14. Yara

Chapter 14

Yara

I hadn’t laughed this much in years. I wasn’t sure how this was going to go when I first got here.

The man seemed like a bit of an ass, but now that we had split a meal, shared intimate parts of our lives, and dropped the stiffness of business acquaintances?

I could tell he wasn’t an asshole. He was just lonely.

And he had been, for a very, very long time.

My background check had yielded quite a bit of information on him…in his work life at least. He owned a very large agency that had landed several well-known clients.

He had a silent partner that assisted in his endeavors, but otherwise, his work seemed pretty straightforward, and his personal life wasn’t marred with any blemishes.

“Were you ever married? I couldn’t find anything on a wife, but you must have had someone over the years?”

He stiffened before forcing a smile, except his face was devoid of light. “I was never married, but I had a long-time partner back when I was much younger. She is actually the one that had me get the vasectomy.” He reached to grab the wine bottle, topping us both off. “And what about your story Yara?” His eyes wore holes into mine.

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat, tipping my glass up, and chugging the wine down in several large gulps .

I gazed right back at him, not blinking. “Do you ever feel as if you are staring at a different person in the mirror every time you look?”

His eyes widened in surprise; whatever he expected me to say, it wasn’t that, but then he set his fork down and brought a long finger to his lips in contemplation. “I try not to look in mirrors too often, because they aren’t an accurate representation of who I am. But yes, sometimes I do find myself thinking I am a fraud. My company would have gone under without my backer. He randomly stumbled upon me one day about ten years ago. I was already based in California, but he pushed me to move to this area.” He reached up brushing his hair back from his face and my eyes followed the move.

My nerves were static. I was trying to portray myself as calm, but inside a fire was burning.

This man was more than I bargained for.

“What’s your story, Yara? What sent you all the way out here?” I watched his attention fall to my wrists.

Sometimes strangers would rudely comment on the scars there. About the obvious evidence of being bound for a long period of time.

Now that I owned this company most suspected it was part of my own depravity.

But occasionally, I would meet a person that didn’t think that.

That recognized they weren’t left voluntarily.

Izzy was the first, but she never pushed me. Just like I didn’t with her fear of heights.

Even best friends could keep secrets from each other.

Other times, I would get interrogated on the matter. Like by Kazi and Mateo, the questions burning in their eyes every time they found a new scar .

It made me uncomfortable. It added to the list of reasons why I shouldn’t cross the line with either of them.

But there was an indescribable urge to relinquish my inner demons onto this man. This practical stranger. I imagined his sturdy shoulders could handle their weight.

“I’ll tell you what.” Our plates had long since been cleared, and I used the empty space to open the folder to the first page of the packet. “Sign the NDA, I’ll sign mine, and then I will tell you whatever you want to know.”

I could see the intrigue flicker across his face, his lip quirking up in a half smile. “The catch?” He chuckled in a deep vibrating baritone.

The sound went directly to my cunt. My hand reached across the table to stroke his, my eyes finding his. “Sign the NDA and I’ll tell you what you want, but it means you’re interested. That by the end of tonight you’re going to be pumping me full with your cum.”

I gasped in surprise as he snatched my hand with his free one faster than I could see. His long calloused fingers encircled my wrist. I expected for terror to pierce me, but it didn’t. It was instead a dark pleasure that rolled across my nerves.

He applied pressure, just on the cusp of pain.

“What if I hurt you? What if I’m not what you expected? What if I force you on your knees and make you work for it?” His voice turned guttural, saturated in desire.

Each question sent a volt of electricity straight to my throbbing core. The dinner had been tame, but now with his full attention, I was beginning to unravel. “I can handle it.”

With his fingers still shackling my wrist, his other moved to the pen on the table.

His eyes never left mine. “You’re going to ruin me.” He bit out each word as he signed the document, finally releasing my wrist .

I reached for the folder, signing mine, and discreetly showing him before closing it back and setting it to the side.

“You asked for my story?” My eyes found a scar on my forearm, another on my palm, a third on the back of my hand. I poured us both another glass from the wine bottle, it was running precariously low at this point. “I may seem like an angelic woman that has had it easy, and maybe for the most part I have, but that wasn’t always the case.”

My attention landed on him. He was following my every word, giving me his full attention.

I wasn’t sure if I was happy about that or wished he would tell me to stop.

I knew Kazi had been watching us, but he wouldn’t eavesdrop. He knew better.

“When I was eight years old, I was adopted by a loving couple and relocated to Florida, but before that? Before that I lived with a monster.”

Others referred to him by his name. But me? I called him dad.