No Promises

ANNA

His gaze burned holes into my skull before it fell lower. I watched as his eyes raked over my body, covered just barely by the thin silk of my pajamas.

Suddenly, I felt a different sort of heat from the anger I had moments before.

I crossed my arms and tried to cover myself more, but it just resulted in my breasts popping further out of the top of my camisole. A smirk spread over his lips. He leaned forward, and I had to force myself not to shrink back from him.

His stubbled cheek brushed mine, and he whispered, “You will either get your things and walk out of here with me, or I will throw you over my shoulder and drag you out. Your choice.”

I licked my lips, which had gone suddenly dry.

“I suppose you could try,” I challenged.

He chuckled. “Perhaps I should take you over my knee first.”

At that, I took a retreating step. A blush crept up my neck and spilled over my face. Gavin’s smile widened even as I watched his eyes darken.

“I—I just need to grab my bag,” I said quietly.

When I tried to push the door closed for a moment to explain things to Kristina, he caught my wrist and stepped in behind me. I narrowed my eyes at him, but he either didn’t notice or chose to ignore it.

“Hey, Kris!” he called in a light tone, completely opposite of the one he’d been using seconds before.

“Mr. Powell,” she said flatly. “Good to see you again.”

Gavin looked amused but wrapped an arm around my waist when I tried to step away.

“Thanks for looking out for my girl,” he said and kissed the top of my head. “Glad she made her way here.”

“Sure,” Kris replied, clearly not falling for his bullshit. “And she’s welcome to stay as long as she wants.”

Gavin tilted his head and looked down at me with a sweet expression, as if to ask what I was choosing to do. The inauthenticity I knew was behind it made me want to slap him.

Still, I sighed and shook my head.

“Thank you, Kristina. I think I should go. Gavin and I have a lot to…discuss.”

Gavin squeezed me closer in a loving gesture. In turn, I dug my elbow into the side of his ribcage.

“Okay, babe,” Kris said with a forced smile. “Call me in the morning?”

She said the last part with a pointed look in Gavin’s direction, and I nodded my agreement. He reached down to pick up my overnight bag and tugged me along with him out of the room.

When he got to the front door, out of Kris’s line of sight, I ripped my hand out of his grasp.

“I’m not walking out like this,” I protested. “Give me my bag so I can change.”

“And let you out of my sight again?” he scoffed. “Not a chance, Princess.”

He swung open the door and ushered me out with a firm hand. However, as soon as the latch clicked shut behind us, he shrugged out of his suit jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders. It hung almost to my knees and smelled like his cologne.

I stood frozen, not knowing what to make of the man who felt like a stranger. He reached out to touch my face, and I turned away from him to storm down the hall.

He stood still for a beat before I heard his footsteps follow at a slower pace behind me. I hurried toward the entrance of the building with my arms wound tightly around my middle.

I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to scream in Gavin’s face or fall apart in his arms and cry. This morning, I’d been so hopeful for a chance at happiness.

Now I felt confused and betrayed. More than anything, humiliation was quickly washing over me as the events of the day played back in my mind.

I knew I’d acted just like the immature child Chelsea suggested I was, and that hurt as much as the rest of it.

It was dark when I stepped out of Kris’s building. Gavin emerged from the door a second after I did and wordlessly wrapped an arm around me.

This time was different than in the apartment. His touch then was possessive. This was uncertain, but soft.

I fought the urge to pull away and let him guide me down the city street.

“I was afraid something happened,” he said quietly. “I’ve been searching the city for you.”

I looked away and shook my head. “Stop acting like you care so goddamn much. I was fine.”

He led me over to the curb, and a sleek black car pulled up. He opened the door but stopped me before I could climb in.

“Hey.” He lifted my chin to meet his gaze. “I do care about you. I always have.”

My throat constricted, and I wordlessly pushed past him to get in the car. He slid in next to me and directed the driver, whom I didn’t recognize, to take us to his penthouse.

I leaned my head against the window and stared at the passing streetlights.

“Are you going to tell me what possessed you to climb down fifteen flights of stairs on the fire escape?” he asked after a moment.

