His Realm

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Ana wasn’t a fool and as the elevator ascended to the penthouse, she knew that he knew she was coming. She just didn’t know what to expect. She had half been hoping that he wouldn’t be home on a Saturday night, but he was and she was desperate.

She had left her usual defences behind tonight. Her wavy auburn hair was loose around her shoulders, her expensive silk and wool suit had been exchanged for jeans and a baggy jumper and her flawless makeup which had been hiding her dark circles in the court room (and yesterday had hidden her red eyes too) was gone, wiped clean.

She would be laid bare before him, exposed to his scrutiny, because there was no other way.

Her only defence was the clear plastic wallet she carried, and her arms that held it to her chest, defensivly. Of course, her posture was a big clue that she was as nervous as hell.

Although the lift stopped, the doors didn’t open, probably waiting for Tom to use a key card or enter a code. As the seconds ticked on, she brought her thumb to her lips and bit on the end of her nail, a habit she had stopped but that seemed determined to return now. Even weekly shellac manicures couldn’t completely hide the damage she'd been doing.

Finally the doors opened and Tom stood there, his expression inscrutable.

“Back for more? I didn’t take you for a masochist.”

Tears pricked her eyes again and she blinked them back.

“Please, Tom, just hear me out.”

He considered her for a long moment, his eyes taking in her signs of weakness, the red eyes and nose, the un-styled hair, her slumped shoulders… he catalogued her body language and after several long moments, gestured for her to step out.

“How do I know you aren’t wearing a wire this time?” he demanded.

She was prepared for that and began by dropping the wallet and taking her boots off, passing them to him for him to inspect, then her socks, jeans and finally her jumper, until she was standing before him in nothing but a sheer bra and panty set that’s he had worn specifically because they were see through. When he'd finished checking her clothes, she turned around, flicking her hair when she had her back to him, so he could see there was nothing there, then she turned to face him again.

She caught that predatory look in his eyes, the one that used to turn her on so much, and she lowered her eyes, afraid of what else she might see in his.

When he didn’t say anything for a few minutes, she reached back to unhook her bra, wondering if he thought the underwire might be a bug, but he stopped her and threw her clothes back at her.

She dressed as quickly as she could, not bothering with her socks and boots yet, and she picked up the wallet.

“Speak,” was all he eventually said, so she began.

“I didn’t come to you because I needed a hit man, I’m not an idiot and I know how to use the dark web. I came to you because I need you. This is way over my head and I can't handle it alone.” She blinked furiously, trying to hold back her tears. They wouldn’t sway Tom anyway. “I’m sorry I acted like a bitch yesterday but that’s my normal courtroom persona when I’m frightened, and you aren’t the first to call me that.”

“I frighten you?” he asked, in that ice cold tone once more.

She looked into his eyes and managed to hold his gaze. “You terrify me.”

His featured morphed into disgust and she knew she’d said the wrong thing,

“No, Tom, please, I’m not afraid of you, that’s not what I mean. You terrify me because of how you make me feel. Even now, after all these years, I can hardly stand to think of you and… and how I hurt you,” her voice trailed off towards the end.