Page 37 of His Ruthless Obsession

I can’t say I hate the idea.

I nod at him and shut the door before either of us can be stupid and linger any longer.

CHAPTERTWELVE

Isit in the dining room the next morning, watching over the rim of my coffee cup as Nella continues to play with her food.

She’s been quiet since she made her way downstairs, dragging her fork through her food with barely any attempts to move it up to her mouth and eat it. The sight of her doing this makes me frown. What is she thinking about?

I run through our night and how we’d parted on good terms. Well, on what I hadthoughtwere good terms. None of her actions after our fucking told me she felt otherwise.

In fact, the kiss had told me exactly what I’d hoped. She wanted more.

I set my coffee down and turn to check on Ava, snorting when I see that her face is buried in her iPad. Her fingers fly over the screen, either writing an intense email or playing some game she found on the app store.

I lean back in my chair and cross my arms over my chest.

“Nella.”

She jumps a little in her chair.

“Eat. You need the energy.” I smirk. “Especially after last night.”

Ava groans. “Are you actually serious right now? I’m trying to eat.”

I ignore her and fix Nella a look, making sure she catches my eyes before nodding down to her plate. Reluctantly, she scoops up a small portion of scrambled eggs and pops it into her mouth. Her jaw moves slowly while she chews.

“Good girl.”

Nella’s cheeks redden. Perfect, just what I wanted.

“Gross…” Ava mumbles.

I wait patiently for Nella to clear half of her plate, making sure she gets some food in her for the time being. If she doesn’t typically eat in the morning that’s fine, but I know afterbothour escapades yesterday she needs the energy.

“What’s on your mind?”

Brown eyes dart around nervously. She takes a long gulp of her orange juice and sets the glass down carefully on the table. Her shoulders straighten almost unnoticeably while she runs her hands over her pants.

“I miss Leo… and my brother. It’s all kind of hitting me today.”

I nod slowly. It’s understandable that she would start missing pieces of her old life eventually.

“Who the hell is Leo?” Ava asks.

Both Nella and I speak at the same time.

“My cat.”

“Her cat.”

Nella gives me a subtle glower. I can’t help but give her an amused look back. Now that my secret stalking of her is out in the open, I’m sure we’d run into more of these humorous problems down the road.

“I’m surprised you put your cat above your brother, Nella.”

She shrugs at me. “I’ve never gone this long without seeing him—or my brother. I want to talk to Etta too. She’s the friend I went to the club with… that night we met.”

I lean back in my chair, the back of it creaking slightly. “We’re not getting a cat, Nella, and if you want to see your brother, I’ll only be able to bring his head to you.”

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