I scoffed. “How did you find me?”

He sat back. “Security cameras.”

“Your cameras?”

He glanced out the window rather than answering.

~This man did not illegally hack into video footage of me running away… Did he?~

“Can you just decide what I am to you?” I asked. “Because one minute you’re telling me you’ll never love me. The next you’re saving me outside of a bar in the middle of the night. Then you’re letting your supermodel ex-girlfriend waltz into your apartment and fondle you in the kitchen.”

“That’s not what happened,” he said.

“No, you’re right.” I nodded, staring straight ahead. “First, she told me you do this all the time. Pick up a young girl and promise her the world before dumping her to crawl back to Chelsea.”

He set his jaw and looked out the windshield. I resumed staring out the window, trying to stifle the hurt that he didn’t even try to deny.

“I took back Chelsea’s key,” he said after several minutes. “She won’t be able to get in uninvited anymore.”

I snorted. “Do you really think that solves anything?”

“What is it you want me to do?”

“I want you to tell me why she still had a key in the first place,” I shot back. “I want you to tell me what she said wasn’t true.”

“It’s not!” he roared, and I felt myself shrink back.

He ran a rough hand over his face and took a deep breath.

“I didn’t realize she still had it,” he said more calmly. “She hasn’t been over in almost a year.”

“So, you just go to her place then?” I mocked.

To my surprise, he didn’t take the bait. Instead, he leaned back and sighed.

“I’m going to be paying for this for a while,” he muttered.

“How would you feel in my situation?” I snapped.

He smirked and turned his head to look at me.

“I would’ve punched your ex in the face, Annalise.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Well, we’ve already determined you’re an asshole,” I said. “I’m not going to attack someone in your home who clearly feels like she has a right to be there. I thought you were going to tell her to get lost. Watching her throw herself at you made me want to vomit.”

His face fell. “She wasn’t ‘throwing herself’ at me. She’s naturally a physically affectionate person.”

“Please tell me you are not that dumb, Mr. Powell,” I scoffed. “She did it on purpose, and you fell for it hook, line, and fucking sinker.”

“Fine.” He threw his hands up in exasperation. “I should’ve told her to get lost, but I didn’t know what she said to you. It’s not true, and I have no plans of getting back together with Chelsea.”

I looked back out the window.

“Thank you for the clarification.”

I heard him sigh. “How do I make this right, Annalise?”

“Why do you even care?” I asked in exasperation. “Our relationship is a sham, anyway. Just do what you want.”

“If it’s a sham, why do ~you~ care so goddamn much?” His question hung in the air between us.

~Because I have feelings for you, dummy.~ Instead of admitting as much, I glared at the passing cars.

Gavin broke the silence. “Our marriage is an agreement—not a sham. And I will do whatever it takes to make you happy.”

Suddenly, his cell phone started blaring. He dug it out of his pocket and silenced it, but not before I caught a glimpse of the caller ID.

“Does Ms. Marks call often, Mr. Powell?”

He stiffened. “I checked with Chelsea to make sure you hadn’t gone to confront her. She’s calling to see if you’re okay.”

My eyes nearly slid to the back of my brain. ~Yeah, that’s why she’s calling.~

In a moment of pettiness, I decided to test his conviction.

“What if what it takes for me to be happy is for you to cut off Chelsea completely?” From the corner of my eye, I watched the driver’s eyebrows shoot up in the rearview, but that only strengthened my resolve. “No calls, no texts, no emails, no meeting up. She is gone. Forever.”

“Done,” Gavin said without hesitation, and I found myself genuinely surprised. “She’s dead to me. Now, will you come here, please? I’ve spent the entire fucking afternoon looking for you.”

“Do you not want to discuss it at all?” I questioned, feeling rather confused.

“We just did,” he said, as though it was obvious. “You want her out, and I told you I accepted your terms.”

He held out an arm, and I couldn’t help but curl up into his side.

He breathed an audible sigh of relief before kissing the top of my head.

“Please don’t ever run away again.”

“No promises,” I murmured and snuggled in further.

He just chuckled and shook his head.