t, your perfect little family will lose everything they own.” Warm lips press to my forehead. “Welcome home.”
“What does my family have to do with this?” I sniffle. “What have you done?”
“It’s not about what I have done. It’s what I could do.” Cal leaves me sitting here, devastated in a mess of my own tears. That man’s heart is as stone-cold as the foundation of this castle.
