Free Demand by Lisa Renée Jones Page B

wrapped around me from behind, awake when he’s asleep. Staring at the glow of the fireplace with one thought. Kayden didn’t tell me what Nathan said about my amnesia—and nothing Kayden does is unintentional. That tells me I won’t like what Nathan said to him. It tells me we are far more fragile than the passion we share says we are.
    As if on cue, Kayden pulls me a little closer, and I press into him, gripping his arm where it drapes my upper body, and once again, we are both holding each other a little too close and too hard, and to me that reason is clear. The secrets of that dark alleyway have been haunting us since the moment I opened my eyes and called him beautiful.

six

    I don’t remember finally falling asleep, but I wake to the dim glow of sunshine from a nearby window, immediately aware that Kayden is no longer touching me. Rolling over I find him gone, but a piece of paper is lying on his pillow. Leaning up on my elbow, I yank the blanket up over my chilled, naked body and read the note:
    Ella,
    Wrapping up some loose ends from last night. I will be gone most of the day but I’ll call you when I can. Adriel is in the castle if you need him, and since you’re a feminist with a gun, I warned him to keep his distance.
    Kayden
    PS: Close is good.
    I laugh at his joke, and yes, close is good, but my smile fades quickly with the reference to last night. And while I don’t feel like I could be any other me than the me I am now, I can’t seem to frame the person in my flashbacks who submitted to more than being tied to a bed and left for hours. He took me to a club and had me tied up and whipped, a thought that has me remembering a hard, spine-bending lash that jolts me to a sitting position, my breathing turning into panting.
    The sound of my ringing phone makes me glance at the nightstand, and I find that not only has Kayden set my phone there and attached it to a charger but that my journal, gun, and purse are there as well. Needing to hear his voice, I scoot over, grab my cell, and lie back down to answer. “Hello,” I say, only to hear, “You’re late, Eleana.”
    At the sound of Gallo’s voice, I momentarily twist back around to glance at the clock, noting the eight fifteen hour. “I didn’t agree to this meeting,” I say, flattening firmly on my pillow where I intend to stay.
    â€œObviously when I stated that my badge indicated that you would make this meeting, I wasn’t clear enough. Consider this your notice. This is official police business related to both your present and past activities, as well as Kayden’s, which is why he will not be joining us for coffee.”
    I jolt upward, clutching the blanket to my chest. “Activities?” I say, telling myself this is a head game. He doesn’t know about Niccolo. He doesn’t know about the necklace. “I have no activities.”
    â€œFurthermore,” he continues, as if I haven’t spoken, “it’s a courtesy that I’m giving you the opportunity to discuss said activities in an unofficial capacity, outside the castle, where the walls have ears. And I strongly believe you want this conversation kept confidential.”
    â€œI have nothing to hide,” I say, managing to sound convincing when the idea that he knows something that puts me at odds with The Underground, or Kayden, terrifies me.
    â€œAwfully certain for a woman recovering from amnesia.”
    He’s hit a nerve that Kayden and I opened last night. “We’re talking now. Say what you need to say.”
    â€œOn an open line, which is unacceptable. You will come and meet me, and you will do so alone.”
    â€œDetective Gallo—”
    â€œIf you’d prefer, I can send a car to pick you up and take you to the station.”
    â€œKayden works for your boss,” I remind him. “He’ll never let you take me, or Giada, to the station.”
    â€œThe