Page 57 of High Reward

“You didn’t lose her, Victor. She’s safe, and I would bet money she’s alive because of you. Please don’t beat yourself up. I love her as much as you do.”

He steps away from me and looks for a Kleenex, so I grab him some toilet paper from the bathroom.

“Do I love her?” he asked. “Is that possible already? I know I love you.”

Hearing that declaration makes my heart do somersaults. “If it’s possible for me, then it’s possible for you. Now we just have to figure out how to get her to stay in our lives.”

He pulls her close again and kisses her deeply. “I’ve never done anything like this, Grace. Tried to be with two women. I’m going to need your help to make sure I don’t fuck it up.”

A curt laugh escapes my throat. “I’m not an expert. You saw how things ended with Kara and Sampson.”

“They were abusive and idiots. You were not the problem in that dynamic.”

“Can we not talk about them? I don’t like how often they’ve come up in conversation the last few weeks.”

He laughs. “Sure, butterfly. How’s your paper coming?”

I grimace. “It was too hard to focus. You’re not really going to spank me, are you?”

He moves to the sofa and pulls my laptop from the bag and puts it on his desk.

“Not unless you want me to. But you can sit on my lap and work on it while we wait for the doctor.”

He sits in his office chair and pats his knee. I’m suddenly shy as I go to him and settle on his lap. When the laptop is open, I pull up my paper and stare at it. Victor laughs. “My eyes have already glazed over. Have I told you how proud I am that you’re going back to school?”

“A few times, but I enjoy hearing it,” I say as I skim the last few paragraphs I wrote.

Victor skims his hand up my thigh and under my skirt, coming dangerously close to my pussy.

“You expect me to concentrate when you’re doing that?”

He nips my shoulder where it meets my neck and drags a finger along my clit. “I do. You have a paper to write, and I clearly have to keep an eye on you to make sure it gets done. I have to entertain myself somehow.”

A knock at the door has me leaping from his lap. Victor laughs as he goes to answer it. “So jumpy,” he teases as he pulls the door open.

Zara pokes her head in and waves at me before looking back at Victor. “Sorry to disturb you, but I thought you would want to know that the doctor is done with Lili.”

“Thank you, Zara.”

He holds his hand out for me, and we return to the main room where the doctor approves our visit with Lili.

“Please let her rest,” Dr. Singh calls after us.

Victor stops and turns to shake her hand. “Calm down, Amarjit. We aren’t going to have sex. We’ll wait at least an hour for that.”

The doctor rolls her eyes and throws her hands up. “Why do I even bother with you people?”

Victor squeezes my hand as we head for Lili’s room.

She’s sitting up in bed when we open the door but looks like she could nod off any minute.

“You’re here,” she says sleepily. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

I climb onto the bed and snuggle next to her.

“Easy, Grace,” Victor warns.

“I’m fine, Vic. Let me have my Grace fix.”