Page 47 of Under Your Scars

I sigh quietly and roll my eyes in the mirror. My father really can’t resist trying to guilt me into coming home. “Dad.”

He never seems to get it through his thick skull that the bar exam is state-specific, so, one, I’d have to start my studying from scratch, and two, if I passed the bar exam in Texas, I wouldn’t be able to practice in New Jersey. I moved here because I wanted to be an attorney forReeves Enterprises.The best attorneys in the country work for Christian. I’m in the best place I could possibly be for my career.

My dad concedes, and he suddenly sounds sad. “I know, I know. Just don’t be a stranger. I’m not getting any younger, El. I won’t be around forever.”

“You’re going to live to a hundred, mark my words,” I tell him. I tap my phone to check the time. It’s 5:15 and I’ve barely started my makeup. “I have to go, but I promise I’ll call more. I love you, dad.”

“Hey, Ellie?”

“Yeah?”

There’s a long pause on the other end. “Never mind. I love you too. I’ll hug your mother for you. Be safe, sweetheart. Talk to you soon.”

The phone call ends, and I take a breath before getting to work on the rest of my face. I want to look perfect tonight for whatever Christian has planned. As if he can feel me thinking about him, my phone buzzes with a text and his name flashes on the screen.

Christian: Hi beautiful.

Christian: I can’t wait to see you tonight.

I smile to myself and send a winking emoji back to him. It’s been ages since I’ve been on a date, and I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited for one. I’m going out with the richest man in the world. He’s unimaginably wealthy. One quick google search will tell you that he’s worth almost half a trillion dollars. Not million. Not billion.Trillion. With a capital T.

Reeves Enterprises makes other Fortune 500 companies look like they’re working with Monopoly money. There isn’t a single industry in the world that R.E. isn’t involved in. He even has a 250-billion-dollar contract with the Pentagon.

The most powerful man in the free world?

It’s Christian Reeves.

Obviously, he doesn’t have half a trillion dollars sitting in his personal bank account, but I can’t even imagine the number of zeroes he’s got in there. Would it be inappropriate to ask? Now I’m curious.

Pushing Christian’s crazy wealth to the back of my mind, I continue to blend my eyeshadow. I keep my makeup simple, a light brown smokey eye to pair with my bright cherry red lipstick. When I let my hair down to examine my work, I’m damn proud of the way it turned out. I look fantastic.

I really need to get dressed. It’s 5:50 and Christian will be here any minute. I frantically try to zip up my dress while simultaneously hopping around the room to put my brand-new nude Louboutin’s on.

My dress is a beautiful shade of red silk. It fits every small curve of my body perfectly. It’s knee-length, off the shoulder, and has a small slit on the side. At precisely six, while I’m fastening the diamond bracelet he gave me to my wrist, Christian texts me that he’s coming up the stairs, and I do one last look in the mirror to make sure I look picture perfect.

I open the door slowly, gazing up at Christian from under my thick lashes and give him a shy smile. He says nothing to me at first, but I swear to God, his jaw hit the floor once he finally took me in.

I’ve never felt so beautiful in my life, to have someone like Christian Reeves looking at me like he’s never seen the sky before—and I’m a bright, vibrant, sunny day.

“Holyfuck, you’re beautiful.”

I giggle and use one of my well-manicured nails to close his mouth. “You like?” I ask, twirling in a circle to show off all sides of my dress and flash him my new red bottom shoes. Christian bites his fist as if he’s trying to keep some semblance of a filter on his mouth.

“Baby, we’ve got somewhere to be in a few minutes and my dick thinks that somewhere is buried inside you.” My face heats up at his words and he runs a hot hand over my hip. He grinds into me once for emphasis, and I gasp quietly at his rock-hard length. Christian ghosts his mouth over my lips. “If I’m not careful we’re going to miss our reservation and that pretty dress is going to be in shreds on this floor.”

I let out a small giggle and he lightly kisses my cheek to not mess up my makeup, and then moves his lips down to my neck to leave a wet, open-mouthed kiss on my pulse point. I know he can feel it fluttering wildly when his lips curl into a smirk against my skin. I scrape my nails against his belt, catching on the buckle, and Christian tugs me out of the apartment before we get too handsy.

He leads us downstairs with our fingers laced together. Tonight, he’s driving his Lamborghini. The paint matches the finish of the bottom of my shoes almost exactly.

“Where are we going?” I ask as he helps me into the passenger seat. The corner of his mouth quirks into a smile.

“Dinner with some friends,” he vaguely tells me. If I know one thing about Christian Reeves, it’s that his dinner guests are almost always high-profile celebrities, government officials, and business partners. When Christian slides into his driver’s seat, he leans over me to reach into the glove compartment, pulling out a box from Tiffany’s and softly dropping it in my lap. “Thought I should complete the set.”

I stare at him with wide eyes. He’s already covered me in diamonds, and I’ve only known him for a few weeks. I bite my bottom lip lightly and open the box to find a diamond necklace and stud earrings from the same collection as my bracelet. My gasp can be heard over the purr of the engine. “Thank you but…you didn’t have to do that.”

Christian chuckles quietly next to me, pulling the necklace from the black velvet and fastening it around my neck for me while I put on the earrings. “Ellie, if you don’t think I’m going to spoil you rotten you are sorely mistaken.”

A teasing scoff escapes my lips. “I think you already have.”