Page 15 of Sweet Possession
Apparently not.
“I can get you some new clothes if you don’t like the ones Savbrought you yesterday?”
I wasn’t in any rush for her to change out of my clothes. In fact, I wastempted to throw away everything Sav had given her, and insist she wore only my clothes, but I knew she couldn’t spend the rest of her days swamped in t-shirts and joggers.
“Oh, it’s not that I didn’t like them,”she said, a hint of red blooming onher cheeks as she furiously mixed the batter.“They were really nice. It’s just…your clothes are comfy.”The blush grew deeper and she refused to meet my eye until she suddenly stopped stirring. Her head whipped up, panic written on her face.“I can change out of them though if you want them back.”
I gave her a reassuring smile.“It’s fine, Cora. If you’re comfortable inthem, then it’s no problem. Keep them.”
She stared at me for a few seconds, indecision marred on her face. Itwas the same look she’d given me when I’d offered her my jacket as if she couldn’t believe someone was offering her any form of kindness.
Freddy really was a fucking piece of shit.
Cora finally nodded her head once before turning her attention backto the batter. She continued to stir it, but as she did, the tension began to creep back into her body, and it wasn’t long until her shoulders were hunched.
“Do you need anything for your room?”I asked, wanting to calm heragain, but at the same time I spoke, she asked a question of her own.
“Why did you buy me?”
I’d been expecting the question. Sav warned me that Cora had beencurious about why I’d bought her. I’d spent all night thinking over what my answer should be, eventually settling for the truth.
I had no intention of lying to Cora. If I was going to earn her trust,then I was going to be nothing but honest, and that included how I felt about her. Getting to my feet, I slowly rounded the island to be nearer to her.
“Before I answer that, Cora, you need to know I’ll never lie toyou. I’ll never be anything but honest with you. So if there is something you might not want to know the answer to, then don’t ask me.”
Her eyes widened at my candor before she dropped the spoon in thebowl, stepping away from her task to stand only a foot away from me.“I want to know,”she said, her voice wavering with a hint of uncertainty.
“I was with an acquaintance when your dad was dragged in.Apparently, he owed a lot of money,”I started, but she interrupted.
“Was it Arnold Diaz, by any chance?”She took another step, closingthe distance between us, her eyes shining with determination.
My brows rose in surprise.“Yeah. How did you know that?”
“A few weeks ago, a man came to the house and threatened to breakmy dad’s legs if he didn’t pay Arnold Diaz his money back. My dad was unbearable after that, really short-tempered, and saying he was going to have to resort to drastic measures. I guess we know what those measures were.”
Her shoulders slumped, and her eyes dropped to her feet. I wanted topull her into my arms to let her know that she never needed to worry about her dad doing anything to hurt her again, but I resisted. We were making progress, and I didn’t want to undo it all.
“It didn’t stop him from hitting the casinos every night though. Ishould have known my dad would never have prioritized me over his gambling habits.”
The anguish in her voice was evident. When my need to console herbecame too much to bear, I reached out, placing the tip of my finger under her chin. Gently, I lifted her head, thanking my fucking lucky stars she didn’t flinch at my touch like she had when I undid the buckle of her shoe.
That seed of hope rooted deeper into my chest.
“I’m sorry your dad did that to you, baby girl,”I said softly. Her eyeswere filled with unshed tears, and never in my life had I wanted to wipe a person’s existence off the map than what I did then. Freddy didn’t deserve to live another day, and he certainly didn’t deserve to hold the title of Cora’s father.“I can’t change the past, and I can’t undo the pain he has caused you, but I promise you, Cora, I will do everything in my power to make sure youneverhave to see that man again, if that’s what you want.”
The first tear slid down her cheek, her beautiful brown eyes filled withsorrow.“I don’t understand why though, Mr. Fox. Why did you pick me?”
I smiled, finding it cute that she’d addressed me as Mr. Fox.“First ofall, it’s just Fox.”But one day, I want you to call me Daddy.Of course, I didn’t say that part out loud, I didn’t want to scare her.“Secondly, I didn’t pick you. When I woke up that morning, I never would have believed that my day was going to end with me doing everything in my power to stop that damn auction.”
I moved my hand from her chin to her cheek where I brushed the tearaway with my thumb.
She still didn’t flinch.
“But when your father showed a picture of you, it was like I was hitby a bolt of lightning, and I just…”I trailed off as I tried to explain feelings even I didn’t understand. But with Cora staring at me like she was hanging on to my every word, I carried on.“Christ, I didn’t even know you, but I feltsomethingfor you. I wanted to protect you,neededto get you out of there, and keep you safe.”
I took my hand away from her cheek, and for a few seconds, neitherof us moved. We barely breathed as we stared at each other, the air around us charged with unspent electricity.
“How much did you pay for me?”Cora whispered.
