Chapter 5

Roman drove his car up the driveway and noticed that only the exterior lights were on. The house seemed like it was in total darkness.

He had told Evelyn about this before. Not that he had any concerns about her safety in this neighbourhood, especially since he also had security guards nearby, but if she kept all the lights off she could invite trouble if thieves thought no one was home.

He parked his car and prepared himself.

Last weekend had been a close call, but he knew the day was still going to come. She would claim to be madly in love with him and he’d have to toss her out. Having an addictive pussy did not automatically mean she was safe from that. The rules were there for a reason and they had been the same for everyone who had come before her. They would be the same for the women who came after her as well.

He frowned as he thought of that. If he got rid of Evelyn would the other women be able to do what he had grown used to? Would he find another who would not fake her responses to him? Who would come apart for him no matter what? That was a talent not many women had. Evelyn’s body was made to be pleasured.

And on that thought, he got out of the car and went up the steps to her door. It had been almost a week since he last touched her, and the anticipation to fuck her senseless always built steadily throughout the week.

He waited a while after the first knock and then took a step back to look at all the windows to see if any lights had come on. He was a little later than usual today because of work commitments, but he had already sent her a message to tell her the time he would arrive. Surely she hadn’t already gone to sleep?

He knocked again, growing more impatient the longer she kept him waiting out here.

By the time he relented and pulled the keys out of his pocket, he was ready to punish her for making him stand around like a dick. But it was very quiet in the house when he put the lights on. Maybe she was sleeping after all.

He hung his coat up as usual and started making his way up the stairs. The way Evelyn greeted him at the door was one reason he was always ready to come back again and again. She was always half-naked, as per their agreement, but it was the anticipation in her eyes that always got him. This visit felt very off without that initial greeting. She would have to make up for it another day.

Maybe he would return the next day as he had done last week. That had been quick and intense and had whet his appetite for their next meeting. Just one extra day a week. It wouldn’t hurt, and it wouldn’t be breaking the rules if they both agreed to it. He’d just add it to the contract.

When he put her bedroom lights on, he found her bed empty. It was still perfectly made so she hadn’t been in it yet, and no sounds were coming from the shower. He checked anyway. Empty.

Had she gone out? The least she could have done was tell him she wouldn’t be back home in time to meet him. He could have waited.

He had no choice but to wait now.

With a scowl on his face, he made his way back downstairs. She had cut into his time. He only asked for one day a week from her, she could have gone out any other day so she could be here to do her job. Where the hell had she gone, anyway? Except to go into town for some shopping or do his dry cleaning, she never went anywhere. It had been strange at first that such a young woman didn’t have an active social life but it had worked out in his favour so he hadn’t questioned her about it. The last thing he wanted was his name to come out of her drunken lips and blow everything apart.

He went to the drinks cabinet in the lounge to pour himself a drink when he saw the envelope placed on the top of it. It had his name on the top in Evelyn’s bold handwriting.

What was this?

He opened it quickly and read. Then he had to reread the message to understand it.

Gone? She was fucking gone?

She had signed a contract, she couldn’t just go.

He read it again, but the note hadn’t changed.

‘Thank you for your time but I’m afraid we have to part ways. I can no longer be under your employ. I’m sorry for the short notice, but you will find everything exactly how I found it the day I moved in. The phone you gave me is on my bedside table. I will accept any penalties for breaching my contract.’

Anger welled up in him as he crumpled the note and strode back upstairs. Her phone was indeed where she had said, and when he walked into her wardrobe he found all the clothes he had bought for her still hanging in it next to his. And on her dressing table was a wad of cash and the bank card that he had given her for any unforeseen expenses.

He walked back out again to look at the empty room. She couldn’t just leave without any explanation. After everything he had done for her, he had expected a lot better from her. She had seemed mature enough to do that but maybe he had been mistaken. He was a whole decade older than her, he shouldn’t have judged her by his standards.

Who did she think she was to think she could just walk away from this? Had she even read her contract? There would be no way she would be able to pay for breaching their contract, not if her only job was to open her legs for him.

He pulled his phone out and called the head of security at the other house.

“When did Miss Bright leave?”

“This morning around ten, sir,” the man answered. “Is something wrong?”

“I need you to find her for me and send me the details,” he said without answering the question, and then hung up.

He looked around the room again. He had his rules that Evelyn was supposed to follow, but ultimately it was his decision when this thing was over. He owned her. For an exorbitant sum every month, he fucking owned her. It was in the contract.

Once he found her, he would remind her of that fact and then proceed to show her just what it meant to be owned by Roman Ashfield.