Page 6 of Empire of Desire (Empire 1)

A language that I’ve been desperately trying to speak for a while now.

I grip the phone harder, needing the courage it provides as I speak, “I don’t have a boyfriend.”

“One less thing for King to worry about.”

I bite my lower lip, unable to hide the disappointment at how he blatantly ignores my statement and pushes it all to Dad.

It’d be better if I stopped.

Usually, I would.

Nate isn’t the type of man anyone likes to push—and I’m no exception.

But if I did, how would I accomplish what I’ve strived for? I waited for my eighteenth birthday to shout that I’m a woman now.

That I want him to see me as one.

That’s probably why I ask, “Do you think I should have a boyfriend?”

“That’s none of my business, kiddo.”

“I-I’m not a kiddo.”

His lips twitch. “You just pouted like one.”

Damn it. I knew he still thought of me as if I were a little girl. Can’t he see I’m all grown up now? That I’m looking at him?

That I can’tstoplooking at him?

“I’m making it your business,” I insist. “So what do you think?”

“About?”

“Should I get a boyfriend?”

“No.”

My heart nearly rips my ribcage open and hops out to dance at his feet. He said I shouldn’t get a boyfriend. That can’t be meaningless, right?

“Why not?” I try to sound cool, but I can’t control the tremor at the end.

“King wouldn’t like it.”

Oh.

So it’s back to my dad again.

Seems I’m out for blood, though, because I still refuse to drop it. “How about you?”

“How about me?”

“Would you like it if I had a boyfriend?”

He pauses, then says, “I would be neutral.”

Right.

Of course, he would.

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