Page 149 of Prized Possession

Anger ripples just beneath the surface, threatening to break free at any moment, as my grip of Chloe’s hand tightens. She looks confused and scared, and that makes my decision for me.

“Absolutely fucking not. You can tell Caleb that I’m not leaving her on her own. Either Chloe attends the meeting with me, or neither of us do.”

“Please, stay here, I’ll be back,” he squeaks, scrambling away to Caleb’s office.

“This is bad, isn’t it?” Chloe whispers, her grip on my hand tightening.

“You don’t have anything to be afraid of, love. I’ll take care of you,” I tell her, stroking my thumb over the back of her hand.

I want to pull her into my arms, to hold her, to kiss her, to reassure her as best I can, but we both know I can’t do that here. Holding her hand is pushing things, but her family have seen us do it before, so I’m not too worried. I just can’t push it any further.

The man rushes back, looking flustered. “Mr Santoro said I can bring you both in.”

I don’t say a word, keeping my grip on Chloe’s hand as I lead us towards Caleb’s office. As soon as I step inside, I know Chloe was right. This isn’t good.

Caleb is sitting behind his large desk, an unreadable expression on his face, though when he sees Chloe beside me, I think I see a flash of concern, but he’s quick to hide it.

To the left of the door, sitting on two chairs, are Scott and Ewan Caprillo, matching expressions of disgust and anger on their faces. When Scott sees Chloe, he glowers at her, his face turning almost murderous when he catches our intertwined fingers.

I’m surprised to see my father on the right, sitting beside two empty seats. He looks far more laid back than I’d expect, in what is clearly a very tense and volatile situation.

My father stands and approaches us, speaking before anyone else can. “Lovely to see you again, Chloe. Why don’t you both have a seat here with me?”

He holds out the chair in the middle for Chloe, indicating she should sit between us, which instantly has me on edge.

Under normal circumstances, I’d always sit by my father’s side, as his heir. It’s how things have always been done, to show hierarchy. So for him to throw custom out of the window, it suggests there’s a reason Chloe might need both of our protection.

My heart is racing so fast, and I have to focus on my breathing to not give away how truly terrified I am right now.

I make sure my face displays the perfect arrogant sneer I’m known for, making it seem like I don’t give a shit about anything, and I definitely don’t want to be here.

“Why are we here?” I ask, trying to remain as professional as I can, despite being able to feel Chloe’s hand trembling in mine.

Caleb leans over his desk, picking up a brown envelope. He then lays out a series of photographs, and as soon as I see the first one, my heart sinks.

Chloe freezes beside me, letting out a small gasp when she recognises the images.

The photographs are all of me and Chloe.

The first few were taken just yesterday, outside of Jake’s rehab centre. They show me kissing her against the car, her jumping into my arms with her legsaround my waist, and us both looking at each other with the biggest smiles on our faces.

The next set of photos were taken from our date the other day, at the ice rink. They show me holding her hands to glide her around the ice, me on my knees in front of her as I help to put her skates on, and us kissing on the ice.

But the photo that makes my blood boil the most is the one Caleb throws down at the end. It’s very poor quality, no doubt from a distance away with a long-angled lens, and as it’s taken through a window, there’s glare around the edges.

There’s enough clarity to make out my living room, though the blinds were closing from either side. It was a lucky shot, and the photographer had managed to get it at just the right time.

I was shirtless, wearing just my grey sweatpants, and Chloe was in her underwear. She was on her tip-toes, wrapping her arms around my neck as she pulled me in for a kiss.

The silence in the room is deafening as we all take in the photos. Without saying a word, I reach across and turn over the photo of Chloe in her underwear, not wanting anyone to see her like that.

“Aren’t you going to fucking say anything?” Scott shouts, his face turning red with anger.

Ewan lays a hand on his arm, but he shrugs it off.

I ignore his outburst and turn to Caleb. “If this is a Council meeting, as your emergency message suggested, why are you including people without the correct security clearance?”

I keep my voice as impassive as I can, which does the job of winding Scott up further.

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