Page 29 of Taming Scarlet

“No one is going to know. No one in that club wants anyone to know they’re there. And there was no one on the street when we pulled up or came out.”

“True,” Di agreed.

Di had five siblings. There wasn’t as much pressure on her to behave a certain way.

Unfortunately for me, my mom hadn’t been able to have more than me, needing an emergency hysterectomy a few years after I was born. And my father refused to have another child that wasn’t half of her as well.

His love had been ardent and endless.

It was why he had never remarried.

As far as I could tell, he didn’t really even date.

Sure, he had a woman on his arm for events at times, but unless I was misreading it completely, there was never anything going on with those women.

As a teenager, I’d been desperately seeking something for myself like my mother had been lucky enough to enjoy. The adoration of a man. Someone who thought the sun rose and set simply for my enjoyment. Someone who would never look at another woman.

Unfortunately for me, I learned really quickly that love like that was more of a fantasy than reality for most women.

So men, as an adult, were an occasional dalliance. Nothing I ever let get serious. And since I didn’t want the internet going wild with rumors about me being a slut, I didn’t let myself be seen with men often.

“Come on, Drea, honey,” Di said as we pulled up to Di’s place. “Why don’t you come stay with me tonight, okay?” she said, patting her head before wrapping an arm around her, then pulling her out onto the sidewalk.

Alone in the backseat, I let out a breath and tilted my head back on the seat.

I felt… flustered. Off-kilter.

I wasn’t sure what the problem was. If maybe the sex club had just been too much for me or what. Not that it mattered. We wouldn’t be going again. I tried as often as possible not to repeat destinations. There wasn’t usually much of a reason to do so, with the way places changed in the city in a blink.

“Have a good night, Miss Chandelier,” Eric called as he held the door open for me.

“Thanks, Eric. You too. Go get some sleep.”

I probably should have asked my father to get me a second driver, so Eric got some time off. But I usually wasn’t very active early in the day. And if I was, I walked. He rarely had to work until after five or six at night.

“You too, miss,” he said, giving me his old, familiar smile. There were more crinkles around his eyes these days.

I ignored the guard as I made my way into the building, choosing to mess around with my phone as we rode up the elevator together, so I didn’t accidentally make eye contact with him.

He seemed fine with the silence as I let out Hugh, then checked his water dish before making my way toward my room.

Or so I thought.

Because no sooner than I exhaled a deep breath, I heard his footsteps slow and stop in front of my room.

“What?” I snapped, feeling too wonky to deal with him and his disapproval right then.

“Turn around,” he demanded in that voice he’d used when bossing me around about the food and water that morning.

It was a voice that had me immediately doing as he demanded even as my mind screamed at me to do anythingbutthat.

So I did turn.

But just, I assured myself, to give him a piece of my mind about his attitude.

“I don’t know what you think you are doing in my—“ I started.

But he cut me off.

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