Not with a Fizzle, But with a Bang (The Bang Series #1)

Chapter 32

Once we're inside he says, "Follow me."

I take a deep breath before following him down the hall and into his office. He walks around his desk and opens a drawer, picking up a stack of papers and dropping it on his desk. I recognize it as the contract he had shown me before.

"It's been redone," he says lowly, "All the things I know you couldn't handle have been taken out. I'd like to go through it with you again." I bite my lip and watch as he shrugs off his jacket, tossing it on a filing cabinet before sitting down. He looks back up, "Sit."

I slowly walk over and sit across from him. He watches me for a moment and says, "Were you hoping that something would change tonight?"

My jaw drops, "No. I already told you. I don't even believe in relationships so why would I hope for more?"

He presses his lips into a grim line, "Sometimes girls change their minds, and after being around my family..."

I shake my head, "I don't care Christian."

He frowns, "Emerson...if you don't want a real relationship and you're interested in having a Dom then why are you being so hesitant? You must know by now I would never hurt.you."

I gulp, "I have some trust issues."

He nods slowly and leans back in his chair, "You'll have a safe word. Every single time you'll have a safe word. And if I don't bring it up you yell at me for it. I don't care how angry you think I'll get. You need a safe word. But most of all, you need to trust me Emerson."

I look away, over at the Warhol piece, "You don't understand why I can't just trust you. It's my body...and after...I can show you. Can I use your computer?"

He frowns and nods, gesturing me over.

He stands and I sit in his chair, not in his lap like usual. I log into my old photobucket...the one I kept everything I didn't want people knowing about. When I open the list of private albums he asks, "You have photots of you and Mr. Simone?"

I bite my lip and nod, "Yeah. I forgot about them."

I choose the album I had titled forget. When it opens up Christian gasps. I never would have thought I'd ever hear that sound out of that man's mouth.

"These are of you?"

I nod slowly, "All three hundred photos. There were more but I deleted them."

"Did she?"

I nod, "Victoria made most of them...the guy did some of them too."

He comes up behind me and leans in, moving on to the next page. His jaw is set as he looks through them. Each a photo of parts of my body that were bruised, cut, or bright red and raw.

He looks at me, "Why didn't you tell her to stop? I know those had to of hurt."

I bite my lip, "It was training for him, I didn't get a safe word. I wasn't a Sub so she just...she kept going."

He turns the chair around and gets on both knees in front of me, cupping my cheeks, "Emerson I would never do that. I know what the value of a safe word is. I promise, if you wanted me to stop I'd stop."

"But what if we forget about a safe word?" I whisper.

He bites his lip, "If you tell me to stop, and I can see in your eyes that I'm truly hurting you I will stop. Plus...I'm pretty sure Davis would come running for you after the look he gave you tonight."

I bite my lip, "You saw that huh?"

He nods, "Yes. He probably thinks I'm punishing you right now."