Page 64 of Stepson

My brows shoot up at her curtness and my grin widens with pride. That’s my girl. Stand up for yourself, babe, I’m right here if anything goes wrong.

“You want to go on vacation? Start acting like my dutiful wife and maybe I’ll take you on one.”

“Dutiful? How much more do you want me to do? I already do everything you ask, Marcus. I have no life outside of this mansion. The only thing I have to look forward to is your return at the end of the day, so I have someone to talk to.”

“You’re talking back, Bentley, you know how much I hate that.”

She scoffs. “And you know how much I hate when you treat me like a caged animal.”

“You’re not? Because you sure have been acting like one. Knowing that you let my son touch you makes me fucking sickwhen I look at you. Do you think I enjoy walking around my own house wondering where my wife got fucked by my son?”

I grin like a moron, wanting to pump my fist in the air victoriously. What makes this even sweeter is knowing Bentley loves me just as much as I love her. He will never have her love the way I do.

“And knowing that you probably still want to be with him makes me even sicker!”

The tone of his voice puts me on guard. My hand goes to the door handle just waiting for this fuck to screw up. Hell, he doesn’t even have to put his hands on her. All he has to do is say one bad thing to her, and I might fucking explode.

“It’s over, Marcus. You made sure of that. Now if you don’t mind, I have to finish this so I can go sit by the pool and be a good, dutiful wife.”

Silence stretches between them as my hand clutches the handle, just waiting. I can see my father’s face in my head. His jaw is probably tight and the vein in his neck is about to burst. I’m just waiting for him to screw up. Come on, please, do one little thing to light my fuse.

But that doesn’t happen. His footsteps are heard leaving the room before a door slams down the hallway. After a moment, the closet door opens and Bentley’s beautiful face greets me. My eyes quickly scan down her body, wondering when she had time to change out of my shirt. I liked her in nothing but my shirt, damn it.

“You have no idea how hard it was not to jump out and pound his fucking face in for talking to you like that.” I cup her face, running my thumb along her bottom lip. “I hope you know I willneverspeak to you the way he does.”

She nods. “I know you won’t.” Then she looks over her shoulder. “I actually was getting my clothes out to pack. I’m not staying here with him any longer.”

My heart swells at her words. There will be no need to talk her into leaving with me because she’s coming with me on her own. Fuck, I love this woman.

“Then let’s finish and get the fuck out of here.”

We march up to her dresser and pull out what we can to fit into one bag. I love that she isn’t trying to pack every last item, knowing we won’t be able to carry it.

“You need this?” I ask, holding up a purple dildo before I turn it on and it vibrates my hand.

She nearly bursts out laughing, cupping her mouth as she grabs it with her other hand and tosses it over her shoulder.

“Who needs that when I have this?” She cups my junk as I jump and grin.

“Mmm, and it’s yours whenever you want it, babe. No batteries required.”

Leaning down, I kiss her top lip before I drag my tongue along hers and moan. She tries to deepen the kiss, and I want that more than anything, but we also need to get the fuck out of here before Marcus realizes his precious office is out of sorts.

After tugging my shirt back on, I grab her bag and then her hand, pulling her toward the door when she stops me.

“What? What’s wrong?”

Her eyes look around wildly before her chest starts to rise and fall.

“I’m scared,” she whispers.

“Scared to come with me? Or scared of—”

“I’m terrified of Marcus. I don’t want him to screw your life up again. I can’t bear…”

I drop her bag before I cup her face. “Listen, Bentley, I don’t care if we have to drive as far as we can to get away from him. We’ll run for the rest of our lives if we have to, but I promise you there’s nothing to be scared of when you’re with me.”

Tears slip from her eyes as she glances up at me. “I love you, Gabe.”