Chapter Two

None of this felt real. Emily stared at the man she'd only known as a boy. He'd obviously done well for himself. His home in town was a mansion surrounded by tall wrought-iron fences. The gate opened and closed electronically, and guards patrolled the grounds. She wondered what kind of business he was in.

Within seconds of meeting him again, he proved he was even more of a bully now than ever. Nothing at all had changed. The man who had been repulsed by her weight wanted to make a deal to get her into bed. It made no sense. She hadn't lost any weight in the past decade. If anything, she'd gotten bigger, her curves explosive.

Was this another attempt to humiliate her?

They weren't in high school anymore. Who would he get to laugh at his antics? There was no audience to view his abuse. Did he really mean what he said?

"I don't know what you've heard," she said. "But I'm nothing like my mother."

"How so?"

"I don't sleep around. If you're looking for a good time, you won't find it with me."

"That's where you're wrong," he said.

He stood up and walked around the room. She stayed rooted in place.

Dalton began to pour a drink at his bar, and the sound of ice tinkling against the glass broke the silence. "How about a drink?"

"I don't drink."

He shrugged and tutted, carrying his drink back to the desk, sitting on the edge again.

"I don't understand why you're here. I mean, why are you going out of your way to bail out your mother?"

"She's my mother."

He scoffed. "She takes advantage of you. You think she gives a shit about your life? I'm pretty sure your childhood was better left forgotten because of her."

"She tried her best."

"No, she didn't." He began raising his voice, the mood in the room shifting. Dalton stood up in a rush, some of his drink sloshing onto the hardwood. "You were neglected, treated like garbage. She doesn't deserve your fucking loyalty, Emily. Why can't you understand that?"

This had to be a sore spot for him. She didn't know all the details of his life back in high school, but they weren't pretty.

She decided to shift the blame.

"I remember when you used to bully me. You made my life miserable. Now you claim to want my body? The one that disgusted you enough to humiliate in front of everyone?"

"I was different back then."

He paced the room.

"How so?"

"I was fucked up, struggling to breathe. You have no idea what I've been through. Now, I'm on top." He held out both arms, as if showcasing everything around him. The drink sloshed a bit more.

"You don't look very happy."

"Oh, I'm fucking happy! I can buy anything I want. Make anyone do as I please. Money and power talk, Emily."

He set the glass down and rolled up the sleeve of his shirt. His forearms were hard with muscle. He wanted her to see the marks on his skin. She reached out to touch, but he pulled the material back down just as quickly.

"You know what those are?"

She shook her head.

"Cigarette burns. You know who did that to me?"

She shook her head again, her eyes welling up with tears.

"My mother. That's a little sampling. Those aren't the only ones," he said. "When I did show up at school, I was either hungry, angry, or dealing with more shit than you could ever imagine. So, I don't understand how you can be so fucking na?ve by letting your mother walk all over you. Have some self-respect, for God's sake."

He ran a hand through his dark hair. His features set hard.

"I'm sorry," she said. "No kid deserves what you've been through."

Dalton chuckled. "Don't feel sorry for me, sweetheart. Look around you, I've moved onward and upward. All that childhood drama only made me numb. Nothing fazes me."

She wanted to talk more about his bullying. Wanted an apology, something. But it was all starting to make perfect sense. The things she'd suspected back then were true and then some.

"There's nothing wrong with being upset about it. You're only human," she said.

He picked up an oversized golden key from his desk. "The psychologists in high school called me a sociopath. Now I have the key to the city." He laughed. "People don't care about anything but money and what it can buy." Dalton carelessly dropped it back on the desk.

"That's not always true."

"Always the dreamer, aren't you?" he said. "Have you saved the world yet?"

She frowned. "I do what I can. One thing I'd never do is insult someone for their weight or appearance." There, she'd said it.

"Still hung up on that?"

Her mouth parted, too shocked to answer at first. "Are you kidding me? You traumatized me all through my high school years. You made me hate my body. I still have self-esteem issues."

"You know I didn't mean any of that bullshit, right?"

"What?"

"You're perfect, Emily. Guess I was so pissed off with the world, I took it out on the one girl I knew I could never get."

"You could have had any girl."

"No, nobody wanted the kid from the slums, not really. Besides, what difference would it make when I only wanted one?"

Her breath caught.

He stepped closer to her, and she backed up until she hit the wall.

"But now I get everything I want." He pressed a hand against the wall near her head.

"You can't buy love, Dalton."

"Yeah, no shit. But I can buy your body."

Her heart rate increased. Dalton was so much taller, his shoulders broad and muscular. He was impossibly close, and he was still determined to blackmail her.

"This isn't right. I'm not that kind of girl."

