Page 72 of Owned By Two

“I wanted to make sure you’re okay,” he said. “With the news about your father and all… It must have come as a shock.”

I nodded. “It did. But things are turning out pretty well so far. I’m supposed to sign a contract so everything he owned passes to me.”

“You haven’t signed it yet?”

I shook my head. “Not yet.”

“Why not?”

“Because I don’t want this to be some kind of payment for the way he treated me in the past.”

Blor frowned and pursed his lips before nodding. “I see.”

“You don’t agree?”

He looked at me carefully before going on. “No.”

His directness took me by surprise and I folded my arms. “So how would you look at it?”

“You’re right. He’s trying to apologize. We all make mistakes. And if we’re lucky, we get to make up for them doing something that undoes what we did. At least in part. This is his way of doing that.”

I shook my head. “I have no interest in being his scapegoat.”

“Deathis his scapegoat,” he said somberly. “And the truth is… well, look at it this way… You left me at the Seeding Facility to deal with your father’s passing. And I let you go. And now I came back to be with you again. I’m trying to make up for the past too.”

I shook my head. “That’s completely different.”

He took my hands in his and held them tight. “No, it’s not. Not when you think about it. We both made a mistake. But we don’t have to live with it forever. We can make up for it and fix things now so the rest of our lives can be lived a little better.”

He met my eyes and scratched his head. “Look, I’m not good with words, so maybe I’m not explaining myself very well. What I’m trying to say is… don’t think of it as an apology. Think of it as a fresh start. One where your fatherwasn’tselfish, where hedidcare for you. Because maybe he did. He just didn’t know how to express it like normal people, and this is the only way he could do it.”

He smiled comfortingly and placed a hand on my bare shoulder that sent a shockwave of gooseflesh writhing across my body. “I know it’s not what you wanted. You wanted his time, not his money. But business is all he understood. I’m sure if he could have gone back and traded it for just a few minutes with you, he would.”

His words struck me like a sledgehammer.

They might have been true, or not true — the fact was, I was unlikely to ever learn the truth — but wasn’t sure I could come to terms with them.

Not yet, at least.

“I’m not asking you to forgive him,” he said. “It’s really none of my business. But think of all the good you could do with this money and the other stuff he left you. He was great at earning it. Maybe you’re better at spending it. The same way you can be super happy with me… if you only let me in and be a part of your life.”

He smiled that disarming smile again, his hand stroking my bare skin.

“I’ll… try,” I said, unsure if I was referring to his suggestion about my father or about our relationship.

Then he extended his elbow to me. “Shall we go to dinner?”

I motioned to my bathrobe. “Dressed like this?”

“You’ve never looked better. And besides…”

He wrapped his arm around my waist and tugged me closer. “It providesmucheasier access.”

He kept his eyes on me as he released the bathrobe cord and let it fall to either side.

He was watching to see my reaction, to see if I would allow him to continue undressing me…

I didn’t do a damn thing to stop him.

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