Yours to Keep part 3: Billionaire CEO Romance (Captured and Claimed) Read Free Page B

her.
    She held her hands up. “I’m fine.”
    Directly across from her, Lilliana reached out and grabbed her hand. “Who are you trying to convince of that? Us or you?”
    “Quinn better not have hurt you,” Sophie said.
    Rebecca turned to look at her friend and had never seen such worry in her eyes. If looks could kill and Quinn was anywhere in the vicinity, he would have been dead by now.
    She exhaled slowly. “He didn’t, but Felix did.”
    “Felix?” Melanie asked, pushing a cocktail Rebecca’s way. “Who’s Felix?”
    She took a much-needed drink, leaned forward in her chair and told the entire story.
    “Oh, my God,” Sophie said, putting her hand on Rebecca’s back and giving it a rub. “Thank God Quinn got there in time before he…before you were…well, you know.”
    Eyes still wide with worry, Melanie gestured to the bartender for another round, and Rebecca tagged on, “After that, I came home, and now I’m putting that whole world behind me.”
    “Wait, when you say whole world, do you mean Quinn too?” Melanie asked.
    Rebecca fished the olive from her drink and plopped it into her mouth. “Yes. I mean Quinn too.”
    “Becs,” Melanie began. “I’ve never seen you so happy before, and the chemistry between you two was off the charts.”
    “You need more than chemistry to make a relationship work,” she said matter-of-factly.
    “So you’re saying you want a relationship with him then?” Lilliana asked.
    “Yes,” she answered without thinking, but as soon as that word left her mouth, her head jerked back with startled surprise. “Wait, no.” A beat passed and then, “I don’t know.”
    Was it possible that she wanted a real relationship with Quinn? Hadn’t she learned to keep a measure of distance because no one ever stayed? That when someone was done with her they tossed her out like she was yesterday’s garbage?
    “It doesn’t matter,” she added. “He told me there was no middle ground with him. I want him to be happy, and I can’t give him what he wants.” She pushed her hair from her face and looked at Melanie. “Enough about me, what have you three been up to?”
    Melanie smiled. “Sophie just made partner.”
    “What!” Rebecca squealed. She turned to Sophie. “Oh my God. Congratulations.” She pulled her friend in for a hug. “Here I was monopolizing the conversation when you had something very important to share.”
    “You weren’t monopolizing, and what you had to say was just as important, if not more so.” Rebecca’s heart squeezed, and she touched her friend’s hand. Sophie smiled in return and added, “The firm booked Onyx for a private gathering Friday night. I hope you’ll come.”
    “I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Rebecca assured her.
    “Don’t forget your plus one.”
    “Plus one?”
    “You get to bring a date.”
    Rebecca shook her head. “I’m coming alone.”
    “Have you heard from him?” Lilliana asked, turning the conversation back to Rebecca.
    “He texts me every day to make sure I’m okay, but he hasn’t been by to see me, if that’s what you mean.”
    “Maybe he’s giving you space,” Melanie suggested.
    “Maybe.” She straightened in her chair and reached for her drink. “Or maybe we’re just finished and he’s only checking on me because he’s worried I’ll sue him after what happened. I mean, our firm did sue him last year and we won.”
    Clearly not buying that, Sophie leaned toward her and placed her hand over Rebecca’s. “I have a question.”
    “What?” Rebecca turned to her friend. She took in the seriousness on her friend’s face and braced herself. Sophie was about to challenge her.
    “BDSM is about trust, right?”
    “How do you know that?” Melanie asked, her brow wagging. Mel winked at Rebecca and Rebecca forced a smile. Each friend was dealing with this situation differently. While Sophie went the stern route, Melanie chose the playful. She loved her for that, but wasn’t in a