Page 65 of Tattered Obsession

“What are you doing?” I ask, hardly daring to breathe.

“Hugging you.”

“But...” I pull back, searching his face. “You’re not pissed?”

Theo snorts, giving me one of his signature crooked smiles. “You seriously think I’m pissed about this?”

“I...” My mouth opens and closes. “I just admitted I was having feelings for—”

“One of my best friends?” Theo interrupts. “Someone who’s saved my life more than once? Someone I’m trusting to protect you while I get this thing off the ground?”

I swallow. “When you put it that way…”

“Come on, kid. You think I didn’t think this was a possibility going in? Things happen. Emotions run high. I’m not some stuck-in-his-ways old man, kid. That’s my father, not me. As long as you’re mine, naked and under me as often as we both want, I can deal with it. Maybe even enjoy thinking about it. I’m not a jealous man…well not when it comes to them.”

It slowly begins to dawn on me that he’s not jerking me around. He really isn’t pissed. “Most guys would be furious if their girlfriend told them she was having feelings for their best friend,” I mutter, ducking my head.

“Last time I checked, I’m not most guys,” Theo reminds me. “I spent my whole childhood watching my dad bounce from my mom to half a dozen other women at any given time. I saw the way the other dons racked up mistresses like trophies. It’s practically an unspoken rule.”

I swallow. “So... what are you saying?”

“I’m saying,” Theo says, leaning forward, “humans are social creatures, kid. Our emotions don’t listen to logic. Internalizing that is the key to playing this game we’re playing, and that’s what no one else seems to understand. It’s what got me to where I am. If someone like my father can have a few mistresses and do all right for himself, you think I can’t move past you having feelings for someone I trust?”

My mouth has gone dry. I’m literally at a loss for words. All I can manage in response is a single, quiet, “Oh.”

Theo chuckles. “You really had me going for a second there, kid. I thought you were gonna have a heart attack, you were so worked up.”

I shake my head in disbelief. “You’re serious about this.”

“Kid,” Theo says seriously, taking my chin in his hand, “when I say something, it’s because I mean it. There is one condition, though,” he adds, crossing his arms.

I clear my throat, still reeling. “Which is…?”

“If this goes beyond me,” he replies, “it only involves people I approve of. No one else.”

I give a weak chuckle, my fear finally melting away into relief. “Fair enough,” I say. “I think I can live with that.”

ChapterTwenty-Six

Lucas

Lucas stares at his father from across the long table in the family dining room, watching as the old bastard takes his sweet time with his food. This is the first time he’s set foot in this house since he turned the tables on Theo, but his stomach is still twisted in knots. It’s weird being back here again, and even weirder being back here without his runaway bride.

He snorts and leans back in his chair, drumming his fingers on the table. It’s fucking pathetic, he thinks. Hiding in the shadows, scurrying from house to house like a fucking cockroach. I can’t even control my own fucking family anymore.

He clenches his jaw and forces himself to smile; sometimes you do catch more flies with honey than vinegar, and until this clusterfuck is sorted, he’ll have to play nice.

And he hates playing nice.

“You were saying, Dad...?” he prompts.

Victor takes a swig of wine. “You really don’t know how to listen, do you?”

Lucas grits his teeth together, his hands forming fists under the table, but he manages to keep his cool. “Apologies,” he says. “I was lost in thought.”

“There’s a surprise.” The head of the Emmerico family barely glances at his younger son before continuing. “As I was saying, I’m not comfortable rescinding my claim to this syndicate until I know this business has been taken care of.”

“I’m working on it,” Lucas says tightly. “Theo’s left town. He may be insane, but he’s not stupid—he knows what will happen if he sets foot in London again.”

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