Page 65 of Crushed

A staff member let me into the estate, showing me to the sitting room. “You can wait here, Ms. Scarlett,” he said. “Mr. Stone is currently in the nursery for Circle Time and will be out momentarily.”

“I’ll go there then,” I said. “I’ve been to the nursery before.”

“I’m afraid that there is only a maximum of three people allowed in the nursery at any given time, and with Rose’s teacher, they’ve hit the capacity.”

I glared at him, but it wasn’t the staff member’s fault. He was following orders. “Can you tell him that I’m waiting?”

“As soon as I am able,” he said. “I’m afraid policy also states that staff members are not permitted to interrupt Mr. Stone’s time with Rose, unless it is an emergency.”

No wonder Rose was scared of me. She had probably only met a handful of people in her lifetime. When your entire world was one room with no more than three people in it, it would be terrifying to meetanyonenew. I waited on the sofa, fidgeting with the sleeves of my shirt, until finally, Cormac came down the hallway.

“Let’s go to my bedroom,” he said, taking my arm.

“How about we stay here?” I asked. I took my hand back and he shot a look at me. “Were you spying on me, Cormac?”

“And if I was?”

“You said total power exchange was about trust. How can I trust you if you don’t trust me to go on a simple coffee date?”

He narrowed his eyes, and suddenly, he seemed bigger than before, as if his shoulders were growing. “It wouldn’t be an issue if you weren’t hiding something.”

My heart ached at those words. Did he know, then, about why I had originally pursued him? And if he did, would he ever be able to trust me?

We stared at each other for a few moments, both of our eyes locked in an angry stare. I wasn’t sure what to say. Could I live with him like this, constantly under the pressure to be the property he desired? And if I couldn’t measure up, would he ever be able to trust me, to love me for who I was?

Would I be able to trust him?

“I have some business to attend to,” he said finally. “Perhaps we can continue this conversation tomorrow.”

He turned and left me there alone. I stood there, watching him walk away.