Page 100 of Van Cort
“You reacted badly. That wasn’t the way to handle me.”
“I reacted appropriately. Didn’t you say you like someone with a little bite? It doesn’t seem to have ended with us breaking up, so…” She shifts sideways, attempting to remove me from inside her. I stop her with heavy hands. “Although who knows what might happen if this type of bullshit carries on.” My brow arches. “Mind-blowing sex doesn’t get rid of the behaviour leading up to it, or that fucking email, Everett.” Hmm. She pushes me hard and slips out of my hold. “Is that really something you want me to analyse?”What?I search for my pants and look back to see her reaching her naked form over to pick up the folder. “This?”
“I’m not over the mind-blowing fuck yet, River. Give me a chance to breathe.”
“By all means, take your time. You’re the one paying for mine.” I smile slightly and pull my pants on.
“How about you stay naked on my desk and forget the work.” She drops the folder on my desk and glares at me, hands on her hips.
“That isn’t all I am, Everett. Whatever that was, no matter how fucking good, it’s only part of me, and I will not be belittled or pushed into whatever shape you require of me.”
“And yet here you are, naked, in my office.”
“Fuck you.”
I lean on the desk near the folder she dropped. “I think I just did that. It’s a bit late for you to attempt taking charge.”
“That’s what you think this was? You taking charge?” She huffs and walks across the room, grabbing at her clothes as she goes and getting into them. “This wasn’t that, Everett. This was your way of showing aggression, and I hope, heated passion, because you couldn’t get what you wanted, and I’m frustrated. Guess what?” She slips her feet into her heels and pulls on her suit jacket. “Nothing’s changed. I’m still annoyed with you, more so, actually. And I’m still unsure what the hell any of this is about, unless you don’t trust me.”
“You’re the one who wanted honest communication.”
“I did. I do. But get a goddamn grip of yourself. Honest communication doesn’t mean every second of my life is yours, or if you demand something, I’ll tell you.” She turns on her heels and begins walking out, apparently done with any conversation.
“River?” She pauses near the door. “You forgot your work. Contractually, you’re still obliged to do whatever the fuck I tell you to, regardless of your temper.” She swings around and walks to me, snatching the folder from the desk and pointing a finger at me. I wait, ready for any retaliation she’ll try. She doesn’t open her mouth, though. She just storms back to the door again.
A smile creeps across my face as I watch her ass. She’s absolute perfection like this. Fierce, fiery, completely absorbing to me. “I’ll have an office ready for you in the morning. Close bythis time. Don’t be late.” She doesn’t even look back, just slams the door on her way out. Whatever was in my mind about love and obsession, and whatever those emotions mean to me, triples tenfold. I don’t even try to control it.
CHAPTER THIRTY - FOUR
BEFORE
LARA – AGE EIGHTEEN
It came.
The one thing Lara had been dreading ever since West told them that he wasn’t going to Harvard had arrived, and that meant she’d have to make a choice. Because she did have a choice now.
With courage building in her chest, she stuffed the letter into the back pocket of her jeans and left the cottage en route to theVan Cort house. A few hundred yards along the familiar path, the crack of a twig snapped in the air and birds took flight. She froze and looked around at her surroundings.
“It’s just me,” her father said as he came out of the foliage from the opposite direction.
“I’ll be back for dinner,” she called.
She could feel the letter like a weight suddenly dragging her down. She hadn’t told either of her parents and knew they’d only worry. It wasn’t like she could afford the fees unless Rhett came through with his promise anyway.It was going to be an argument when she finally broached the subject, but she figured she could deal with that one after talking with the boys. They were more important to her right now. Her parents would understand.
“Going to see the boys?” her father asked.
“Yeah.” She drew her brows down. It was unlike him to question her.
“Well, just…” He shifted his weight between his boots. “Be careful. Mr Van Cort has a temper.”
“I know. I never see him.” She’d only seen him a few times in all the years she’d been visiting with the boys.
Lara strode out on her path but did turn to wave to her dad. The sudden need to acknowledge him and all he did for her family, compared to the evil man who employed him, weighed as heavy as the letter.
Since that day on the island, Lara and the boys had kept their distance. They all needed it with the blow of the news West delivered. Now, it was bittersweet that they wouldn’t get to celebrate her acceptance with the joy that they’d all be together, because they’d all sacrificed to ensure she got in. It almost felt like they’d done it for nothing, as they’d be split up regardless of what was printed on the letter.
She cleared the wooded area, crossed the lawn, and headed to the house, eventually taking the path to the music room doors to find Rhett, but as she pushed down on the handle, the door wouldn’t open. She looked across the gravel. The front doors took her into the main part of the house, somewhere she didn’t enjoy visiting. She stuck to the music room, or on occasion, the boy’s bedrooms. The rest of the house wasn’t for exploring – they could do plenty of that out on the land that engulfed the mansion.
