Page 72 of Prized Possession

When he begrudgingly does, I almost want to refuse, but Chloe squeezes my arm, looking up at me with those bright silver eyes of hers, and I relent. I shake his hand, making sure to squeeze a little tighter than is necessary.

As I’m doing that, I watch Scott turn to Chloe, dragging his leery gaze over her body for just a fraction too long. “Chloe, baby, I’ve missed you.”

His tone is sickly sweet, and Chloe freezes when she hears the term of endearment, her grip on my arm now so tight it will probably leave bruises. I drop Ewan’s hand and turn to scowl at Scott.

How the fuck can he miss her? He’s only met her a couple of bloody times!

“I-I, erm—” Chloe mumbles for something to say, only to be interrupted by her mother, who has at some point moved to stand on her other side.

“I’m sure Chloe has missed you a great deal too, haven’t you?” There’s a hard edge to the last part as Fiona shoots daggers at Chloe.

“Yes,” Chloe replies through gritted teeth, forcing her lips into a tight smile.

Thankfully, one of the household staff that works for the Santoros walks in then, breaking up the increasingly thick tension in the room.

I don’t recognise the young man, but Caleb goes through staff like nothing I’ve ever seen. I’m guessing he’s awful to work for.

The young man sounds incredibly nervous as he speaks. “Can I get any of our new arrivals a drink?”

Chloe lets out a sigh of relief, grateful for the interruption. “Yes, please. I’ll take a glass of rosé.”

Fiona scoffs. “We’re having roast beef for lunch, Chloe. You’d be better with a red Bordeaux,” she states, before turning to the young man. “Bring her a small glass of that instead.”

Chloe seems to deflate before my eyes, giving her mother a tight smile and a polite nod. Anger sizzles beneath the surface of my skin, making me twitchy. “Actually, I’d prefer a glass of rosé too. I’m happy to share a bottle with Chloe.”

The young man seems a little startled, and all eyes flick over to me. Chloe appears both relieved and a touch concerned that I have the balls to stand up to her mother.

Fiona and Caleb are both glaring at me, as are the Caprillos. Jacob is so out of it, I’m not even sure he’s aware of what’s happening right now.

Silence fills the air, the tension becoming thick as we all wait, seeing who will be the first to break. The young man, whose eyes have become wide and scared the longer we’ve all stood there, is the one who speaks first.

“I’ll grab you those drinks right away,” he squeaks, practically running out of the room.

“We should probably move into the dining room. Dinner will be servedshortly,” Fiona says haughtily, trying to sound like the gracious host, but struggling to keep the venom out of her tone as she looks at me.

It’s actually sort of strange, as me and my father have always been treated with the utmost respect whenever we’ve visited the Santoros home in the past.

For a moment I wonder if this bet, claiming Chloe as mine, even just for a few weeks, is really worth all this. I mean, the relationship our families have been building for years is on rocky footing for the first time in decades, and it’s all my fault.

I know I should feel bad, and I should be prioritising the peace treaty we have with the Santoros over anything else, but I can’t. There’s something about Chloe, and now that I’ve had a sample, I don’t know how the hell I’ve managed to push her away over the last few years.

Her family filters into the dining room, Scott and his father walking with them, whilst me and Chloe hang back for a second. Miles has stayed by my side, just as I expected he would, and I look over to the chair, only to find Jake’s eyes closed.

Chloe leans closer to me, shaking her head, a look of despair on her face. “He looks so much worse than last week,” she says, her voice breaking at the end.

I move over and kneel down in front of Jacob, placing my hand on his shoulder to rustle him awake. He doesn’t even murmur, so I use both hands to jostle him more forcefully.

His eyes spring open as he jolts up, his head flicking around as he scans the room, a startled expression on his face. “What the fuck? What’s going on?”

Chloe kneels down beside me, and I smirk when I hear her hiss, no doubt from the love egg rubbing her in just the right way as she moves. She places her hand on her brother's arm and gives him a comforting smile.

“Hey, bro. You fell asleep. I’m here for Sunday lunch.”

His eyes flick between his sister and me, like it’s taking a few minutes for his brain to catch up, but once it does, his gaze narrows on me, though he talks to his sister.

“Are you okay, Clo? Is he looking after you? You can tell me if he’s done anything he shouldn’t have done.”

I ball my hands into fists at the assumption that I’d ever hurt Chloe. It irks me that someone who is supposed to be my best friend, who has known me for most of my life, would even suspect me of being capable of something like that.

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