Bartered (8 page)

“That’s the thing,
I do
know this.” He seemed tormented. “And I do know that you’re in love with a man named Damen Zabat.”

Had
I heard him right? “How did you—”

“A thorough background check is part of being a mistress. It was in the contract you signed.”

“Oh.” Had I failed to see it? Maybe I had, but my mind had been preoccupied with more pressing decisions from what the contract entailed.

He sighed loudly before he gazed out onto the sea, pondering. “Is it wrong that the more you deny me
, the more I want you? Your heart might belong to another man, but your body wants me, Isobel.”

It was sad; however, what he was saying was the truth.
My traitorous body couldn’t help eagerly responding to his touches. I was attracted to him, and this carnal feeling I felt each time I saw him was pure torment, because I didn’t want to feel this way. It was wrong, and yet, when he touched me, all I could think about was him and this spellbinding power he had over my body.

He took a moment before he spun around and faced me, looking determined. “Tell me I’m lying.”

“I wish I could.” I bit the bottom of my lip, hating the fact I was in this position. Almost a week ago, I had been absolutely sure Hugo wouldn’t have any power over me. That I would be in control of everything. I wasn’t so sure any longer. But for Damen, I’d keep fighting this off until I was out of fight. “But nothing will come of it.
That
I can assure you.”

“You seem certain.”

Damen. Just think of Damen and his love
. “Because I am.”

Thinking hard, I wondered about the times he
had intimately touched me yet didn’t execute anything that was agreed upon. It made me wonder if this was his plan all along—for something more rewarding in the end. Unless, of course, this was just my imagination going into overdrive. After all, he’d been distant on moment and seductive the second. He blew hot and cold, making it hard for me to read his true intentions.

“Why am I really here?”
glancing at him wearily, I voiced out my suspicion.

“Care to elaborate?”

“Let’s drop the pretense that you plan to do anything with me other than being your go-to, all around person to make your life easier,” I challenged him to deny it. “So I’m asking again, what’s my purpose?”

He immediately looked formidable. The baffled man earlier vanished as if it
had been a figment of my imagination. “Your purpose is
me
, Isobel,” he stated succinctly.

Our eyes battled before I stepped into his space, our noses almost touching, challen
ging him. “Sex. This boils down to sex.” I hatefully gritted out. “Funny how
nothing’s
happened.”

“I want you
,” he hissed into my face, eyes locking with mine. “I want to possess this body like no other man has ever done. I want to fuck your pussy until I’ve had my fill with it, until you can’t think of Damen.”

Oh
, wow. Had this been the reason why he’d been all twisted with me?

“Didn’t you get the memo? No vaginal sex. That’s what we agreed upon
. Have you forgotten? I could rehash it for you if you want.”

“I never forgot
that I’m only allowed to have you the other way…” His eyes dropped to my lips before he pressed his chest against my aching breasts, making the tension much more powerful. “It’s tempting, ma belle.” He said the words as if he was caressing them on my skin—I felt the heat of them. “Sometimes, I lay at night wondering if I should take that offer because I can’t seem to get my fill of you.” He paused. “But doing that will cause pain, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

“Huh.”
He didn’t want to hurt me. Funny how that wasn’t in the contract, but here he was, acting noble when he was after something I wasn’t willing to give. “So, instead, you’re waiting around, hoping I’ll change my mind,” I provided the answers without blinking.

“Yes.” He didn’t deny it.

Well, too bad. My vagina wasn’t open for business, not even for a man who made me feel this aroused with merely one look from him. He exuded a kind of power over me… Regardless, I knew better.

“That’ll never happen, Hugo.” This was all a game to him. I
had become a challenge. The only thing I could hang on to was my love for Damen. I knew that would give me enough strength to fight this sexual attraction we both had for each other.

“Let’s make a deal.”

“Another one?”

“Spend some time with me—two weeks—and at the end of that, you can make your dec
ision. Whatever it is, I promise to respect it and leave the subject alone.” He seemed sincere enough.

But this was Hugo Xavier we were talking about. He
had inherited an empire, which had the capacity to triple all of his riches. No doubt he was sharp and conniving. Trusting him would be unwise, yet declining this offer would lead him to play dirty, and I wasn’t sure I could handle that. At least with this one, I could keep my guard up and come out proving him wrong.

