Page 124 of Guarded King

Even when I was with Katherine, I never enjoyed these catch ups. The small talk was stilted, and on the rare occasion when Dad bothered to show up, he’d spend the time criticizing us. And back then, my brothers and I barely took the time to share what was going on in our lives. We all just wanted to get it over with and go our separate ways. Katherine’s presence should have made things more bearable. She should have felt like an ally.

She didn’t.

Hindsight’s a bitch. If I’d seen the way Cole and Delilah and Tate and Violet interact, I never would have believed what I felt for Katherine was real. I’d like to think I would have recognized the truth behind her feelings as well.

I never would have let my desire to prove Dad wrong blind me to her deceptions.

When I saw her for who she really was, it was enough to put me off relationships for years.

Until now. Until Chloe.

With our bid to acquire EcoTech looking positive and aForbesinterview in the works, I’m on track to finally get what I want. While I never dreamed about getting the girl, I’m wondering now if I might just manage to get that too.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

CHLOE

Istretch out on Roman’s giant bed, my pulse slowing as he runs his fingers gently down my spine. Goose bumps ripple out from his touch.

“I love how your body responds to me.” The rasp in his voice has me pressing my thighs together. He’s already made me come multiple times tonight. I should be sleeping, but I don’t want to waste a minute of this time. The small pockets of time where we’re not worried about business or being interrupted. Where there’s no need to pretend we don’t want to touch each other.

Where it’s just him and me.

I roll over so I can indulge myself in looking at him some more.

His eyes darken as they fix on my breasts, and he runs his fingertip around my nipple, his mouth curling as it puckers. “Beautiful.”

I slide my hand through his thick hair. “Beautiful.”

He looks at me through dark lashes. “I’m not beautiful.”

“I beg to differ.” I drift my fingers over his temple and along his jaw, rough with a five o’clock shadow. “Tell me something about you I don’t know.”

Brows drawn together, he looks off to one side in thought. “There’s a lot you don’t know. Anything in particular you’re interested in?”

I gnaw on my lip. Is it too soon to ask?

He uses his thumb to tug my lip free. “Ask, Chloe.”

I inhale deeply. “What happened between you and Katherine?”

There’s no hint of surprise in his expression, though he doesn’t look particularly happy either.

He rolls away from me onto his back.

My heart sinks. “If you’d rather not talk about it?—”

“Come here.” He slips an arm under me and tugs me against him. “She was my dad’s assistant,” he says. “I thought she was beautiful when I first saw her.”

As I rest my chin on his chest and regard him, I try not to let jealousy dig in too hard.

As if he senses it anyway, he holds my gaze and curls a strand of my hair around his finger. “I don’t think that anymore.”

“Sheisbeautiful. I saw her, remember?”

He frowns, his brows lowering. “She’s an illusion. She shows you what she wants you to see. But once you’ve seen through the artifice, she’s far less attractive.”

“What is she really like, then?”

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