Page 46 of Prized Possession

She slowly shakes her head, her silver eyes glistening with tears she’s no doubt forcing not to fall, and I hate how fucking small and broken she looks. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Everything in me is screaming that I need to force her to tell me, that I have to know who it is, so I can wipe the shit-stain from the Earth for good, but I know that she’ll never forgive me if I force her to talk about this before she’s ready. I want her to trust me enough to tell me on her own.

So despite my raging dragon that I’m struggling to control, I let out a huff and try to uncurl my fists.

“Fine,” I say through gritted teeth, before forcing myself to soften just a little. “I want you to be able to talk to me about anything, so I’m willing to wait until you trust me.”

I see the ghost of a smile tip the corner of her lip up, before it quickly turns into a frown, her face looking blanker than I’ve ever seen it. As the words drip from her lips, I’ve never heard her sound colder. “I don’t trust anyone.”

My anger flares once more, but I concentrate on keeping my breathing steady so that she doesn’t notice. “It sounds like you have reasons for that. But, I promise, I’ll prove to you, over time, that you can trust me.”

She looks at me in disbelief, but there’s a small amount of hope shining in her eyes too. This beautiful girl hasn’t had anyone on her side for the longest time, and I’m determined to change that.

Chloe looks like she’s struggling to find the words to respond, so I quickly try to change the subject. “And in response to your earlier assumption, the security guard Miles has assigned you is a female. She’s actually one of the best we have.”

Her eyes narrow, like she’s not sure she believes me. “If she’s the best, why isn’t she guarding you?”

The corner of my lip tips into my signature smirk. “Because I have Miles. Besides, his sister is the most important person in the world to him, and her life was put in danger simply because he works for me. We knew we had to keep her safe, and that meant assigning her the best, which is Kim.”

She leans forward, her eyes boring into me like she’s trying to see deep into my soul. She’s trying to work me out, and I fucking hate it. I’m a closed book for a reason. “Why isn’t she with her now?”

I let out a huff, grimacing as I’m reminding of how fucking much I hate this part of the story.

“She’s safe now. When the threat level became too high, we had no choice but to move her into Morelli Manor, as the security there is safer than anywhere else.”

“Why do I feel like you’re leaving out parts of the story?”

I let out a humourless laugh. “Because I am. I’m not exactly thrilled about it, and neither is Miles, but when Courtney, his sister, moved into Morelli Manor, she grew close to my father.”

“Grew close?” she repeats annoyingly.

“Too close,” I reply cryptically, and just a few seconds later her eyes widen comically as she gets what I was hinting at.

“How old is Courtney?” Her voice has taken on a ridiculously high pitch, andI don’t blame her. There’s a reason we’ve been trying to keep the scandal hidden.

“She’s nineteen.”

Chloe’s laughter fills the air, and I hate how fucking young she looks as she takes pleasure in my misery. “So your dad, who is at least in his fifties, is sleeping with a nineteen-year-old, who he was supposed to be looking after for his son?”

“Yes,” I grind out, which only makes her laugh more.

“It’s like the plot of a dirty romance novel,” she jokes. Then, as if she just realised something, her eyes begin to sparkle as she leans closer to me. “If Maximus marries her, your step-mum will be younger than you.”

I close my eyes to try and block out the mental imagery her suggestion brings up, and I ball my hands into fists as I grind my teeth together.

“That’s not going to happen,” I say, as I take a much needed gulp of my wine.

“Why? Is it just sex for them?”

Before the word sex has even left her mouth, I’m half spitting out my wine, and half choking on it. I quickly bring my other hand up to my mouth to catch the spraying wine, as I carefully put the glass down on the table.

My coughing becomes desperate as I try to clear the liquid out of my lungs, to replace it with some much needed air.

Chloe quickly stands and rushes over to me, slapping me hard on the back. My eyes widen as I look at her, wondering what the fuck she’s doing. As the burning in my throat dies down, and I’m able to pull in a few sharp gasps of air, she continues to hit me.

“Stop. Hitting. Me.”

“Oh, my God. Are you okay?” she asks, gently running her thumb under my eyes to brush away the tears that had escaped while I was choking.

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