Contracted To The Beast novel Chapter 85

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Chapter 85

Chapter 85

The door closed behind Nia and the room went quiet. Too quiet. I sat on the edge of the bed, elbows on my knees, staring at the spot where she had been. My hands still remembered the feel of her skin. Her scent still hung in the air like she had just stepped out for a second. But she was gone.

I should have stopped her. I should have said something real instead of standing there like an idiot while she wrapped that robe around herself and walked away. The look on her face when she told me it was just sex kept cutting through my head. I kept replaying it, over and over. Why didn’t I go after her?

I picked up my phone three times.

Called her once.

Hung up before it could ring.

I didn’t know which was worse: hearing her reject me again or knowing she might not answer at all.

I stood up and paced the room. The sheets were still messed up from us. Her hair tie lay on the nightstand where she left it in a hurry. I picked it up and turned it between my fingers. This was the second one I had now. The first was from Mykonos I slipped it into my pocket like some kind of fool holding onto whatever pieces of her I could get.

This hurt more than I thought it would. I felt like I had just been dumped. I really believed we had something good in that moment. I was stupid enough to think sex would fix the mess between us. I was dead wrong.

I opened our chat and scrolled upward.

The stupid arguments.

The sarcastic replies.

The times she’d left me on read just to annoy me.

Somehow, those conversations felt more intimate now than anything else.

High school Nia probably felt like this every day after what I did to her. The thought sat heavy in my chest. I had been so blind back then. Now the guilt wouldn’t leave me alone. It pressed down on me until it was hard to breathe.

I walked out of the bedroom and pushed open the door to my study. Dust covered everything. I hadn’t been here in years. The last time was during my freshman year in college, on Mom’s birthday. Father had just destroyed what little was left of her-pictures, clothes, everything. I came in here that night and started painting her from memory because I needed to see her face again.

The unfinished portrait still sat on the easel. Her red hair and green eyes looked so vivid even though the painting was only half done. I wondered where she was now. Was she happy? Did she ever think about me? I had looked for her for so long, but she stayed hidden. Maybe she didn’t want to be found. The thought made my throat tight.

I spent the next hour cleaning the room. I wiped down surfaces, moved old canvases, and opened the windows to let fresh air in. When I finished, the space felt like mine again. The walls had old paint splashes and geometric patterns I made years ago. Sculptures and supplies sat neatly organized by color and use. I covered Mom’s portrait with a cloth. I wasn’t ready to finish it yet.

I needed to paint something else. I set up a fresh canvas, tied on my old stained apron, and picked up a brush. My right hand kept playing with Nia’s hair tie. I closed my eyes for a second and let the memories come.

Her citrus scent. The soft curve of her lips. The way her breath caught when I touched her. The small sounds she made. The way her eyes looked when she let her guard down. I could still feel her under my hands, warm and real.

Chapter 85

I opened my eyes slightly and started painting.

Hours passed. I didn’t check the time. Nothing else mattered. Stroke after stroke, her face slowly appeared on the canvas. The shape of her eyes. The line of her jaw. The way her hair fell when it was loose. The small scrunch of her nose when she was focused. I worked until she looked back at me from the canvas.

Halfway through painting her eyes, I realized I wasn’t painting the woman who hated me.

I was painting the woman who’d looked at me like she wanted to stay.

That hurt more than anything.

I stepped back and let out a long breath. My heart pounded hard. There she was. The woman I’d somehow fallen in love with.

What are you doing to me, Nia?

Just looking at the painting made my chest ache. I had let her get so deep under my skin. None of this was supposed to happen. She was only meant to be my fake girlfriend for six months.

Now I couldn’t imagine the contract ending. What would happen when it did? Would she quit her job? I knew she probably would. The thought of taking her dream away from her made me feel sick.

She couldn’t live normally anymore. Not with the attention that came with me. That’s why I hired Leo for her. Her safety mattered more than anything now. Especially after what happened with Bella. I still blamed myself every single day for that pool incident. If something worse had happened to her because of me, I don’t know how I would live with it.

I set the brushes down and let the paint dry. I would add the final touches later. For now I just stared at her portrait. Nia. That name fits perfectly. Nothing else would do.

Back in the bedroom my phone lit up. I picked it up and saw the notification. She was using the card. A small smile pulled at my lips for the first time in hours.

She was angry enough to leave.

Angry enough to ignore my calls.

But not angry enough to give back the card.

I hated how much hope that gave me.

It was ridiculous. Pathetic, even.

But if she was still using it, maybe she wasn’t completely done with me.

I remembered the first time she used it in Mykonos. It had made me stupidly happy back then too. Seeing her spend even a little of my money felt like she was letting me in, even just a bit.

I opened our chat and typed.

“I’m sorry, Nia. Talk to me please.”

The message joined all the others I had sent today. All unread. She was ignoring me, and I couldn’t blame her. I just wished I knew how to fix this.

What do I do now?

Who could I even call for help?

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Chapter 85

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