Chapter 556
[ 485 words ]
Chapter 556:
The sudden shift to intimacy was disorienting. A hot blush flooded her cheeks. She snatched her hand back as if burned.
But the atmosphere had changed. The immediate crisis was over. And in the lull, she saw her opening.
She took a breath, her expression turning serious. “Jarrod. I went to see Dr. Finchley today. I’m going back to work.”
The warmth in his eyes vanished as if a switch had been flipped. The mask of the cold, implacable commander slammed back into place.
“No,” he said. The word was flat. Final. An order. “It’s not safe. The matter is closed.”
She had expected the refusal. She was ready for it.
“The matter is not closed,” she said, her voice ringing with a new, unfamiliar authority. She shifted, sitting upright on the bed to face him, to put them as close to eye level as the room allowed. “You made a decision about my life, my career, without my consent. You did it before, with this administrative leave. You will not do it again. In this marriage, there have to be boundaries. My professional life is mine. The decision to work is mine. End of story.”
He stared at her, a flicker of genuine surprise in his eyes. He wasn’t used to being challenged. Not like this. Not by her.
𝘔о𝘳𝘦 𝗇𝗈𝗏e𝗹𝘀 𝗈𝗇 𝗴𝘢𝗅𝘯𝗼v𝗲𝘭𝘴.сo𝗺
He leaned in, his intent clear. He was going to kiss her. He was going to use the one weapon he knew she couldn’t resist, the one tactic that always ended every argument. He was going to conquer her with his mouth, and the issue would be ignored, buried under a wave of heat and sensation.
But not this time.
As his lips descended toward hers, she turned her face away and placed two firm fingers against the hard edge of his brace, stopping him without shoving his injured body.
The unexpected resistance made him go very still.
She used the moment of surprise to act. She turned, her back to him, and lay down on the far edge of the bed, pulling the sheet up to her shoulder. She presented him with a cold, unyielding wall of rejection.
“If you cannot respect my will,” she said, her voice muffled by the pillow but clear and steady, “if you see me as a thing to be managed and not a partner to be consulted, then you can sleep in the guest room. Tonight, and every night after.”
The silence that followed was absolute. It was profound.
She could feel his shock radiating across the space between them. It was a physical presence in the room. Jarrod Romero, the man who commanded armies, the man who bent the world to his will, was being denied. In his own bed.
She felt the mattress dip as he moved. Not close enough to touch. Close enough for the air behind her to warm with his presence.
“Caroline,” he said, his voice low.
“Don’t,” she said, sharp and immediate. “I mean it, Jarrod.”
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