Page 24 of Ashes of Sin

Does she love him?

You must be fucking joking? I assumed this was some kind of arranged situation at best. I mean, the man, my father, is decades older than her.

And a monster.

She can’t actually be emotionally attached to the asshole, can she?

“Don’t answer that.” I growl, tearing open a cleaning swab and wiping it harshly over the wound.

“Ouch!” Kyra cries, pulling back her hand.

“Stay still. Perhaps next time, you’ll think twice before misbehaving.”

“I’m not a child.” She snaps, but her voice still holds hints of the desire I’m trying fucking hard to ignore.

My eyes dart up to hers; anger, arousal, and frustration fight for dominance within me.

“Yes. You. Are.”

Compared to my old man, she is. Kyra could be his granddaughter. At a push.

I grab the bandage and start wrapping her hand.

Is her own father okay with this marriage? What about her mother? Has she just stood back and let her daughter go ahead with this partnership without interfering?

Don’t they want more for her?

It’s none of your business. Just use her and get the job done.

I stand up abruptly.

Kyra scrambles to her feet. “I might be small, but I am an adult. I’m twenty-two.”

Jesus.

I was wrong. There’re over thirty years between them. Kyra Fox has no fucking idea what she is getting herself into. My father is an evil man. The worst kind. I’m not even sure he has a heart. He’d rip her apart with his teeth, spit her out, wait for her to heal, then start it all again.

Ask me how I know.

“Then you’re welcome.” I hiss, tugging her from my bathroom and back down the hall.

She pulls at my arm, but I ignore her.

“Thank you?” she gasps. “Thank you for taking me from my home. My family. My friends?”

I push her through the doorway, and she trips, then catches herself and spins around to face me.

“Yes. And for saving you from a lifetime with a monster.”

I slam the door.

My heart pounds as I stride down to the living room and pour a glass of whisky.

Then a second and third as I toss them, angry with her for being a fool.

Angry with myself for giving a flying fuck.

Because apparently, I do.

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