Captive

Chapter Thirteen

The decision to come to the bar had struck him a couple of hours after Juliet had left. The last few weeks had been hard he reflected, drawing a hand over his face. He should never have kissed her that night, it had brought all those old emotions crashing down on him. Every time he looked at her he wanted to do it again, pull her into his arms and kiss her lips, caress her flesh, claim her as his own. But he had claimed her and not in the right way. All the time she was his captive, living here under that damn contract he couldn't expect anything of her but to do the job she was employed to do, to pay off the debt her father owed. If he made any kind of move on her now he would be taking advantage of her and he knew that deep inside. That was why he had resorted to a couple of casual relationships, calling up girls he knew would just have a good time with him with no strings attached when the urge became too much, bringing them back and flaunting them under her nose to convince himself and her there was nothing between them but a contract between two people. Seeing her necklace, hearing what it had meant to her had at first caused such a flare of joy, of hope, but then  he realised that when she came home from the hospital they were right back to the contracted relationship that he had put in place and his heart had broken, shattered into a million pieces, because he couldn't have her, he couldn't take advantage of her. Bret kept resolving to end the contract, to make things right with her, but then he would go to see his father who seemed to decline further each day and his anger, need for vengeance would flare again and he'd resolutely stick to the idea that if she paid off the debt things would be right. But he had to distance himself from her because otherwise he knew she'd be straight back in his arms again. He wasn't the hero she'd always thought he was and he set out to prove that by distancing himself from her to the point she left a list for him rather than speaking to him.

When she walked downstairs in her uniform, her hair in a mid ponytail, looking flushed and clean from her shower, filling the air with the scent of raspberries and vanilla he'd wanted to pull her into his arms, climb on top of her and make love to her all night long. But he came to his senses rather quickly; she was only dressed like this to go to work at the bar he owned as part of the contract he had forced her to sign. So he had turned back to the TV, feigning interest in some news show though he hadn't the first clue what the presenter was taking about, all he could think of was her. Restless and frustrated with himself and with her, Bret switched the TV off and Socks jumped up into his lap. With a sigh Bret brought his hand down to absentmindedly stroke his cat.

"What the fuck do I do?" he muttered, before he sighed again. Sitting here feeling sorry for himself wasn't going to help any. Maybe he should talk to her, the silence and avoiding her weren't helping, perhaps a frank conversation would. Decision made he messaged Brian to say he needed to head to the bar so would collect Juliet himself and then grabbed his jacket and headed out into the night, a feeling of relief settling over him that he had decided to face this head on. As he walked across the square to the bar he could see that it wasn't all that busy now which was a relief. It meant he'd be able to keep an eye on her more easily until closing time in an hour while he enjoyed a beer at the bar and maybe a chat with Jim. 

But then his gaze found her, sat at a table close to the window with another man. The red mist began to descend before he could properly process what he was seeing. She looked relaxed, happy even and the man had hold of her hand, was leaning across the table to talk to her earnestly. And then, just as he stepped in through the door, she stood up and the man pulled her back, kissing her on the lips. Bret froze, his fists clenching with fury and it seemed that the bar faded away until all he saw was the girl he was in love with in the arms of another man, being kissed by another man. Time stood still as blind rage rushed through his body from the tips of his toes to the ends of his hair. Heat like lava bubbled in his stomach, made him almost light headed with the intensity of his anger and his fist came back, struck the man hard.