"Maybe it'll teach you the lesson I've already learned. When something breaks you, you move on, you don't go back like a dog to shit."

"You're not me. Why do you care what I do with my life?"

****

Dalton had fucked up.

He'd revealed too much, let his emotions get the better of him. All these years he'd prided himself on his cold exterior. He was known for being a heartless bastard. Not caring about anything or anyone. It's how he'd made his way to the top. But just having a piece of his past back in front of him, tore down his guards and made him feel like that helpless teen again.

But he wasn't a scrawny, discarded child now. He was a man. He'd made something of himself. Maybe it was all to prove a point, to show everyone from his past that he wasn't nothing. To show his so-called family he was better than them.

Now he had Emily Sutton in his office.

It was surreal, like the past eleven years were only a blur.

He'd used her mother to get her here because her loyalty to the old bitch overrode any logical thought. His own mother was worse, but he'd learned the hard way that some women were incapable of love or compassion.

Emily was right about two things. She was nothing like her mother, and that's why he had to have her. And he couldn't buy love.

"I don't care what you do, but you're predictable. You're ready to sell your soul for a woman who wouldn't give you the time of day," Dalton said.

"Okay, so what if I am? You won't even let me help her. No matter what I say, you'll still get what you want."

He smiled. "Now you understand."

"And you want me? To use me?"

No, he wanted everything. To own her. Claim her. This was the only way he could get her to come to his home. Otherwise, she'd have told him to fuck off. He'd been an asshole during high school, but every insult had been a lie. He thought she was gorgeous, sexy, perfect—and out of his grasp. His mind wasn't right back then, but now he could see clearly.

"I've already told you the deal. And the fact I don't negotiate."

"What exactly do you expect me to do? Have sex with you? I'll be no better than a prostitute."

"At least your mother will be free. Apparently, that's the most important thing to you."

"But—"

"Do we have a deal or not? I'm a busy man, Emily."

"But I've never … I mean, I'm a virgin." Her face turned a new shade of red and he knew she was telling the truth. And ashamed of it for some absurd reason.

He had no record of her dating, but this was more than he could have hoped for. It seemed virgins were a rare commodity these days especially at twenty-nine years old.

"Are you sure about that?"

"I think I'd remember having sex with a man. It's not something I'm proud of but it should concern you. You're better off blackmailing another woman if you're looking for a good time, one with more experience."

"The only woman I want is standing in front of me."

"For one night?"

Forever. He'd never let her go.

"We'll see," he said.

"You had my mother's phone. Where is she now?"

"In custody by my private security team."

She narrowed her eyes. "Is that even legal?"

He chuckled. "Do you think I'm running a soup kitchen? You have no idea the kind of shit I'm capable of, who I control, or how much power I have."

"Okay."

"Okay what?"

"I'll do it. Have sex with you. Just let her go home."

He clenched his fists. It pissed him off this sweet girl was sacrificing herself and her virginity for that whore of a mother. Part of him hoped she'd decline, forcing him to come up with another way to entrap her. But he wasn't going to complain.

"That's not how this works. You don't make the rules for this game."

"Then what happens next?"

He wasn't against fucking her on his desk right here, right now. But he'd waited over a decade to have Emily where he wanted her, so he'd prolong this dance as long as possible. Savor every moment.

Dalton ignored her question, walking over to the window of his office. "I prefer the night. There's just something about the solitude of it," he said. Then he turned around. "Tell me, have you thought about me over the years?"

She crossed her arms over her chest, her cleavage plumping up even further. "I told you I've been messed up for years because of your bullying. If I could have afforded a psychiatrist, I'm sure I would have been quite the specimen."

"Water under the bridge."

"Maybe to you," she said.

"I understand why you hated me, fuck, I hated me too, but I swear I saw something more in your eyes."

She shrugged. "It doesn't matter. Probably just Daddy issues. My mother hasn't exactly chosen the best men, either."

"But, like you said, you're not her."

Dalton had sensed her attraction in high school. He hid his own desires well.

"What do you expect me to say? I'm in love with you? I'm so glad you're blackmailing me for my virginity?"

He clenched his teeth.

Nobody talked to him that way, definitely not in that snarky tone. If Emily were a man, he'd have used his fist to make a point. She made him feel like a sick bastard, maybe he was.

"Don't play the victim here. You can walk out that door right now. Nobody's forcing you to do anything against your will."

"But you'll make enough trouble for my mother that she'll be heading to prison."

"We all have choices in life."

He could feel her frustration, saw it etched on her features. She was a little fly caught in his web.

"Let's just get it over with then. You never said I had to enjoy it."

He chuckled. "I guarantee you, you'll enjoy every minute of it."