Page 33 of A Father's Insistence

“I hope you realize what you’ve started. The apple never falls too far from the tree.”

I’ve heard enough. I send another quick succession of punches to his face, and he slumps down unconscious on the floor.

Joanna whimpers quietly on the other side of the room with her arms wrapped around her, cradling herself in comfort.

“Theo.”

“Did he ever touch you?” I ask and step over the prone body, currently bleeding over the priceless oriental rug my father always loved, but I couldn’t stand.

“No. I promise you.”

“He just sold you.”

She nods and looks down at her feet.

“Head up,” I order, and she immediately responds. Tears are streaming down her face now. She’s breaking down in front of me. The shell she’s erected around herself to keep in all the real truths of the situation is crumbling.

“More,” I demand, but I know instantly from the frightened expression in her eyes I’ll get nothing else out of her at the moment. With a blink of her eyes, she shuts down again. I move beside her, and my arms snake around her waist, pulling her into me and the inconveniently timed erection, which juts from my trousers. I can’t explain it, but protecting my woman has left me needing the softness between her thighs to counteract the violence of my acts. I have to know she’s not going to fall apart at revealing the truth about her father. I need her to know I trust her implicitly and believe in her honesty. My lips press down onto hers in a passionate kiss, which is as intense as the emotion that flooded the room when she spoke her fateful words. I need her, and I want her, but not here. Bending down, I scoop her up in my arms, and we leave the violence of the lounge behind us. I’m heading for the stairs when my butler appears.

“Will the Earl be staying for dinner, sir?”

I snort a laugh. I can’t help it. By morning, my bruised knuckles may be as sore as the black eye given to me by Nicholas Cavendish, but I’ll never regret inflicting them on my father-in-law.

“No, he won’t,” I respond to the butler as Joanna buries her head in my chest, her warm breath tickling the skin under my shirt. “I’ve left some trash in the lounge. Please see it out and ensure it never returns to this house again. If it does, kill it!”

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