Page 48 of Bound By You

Selene walks forward and leans down like she's going to hug me but sneers instead, "The slut lives. Shame father couldn't take over your care; you'd be gone, and I'd get what was owed to me." She obviously hasn’t considered that everyone can hear her.

Every person in the room tenses except me. I chuckle. "A bit hypocritical, aren't we, Selene? A slut…really? How many people have you fucked?"

My father's face is red, and just when I think he's about to bite my head off, he gets up and twists toward Selene, shocking the shit out of me when he points at her.

"How fucking dare you? She nearly died. I tried getting power of attorney because I couldn't stand the thought of seeing my daughter on life support, not for the fucking money. And if she had died, the money was still going to Sergi; he has more rights to it than your spoiled ass. You weren't seeing a penny of it, and you're not owed a thing!

I have been blinded by your disgusting behavior for too fucking long, and I have had enough. You should feel grateful your sister allowed us to stay in our family home, considering it's in her name."

Selene's mouth hangs openly in shock, and her eyes hold panic when she realizes she didn't whisper what she said.

My father shouts, “Marco, Colin, Peter!” The three guards enter the room. When they see me awake, they visibly relax and release a relieved breath, and I smile at them so they know I'm good. Marco was always kind to me growing up, Peter was like a father figure, and Colin, well, he's my trusty spy and pseudo uncle. Colin and Peter tears in their eyes, while Marco smiles widely, and I place my hand on my heart, tapping it twice to Colin, and he does the same, as Peter walks over and kisses my head.

I smile at him, and then look at Colin again. You can see the guilt in his eyes. Blaming himself for Mihai getting to me. I tilt my head and give him a little head shake. He smiles, knowing I'm telling him not to blame himself. Alex squeezes my shoulder, and I look at him smiling, and he chuckles silently when he realizes Colin is my informant.

He looks at Colin and mouths,'Thank you.' Colin nods slightly, a bit of guilt still in his eyes, making me scowl at him, and he chuckles a little.

Damian sees the exchange and smirks, shaking his head. Neither of them will say anything, so our secret is safe. What he has been doing would label him a traitor, but I’ll kill anyone who tries to harm him.

My father gains my attention again when he says, "Take Selene home and make sure you take her car keys and all the cards and cash in her purse; she's cut off. She can get a fucking job." Then he looks at Selene, who looks like she's about to protest, and pales when he says, "You have thirty days to find another place to live. The only reason I'm not gutting you is because you're my daughter, but you fucking disgust me. When you learn to grow a fucking conscience, you will be welcomed back to the family. Until then, fuck off out of my sight."

Marco and Colin carry Selene out of my hospital room while she protests, apologizing over and over, stating she just needs a little fix, and I can afford it. My father ignores her and leans down, kissing my head and saying, "Get some rest, sweetheart; I'll be back tomorrow. I have to change all the bank passwords." He leaves with Peter following him.

The door shuts, and I look around. Everyone is holding back their laughter.

I state, stunned, "Did that just happen?"

Alex chuckles. "Yeah, baby, it did."

I shake my head. "What fucking universe did I wake up in?"

Everyone laughs their asses off.

twenty-five

Alexandr

Four weeks—that'show much longer she had to stay in the hospital, and I barely left her side. She contracted an infection and had to stay for three more weeks. It killed me, but it also gave me a chance to finish the redecoration of the farm I bought my girl in the Adirondack mountains, after she’d agreed to give me a year to win her back…before she nearly died. With the help of my men and my family, we basically had it stripped and remodeled. It looks amazing.

Sofia went into labor in our new living room; our new niece weighed only six pounds and is absolutely perfect. She's the second child I've had to help deliver. They named her Aurora Victoria Volkov, and Sofia’s mother burst into tears when she heard the gorgeous girl was named after her. Sofia’s mother has come a long way, and she and Sofia are closer than ever.

Phoebe's been home for about a month. I brought her back to my penthouse to recuperate before I shocked her with her new home. She's been getting her strength back every day, and I've ensured she hasn't been bored, and enrolled her in vetschool at the University of the Adirondacks. She's been doing the coursework at home, but the practical starts when we move. She doesn’t know we’re moving yet; she thinks she has to commute. I thought it would take a lot to convince her to move back to New York, but it didn't.

When I brought it up a week before being discharged, she shocked the shit out of me because she smiled and stated,"I've already signed the farmhouse over to Abby; she wasn't too happy but understood that we'll FaceTime every day and visit when we can. If we want this to work, then we need to try harder, which means me coming home."Then she kissed my lips softly, all while my love shined brighter for her.

Phoebe brings me out of my mind when she asks, "Are you going to tell me where we are going? I thought you were taking me to the university, but you drove past it."

I chuckle and squeeze her thigh where my hand has been since we started driving. My cock twitches.

Fuck.

I have the biggest case of blue balls going. I haven't seen any action apart from my right hand since Phoebe came back into my life; that was roughly six months ago, but I want to do it right.

When we get to our destination, our whole family will be there, including Avery, which was fucking hard, convincing her to come. She hasn't seen Sergi in nearly three months, despite him trying. But for Phoebe, she said yes, because they've become close. I've also got a minister at the new house. Dad managed to get us a marriage license with help from someone on our payroll, bending the rules for us, and I'm marrying my woman today. She just doesn't know it yet.

We get to the gate cutting off the road to the farmhouse, and the guard lets us in. Phoebe looks at me in confusion as we pull in. It sits on over twelve acres of land, with a built-in securityfence. I filled those acres with four horses, some pigs, goats, a couple of dogs. There’s also Ares, who had been staying with me since Phoebe’s attack, and I even bought Goosy off the old man in the farmhouse opposite Phoebe’s in California.

She may kill me for this, but when she graduates, she wants to have her own practice at her own farm, so I ensured a building was built three miles away from the house, with an apartment above. Abby even said, once she graduates, she'll move into it and work for her friend. She said the farm isn't the same without Phoebe, and she'll likely sell it and give the money back to Phoebe. I just chuckled; like hell, would my woman accept a penny of it.

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