I wake up next to the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen: Jade with her hair all messy and my come still all over her.

I’ve taken her to my hotel, so that my dad can’t find us at the club.  Last night after she’d fallen asleep I’d called trusted contacts and set up Plan As, Plan Bs and Plan Cs. All the stuff I’m used to doing— but usually I do it for my father. This time, it’s for me.

I know that I can make a successful break from him just as I’d successfully carried out all his assignments in the past. It’s time I put what he taught me to use for good in my own life, instead of bad.

I’m looking at Jade’s angelic face and thinking that I never even had the courage to act on my convictions until I met her, when she opens her eyes and looks into mine.

“Good morning,” I tell her, leaning down to kiss her hair.

“Morning,” she says. “Am I going to be tied up today?”

“Maybe,” I laugh. “But first I wanted to let you know some things.”

She leans into my chest and says, “Sure.”

“As you probably figured out, I came here to find out what you know,” I tell her. “I’m satisfied that you don’t know anything much. And even if you did, I’d protect you. Because, for reasons that are completely inexplicable to me, I love you.”

“I love you too, Gavin,” she says, looking up at me.

“What I was doing had way more to do with my father than it did with me,” I tell her. “But it was still wrong of me. I should have gotten out a long time ago. I didn’t know how good things could be until I met you.”

“I feel the same way,” she agrees. “You give me strength I didn’t even know I had.”

“I’m going to cut ties with my father,” I tell her. “I’ll reassure him that you don’t know anything but I’ll also make it clear that I’m done doing his dirty work. I don’t think he can do anything to hurt me from that far away. I have stuff on him. Stuff he wouldn’t want me to give up. But it probably means I can never go back to Ireland.”

“So what are you going to do?” she asks.

“I don’t know,” I hint. “But I hear it’s a lot easier to stay in the States if you’re married to a citizen.”

“Is that a marriage proposal?” she asks, shaking her head in disbelief. But I can tell she likes the idea.

“Not yet,” I tell her. “It’s way too soon for that. I need to tie you up at least 27 more times and make sure I still have your loyalty.”

“Sounds good to me,” she agrees.

“But I know I love you enough to make big changes to be with you,” I tell her, in all seriousness. “I won’t let anyone hurt you. You’re safe with me. You don’t have to worry about anything you may have seen.”

“Okay, good,” she says, letting out an audible sigh of relief.

“I’m cutting ties with the club too, because I’m done with that—and there’s no way my dad would let me keep it anyway, even if I wanted to, which I don’t. But don’t worry. I have a lot of money in it I’ve gotten out. You’ll still get paid your money.”

“You don’t need to pay me money,” she says.

“Well, we’ll just share all my money then,” I tell her.

She laughs.

“Okay, but I only need enough to help out my mom and sister. I’m going to become a professor of Irish literature. Especially if I don’t have to worry about paying the bills.”

“You won’t,” I tell her, smiling at the mention of her family.

Back when I was spying on her, I had heard her talking to and about them and I think that was one of the things that made me love her before I even realized that I loved her. She’s so giving and selfless, and she inspired me to become a better person.

“First things first, I need to call my dad,” I tell her. “And then you and I are going to have more sex.”

“Good,” she says. “Works for me.”

She takes out her own phone and flips through her contacts.

“And what are you going to do be doing in the meantime?” I ask her.

“I need to call Monique and Tessa and tell them how losing my virginity went,” she says.

“Oh, and how did it go?” I ask her.

“Perfectly,” she says. “I’m going to tell them I found a middle ground between their two experiences. I had good sex with a stranger who happened to love me. And it didn’t ruin our relationship because there was none to ruin yet.”

I laugh and wink at her.

“And it won’t be ruined,” I tell her. “Because I’ll do everything I can to protect it.”

THE END.

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