“And?” I pressed with determination. “I have a feeling there’s an
and
attached to that sentence.”

“
And
you’re bound to spend the rest of your time until the contract is up; babysitting, making coffee, driving me crazy from flaunting something I can’t have.” He seamlessly provided me with hope.

“That sounds too easy.” I was a tad doubtful. After all, he had me in exchange for pardoning my father’s debt of three hundred thousand Euros. To a man like him, it might not amount to much
, but to me, it meant everything.

“We shall see. I have yet to seduce you, ma belle.” His thumb brushed the bottom of my lip, making me tingle all over. It was as if he zapped electricity within me, sparking fireworks ev
erywhere, in every pore of my body. “Maybe seducing you wouldn’t be too easy.”

Bloody shit. Why did he have to come out and make me feel like this was going to be
the fight of my life? My mind was tortured enough; battling with my body’s needs and wants would be another matter. Suffice it to say that, at the very end of this ruse, it would be
I
who made the final decision. Believing this comforted me enough to stand my ground.

“Seduce away
because this woman won’t bat an eyelash even when you try.”

He made a throaty
, deep-bellied laugh. The sexy kind where a woman was bound to feel enthralled, staring at his throat, noticing how even he could make that look wholly enticing.

“I love your snarky cattiness, Isobel.” He bestowed his über sexually charged kind of smile, making me weak in the knees.

“It only comes out when I feel threatened or vulnerable.”

He seemed amused. “And which one are you? Threatened…
or vulnerable?” He had that look that made me think he was about to kiss me but was trying hard not to.

“Neither. None of this is working for me, Hugo
,” I bluffed.

“Be
that as it may…” he conceded but remained determined. “Are you up for the challenge, ma belle? It’s only two weeks—fourteen days of your time—and since you’re quite confident, this would be too easy for you not to resist.”

He was right. Of course he was.
Still, he remained persistent. Well, I could have my fun by proving him wrong time and time again.

“Fine, two weeks it is
.” I braced myself before giving him a dismissive look. “Anyhow, I better get going and start getting ready.”

“Ready for what?”
he questioned, appearing as if he wasn’t ready to let me off the hook just yet. “Where are you going?”

“Babysitting duties.”

He sighed. “Elena doesn’t waste time, does she?” His expression changed into a worried one. “Watch her carefully, and don’t let her get too drunk. She has a tendency to kiss whomever she finds attractive, which could mean the entire populace in attendance.”

Was he joking? I’d think it
, but his worrisome expression told me he wasn’t bluffing. Damn. “She’s that wild?”

“I wouldn’t ask you to chaperone her if I
thought she was angelic. Maybe she could learn a thing or two from you.” He suddenly looked less serious. “Benoît will drive you both tonight.”

Hmm
, I doubted that.

“We shall see,” I murmured for the last time before leaving him on the shore
.

I went on my way towards the villa, ready to have fun tonight. Suddenly
, this chaperone thing didn’t look as awful as I’d thought it would be.

Chapter 14

Hugo

It was ten at night, and I was in my home office adjacent to the library. Since Isobel and Elena weren’t here and my other two women were gallivanting somewhere else for the time being, I was left to my own devices for the very first time, which I wasn’t accustomed to.

For two hours
¸ I’d been fighting the urge to see what Elena and Isobel were up to. But each time I felt like going, I would argue with myself that Isobel was entitled to have a little enjoyment since she’d lacked that ever since she had moved in with me.

The woman took precedence in my mind, and no matter how much I tried to diminish my want for her by occupying my time with the
others, it only made the hunger worsen. Therefore, I was left with no choice other than to come to terms with this—that
this
wouldn’t go away until I found a solution. I hadn’t had one until the woman herself had thrown a challenging look at me; one that would make any man who was consumed by wanting to possess something… a little crazy. I hadn’t felt this way since I was in my early teens. She exhilarated me in a way that got me more fixated to prove her wrong.

She
had admitted that her body responded to me, but she had chosen to ignore it. Because of Damen. Knowing the fact she was in love with another man didn’t bother me an inch because I wasn’t after her heart. This connection I had with her was primal and all about sex. Nothing more, nothing less.

