Page 80 of Hired Help

When I’m ready, I hitch myself up onto one elbow, resting my head on one hand while using the other to pull the fabric away from her neck, away from where she’s pulled it to cover.

I could pretend it doesn’t bother me. Could take my cue from Joseph and pretend she’s nothing more than a hole to stick my dick into, one better than the others on offer.

But the saliva in my mouth dries. Brooke looks away from me, staring at the wall, her eyes shiny. Hiding from me.

And the question in my head is how much of what she’s said tonight is shit talk, designed to get a rise out of me—literally—and how much is real?

“How many times have you seen my dad?”

Her eyes flick back to mine, nervous teeth worrying at her swollen lip, a frown betraying her concern. An answer before she even opens her mouth. “I don’t know. I didn’t keep count.”

“When did you start?”

“After you said”—her face twists like she can’t bring herself to say it—“the things you said.”

A shiver runs through me as I recall the cruel taunts I yelled at her in a moment of weakness. The way I lashed out, wanting to cause pain… and here it is. Pain. For her and for me.

“I just wanted to hire someone to see… to check I wasn’t like you said I was.”

“And how many times did you check?” She doesn’t answer and I lift her farther towards me, cupping her shoulder, trying to keep a firm clamp on my anger because if I scare her now, if I hurt her now, she’s really gone.

“I didn’t want to have to worry about him seeing other clients, so I booked all his appointment times, but I haven’t kept track.” She pinches her lips together with her fingers like they’re independent contractors, trying to keep the words from spilling out her mouth. “I asked him to marry me. I bought him a house.”

A laugh bursts out of me, just the one. It’s lunacy but as I check her expression, I don’t see the telltale signs of a lie.

“You can’tmarryhim, Brooke. He’s twice your age.”

She gives a single shrug. “That doesn’t matter when I’m the one chasing him.”

The words hit my solar plexus, making my legs retract and my head spin. I’m in a conversation that could affect the rest of my life, but I haven’t prepared, my brain isn’t in the mood for thinking. “If you want to piss me off, you’ve succeeded. You don’t need to go any further. There’s no need to ruin your life.”

“I like him.”

“I like Alicia but I’m not going to marry her.”

“You can. She’d probably be grateful.”

I close my eyes, grabbing her hip, stroking lower where I put my mark on her, remembering that she belonged to me first. “That’s hardly the fucking point.”

“Well, what is your point, then?”

“He’s mydad.”

“And youleft.You left me when you promised you wouldn’t and now you won’t even tell me why. If I want to marry him and spend money on him to make sure he stays, I’m allowed to do that.”

“You’rebuyinghim? Jesus.”

“Get out.” She shoves her hands at me, one catching me off guard, so the air whooshes from my lungs. “Give me my keys and get out of my room. I don’t want to cheat on my fiancé so whatever the fuck this was, it’s over.”

“You don’t want to cheat?” I grab her wrists, holding them tightly while she struggles to get free. “Isn’t that a bit fucking late?”

“Says the boy who’s got half the girls in the school fighting each other for dibs.”

I pin her, straddling her, putting my knees onto her shoulders so she can’t escape. “You know what I haven’t done? I haven’t touched another girl since we first got together, that’s what I haven’t done. Whereas you—” I dig out my phone and find the right link, shoving the evidence in her face.

For a second, I get a glimpse of hope. The puzzled expression makes my chest hollow out like I’ve made a mistake.

Then her face hardens.

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