Page 109 of Obsessed Heir

“I meant it when I said I don’t care anymore,” I remind her, feeling an overwhelming need to reassure her. “I just want you with me.”

A crease appears between her brows. “Even when I came back to the suite yesterday? You weren’t exactly thrilled then.”

“When you walked in withStein.” I add all the disdain his name deserves.

“Don’t worry about him.” She scoffs. “He walked me back from the shopping area, that’s all.”

Hrmph.My grunt should tell her how I feel about that happening. Though she shouldn’t have gone out on her own. I make a mental note to have Austin go with her any time she leaves the ship.

She exhales shakily. “In my very first memory of you, you’re angry at me.”

“The day I took you home,” I state, pinpointing the exact moment she’s talking about with certainty.

She was sitting in the manager’s office at the grocery store, scuffed shoes, jeans that were threadbare at the knees, and a T-shirt that had seen better days. The fear and hope on her face was heartbreaking. And it was my fault.

“You wouldn’t even look at me,” she says in a harsh whisper.

Drawing a steadying breath, I shift and push up onto my elbow. She keeps her face averted, but I see how she’s blinking rapidly. Swallowing hard, I bring her up with me, switching to where I have her on my chest, my arms around her in a protective embrace.

“I’ve never been so angry in my life,” I confess with difficulty. “With Esteban for abandoning you. At myself for leaving him to drop you off with my mother instead of doing it myself.”

“You didn’t say a single word to me the entire way to the house,” she reminds me, her words muffled against my chest.

I squeeze my eyes shut against the stab of regret. I tried not to follow the dark path where my instincts were leading me. But in the end, I still put that frightened little girl through hell.

“I had no idea what to say to you,” I admit in a low rasp. “The only thing I did right was make him sign over guardianship before I gave him the money.”

“I’m glad about that,” she whispers.

“I found out what Esteban was planning from Paizano.”

“Oh my God.” She brings her hand to her mouth as her eyes shoot up to meet mine, horrified. “Everyone knew?”

“No, just our gardener,” I assure her. “He tracked me down to tell me, knowing how much Mom loved you.”

She shakes her head slowly. “I’ll never be able to face him.”

“I made sure he could retire well after he helped me find Esteban and pay him off.”

“Thank you.”

“To make it clear, I paid him to go away. He was supposed to take you to Mom, asking her to keep you because he had lost his job.” I swallow hard, remembering how she clutched the bag of groceries in her lap when I got there. “I never expected him to run off and abandon you.”

“It didn’t occur to me to ask Miss Opal for help.” She sighs. “It wasn’t until I got in trouble, and I had nobody to turn to.”

I’d fucked that up by throwing him out of the house to begin with and telling him not to come back. It was a shortsighted decision that had long and painful consequences.

“He caused so many problems for you and your mother.” She bites down on the inside of her lip.

“You don’t have to worry about him anymore.” I give her shoulder a quick squeeze. “I have a feeling the only reason my mother accepted Esteban in her life was because of you.”

“Me?” she echoes with uncertainty.

“You were a cute kid,” I tease. “The daughter she always wanted.”

“That makes it even worse,” she wails. “I’m so sorry, Barron. You both got caught up in this mess because of me.”

“No, sweetheart.” I kiss the top of her head. “I tried to keep everything quiet because of the McClelland secret.”

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