My thoughts halted when my shrilling phone interrupted. Taking the phone out of my poc
ket, I took the call. “Bonsoir, Père.” (Good evening, Father.)

“Julee just called to invite me to lunch with her tomorrow.”

“Maybe it’s time to bury the hatchet? She
is
Maman’s sister.” Mother’s been dead for over fifteen years now and still those two never got along. Neither one ever, as I recalled, had nice things to say to each other. They were always bickering.

It started when Julee was against my mother marrying him because she deemed him unwo
rthy of her. She went out of her way to make that known by playing tricks on him, however my father was a determined man and kept pursuing my mother until the day she died. My father loved her more than anything, and when she had died during her ski trip with Julee and their friends, my father hadn’t been the same since. Though he had moved on and dated, even remarried a couple of times, his heart had stayed true to my mother.

“You know I never liked her
, but it was because of your mother that I tolerated her.” He sounded exasperated, as if talking about Julee was draining all of his energy away. “She also mentioned a woman named Isobel. I’m assuming she’s your new lover to pass the time by?”

Isobel was hardly a lover
, let alone mine. Perhaps soon that would change. “Get to the point.”

“You
know
it’s unwise.”

Like I would ever forget. It was impossible to. He made sure of it. “Sherry and Cha
ntel are very much in the picture. They’re simply taking a break, vacationing in their chosen destination. This hiatus is merely temporary.”

“Thank God
,” he grumbled loudly, relieved that whatever my Aunt Julee was speculating was merely that, a speculation. “I’m glad this is nothing serious, but pay heed, my son. Never make the same mistake again.”

Every single time
, like I would ever forget it. I wished things were different, but this was apparently our fate. One mistake was all it took before it became a domino effect for everyone. Even when I was indirectly involved, I, too, bore the brunt of his punishment.

“Why are we paying for sins that were made a decade ago? Isn’t it enough that we’ve suffered and paid for the consequences?” It angered me to even think about it. I
had attempted to end it, although the price that had come along with my ingenuousness had been high. It had taught me a lesson—that sometimes making a sacrifice was easier than putting other people’s lives in danger. I would never make that same mistake again.

“Every
day, I’m grateful that your mother wasn’t alive to witness any of it.”

“So am I
,” I made the same sentiment. “Well, I’m bidding you goodnight and try to play nice with Julee. Francois
did
just divorce her.”

“Julee… a delicate divorcee.” He made a sardonic laugh. “Goodnight
, son.”

“Dormez bien
, Père.” (Sleep well.)

After hanging up on my father, my cell
phone immediately buzzed to life again. This time it was Benoît. “Oui.”

“Monsieur, I apologize to interrupt your night
, but I lost sight of mademoiselle Elena and mademoiselle Isobel. The club is unexpectedly packed.”

It was summer, of course it was.
Then again, given Benoît’s age and my less inclined desire to go to clubs, this most likely came as a shock to him. The issue I’d been contemplating had just been provided with an answer.

“I’m on my way,” I said after he gave me the location.

Heading back towards Monaco, I recalled the moment when I was on my way upstairs from the living room after my short talk with Julee when I caught sight of Isobel in a scantily clad black dress; if one could even consider it as such. The scrap of cloth had hugged her slender form, leaving little imagination to any man who desired her. Even when we had gone out to the auction, she had been dressed accordingly, thus seeing her transformation had bothered me greatly. So much so that I had remained still, hidden from their view, and waited until they both had left to go party.

I could only account my shock to the fact she was young
, and for some odd reason, this essential tidbit had escaped me each time I had seen her. Isobel was already beautiful, yet tonight, the word didn’t suffice.

Once I arrived and entered the club, Benoît was there to greet me at the entrance, seeming out of place. “Go home. I’ll take it from here.” He tried to argue with my dec
ision, but I was persistent for him to get some rest.

After he left, I immediately scanned the place as the music roared in my ears. For ten minutes
, I scoured for them, however the place was too dark and the ever-changing, techni-colored laser lights made it harder to focus.

After another fifteen
minutes, with still no sign of them, I was about to take my leave when something caught my eye. It was Elena. She was on the second floor, in the VIP section, dancing on top of the table… and Isobel was doing exactly the same thing.

I froze
, watching her for a moment, when I felt all common sense leave my body before something else took precedence.