Page 42 of Power
Owen
I’m trying notto focus on Bailey’s state of undress or her scared-rabbit demeanor. She is shaking like a leaf in my arms. Her head rests on my shoulder, and I’m floating on a cloud of pure bliss. She is showing that she trusts me. That she wants to be near me and isn’t afraid of me. I have no clue what happened in here with her and Archer. His office is the only place I don’t have bugs, and that’s only because we sweep daily for them. I would have a lot of explaining to do, not only to him but to the entire Court, about why I was spying on the King of the House of Hearts.
“Are you okay?” I murmur while she gathers herself.
“You have seriously got to stop asking me that,” she says, sniffing slightly.
“Force of habit, it seems. We have fucked with your head and your heart.”
“No shit, Sherlock,” she mutters and then sighs. “I don’t trust you. Not in the way you want me to. I don’tknowanything that is going on. I’m scared, and I demand that you tell me what is going on.”
“Demand, do you?” Archer asks, a smirk playing on his lips.
“Fuck off, Arch,” I mutter. “We need to give her something.”
“We can’t. Not yet. Nothere.”
I nod. His expression is dark. Something has gone down, and I’m pretty sure he is going to tell me that Laura has turned up dead. It doesn’t take a genius. After all these years, Gryphon has been in contact with his daughter, warning her away from us. I read the letter on her coffee table. I wonder if she thinks I did. Or if she will even ask me if I did? I haven’t shared it with Archer yet, and taking a screenshot of it was out of the question. My brother will hit the fucking roof when he finds out about it, which is why I’m laying low with this information for now. I need to grab the exact right time to tell him, or blood and carnage will trail in his wake.
“Bailey,” I say, turning to her and placing my hand on her shoulder. “Can you trust us enough to take you somewhere where everything will become clear?”
“Now?”
I nod. “Yes, now.”
“I need to change.” She indicates her ripped shirt. Archer didn’t go easy on her when he exposed her. Not that I can blame him. If Bailey hadn’t been the one to do it with me last night, I probably would’ve done the same.
“You are perfect.”
She smiles through the tears that are pooling in her big green eyes. “No, I’m a mess.”
“Not to me. You are a goddess.”
She blinks, but then her eyes go wide, filling with a desire that goes way past lust. It’s a need. A craving she has to be complimented andpraised. Fuck, I get it now. I never went in for Archer’s penchant to positively reinforce. I figured it had everything to do withhimand not really the words he was saying.
I can see that is not the case.
Sure, Archer has a way with people that I will never have. His words flow like melted ice cream down a cone on a hot summer’s day.
But I see now that the words hold just as much meaning, especially if the person needs to hear them. She has had a shitty life. Her dad leaving her and her mother to fend for themselves – which we now know was to ‘protect’ her from us – but it took a massive toll on her. Her mother was never there; she basically dragged herself up and had no attention from anyone except the odd boy here and there who used her and dumped her. She has built up walls, but I see them, and I’m prepared to chip them down inch by inch if that’s what it takes. Archer is more of a bulldozer type. He rarely has the patience to take the tender approach. I’m surprised he lasted this long with Bailey. Or did he? He finger-fucked her the second day she was here, after all, and wound her into his web, messing with her mind as only he can.
Bailey breathes out softly, her eyes searching mine as I do the same to her.
“You haven’t answered my question,” I murmur. “Can you trust us enough to take you where you will find answers?”
She takes in a deep breath. “Yes, I can trust you that much.”
“Good girl,” I purr.
Her breath hitches. I smile slowly and seductively.
“Oh, you’re a dick,” Archer murmurs, shoving me away from her.
I snicker at him and his sulking but move back to Bailey’s side, wrapping my arm around her again.
“Bailey,” Archer says. “We need to get you out of here without anyone interfering. My car is waiting downstairs.”
She nods, and I turn us toward the door.
