Free Bound to Love by Emma Lyn Wild

Chapter One
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    C assie
    Standing in his dressing room at the theater, my body still thrumming with the hot sex we’d just had, I stared at Troy, dumb with shock.
    He wanted to carry on? He’d used me, insulted me and then apologized. Even I knew that was typical abusive behavior. I couldn’t believe I was giving him another chance. I was like an addict—one more time and he would make it right.
    He held out his hand. I crossed his dressing room and took it, but not without hesitating first. “This your last chance, Troy. I mean it.”
    “Thank you,” he said, blue eyes suspiciously bright. “I promise I’ll tell you what’s wrong. All of it. Come back to my place and we’ll talk. Do you have to get to work in the morning?”
    I nodded. “I’ve nearly finished the Roman pavement. Steve says he has another job lined up for me.”
    “For an intern, he keeps you damn busy. Do you want me to talk to him?” As his father was a big donor to the New York Museum, my boss Steve would listen to Troy. But I didn’t want that. I shook my head. “I don’t want any favors.”
    His mouth flattened. “I can understand that. Go get a shower while I dress. Or do you want to wait?”
    I thought of my careful makeup, and what my hair would do if I got it wet without serum and spray. I shook my head. “I’ll grab one when I get home.”
    He drew me closer, clasping my hands, gazing down into my eyes. “You’re calling my place home?”
    I shook my head. I had to be strong. “Not yet.”
    His expression lightened. “Then you’ll come back. I promise I’ll tell you why I behaved so badly, but I need time. I can’t do it in a hurry, and I can’t do it here. If we stay holed up much longer, they’ll think we’re never coming out. I’m sorry, sweetheart, but I have a few things to do before we can get out of here.” He dropped a kiss on my forehead. “You know what I did back there?”
    Outside the stage door, when he’d kissed me. It had been brief, but enough to tell the media we were together. If that hadn’t done it, he’d kissed me earlier, at the museum, in front of a group of schoolgirls with smart phones. “Yes. You went public.”
    “I did it earlier because I felt good. I did it just now because I was scared. I don’t want to lose you, Cassie.”
    “If you don’t tell me why you treat me like this, I’m walking.” I meant it, although doing it would break my heart. I’d probably have to face the media, something I didn’t know how to do properly. Somebody like me, museum intern and waitress, didn’t have the money to employ somebody, either. They’d pull me apart unless I could think of something good. Or tell my story, as people had done with Troy before.
    No, I wouldn’t do that, however much money they offered. I had my pride, after all. Barely. I had to admit, Troy had paid for that, too, in a way. When I’d met him, I was on a date with a sleaze called Witley. I was working as a paid escort, in an effort to pay off the worst of my student loan. The bank had threatened to sue me for the money. Troy had tipped me a thousand dollars. That didn’t mean he owned me, though.
    The trouble was, I was falling in love with him. The real Troy, not Troy Cooper, Hollywood star and now Broadway actor. Just Troy, the funny, sexy, volatile man. But that volatility had its dark side and he’d just demonstrated it to me.
    This was the second time he’d offered me money to go away. And the last. I wouldn’t take the money this time, but I’d sure go away.
    He dropped his towel and dressed quickly, then glanced in the mirror and smoothed his dark hair back with his hands. Since he had it short to fit his role as Mark Antony in Antony and Cleopatra , that meant his hair settled into place immediately. He looked immaculate, dressed in dark navy pants and a crisp blue shirt, Rolex watch and no tie. He shoved his wallet and phone into his pockets, slung the jacket that matched his