Page 39 of Heart of Stone (Dark Billionaires)

Only to run headfirst into a very solid, very furious Warren. “Jesus fucking Christ, kitten,” he rushed towards her, sliding to his knees on the tiled floor and grabbing her hands.

“It’s make-up,” Brit’s voice came quickly. “None of it’s real.”

“I knew he didn’t love me like he loved Aaron,” Kate managed as Warren held her through gasping sobs, “but he was perfectly happy for me to be gang-raped and tortured to death for crimes he committed, knowing full well I was innocent.” She wiped her eyes, feeling some of the red wetness Brit had applied smear across her face.

All of that effort for a few minutes of devastation.

And yet she’d never felt more exhausted.

Kate had always known their relationship was different. Other men had proper bonds with their daughters, would protect them with their life. Men like Brax ,with his perfect pink tea parties. Kate had always looked enviously upon them, wondering what her father had been like in those early years preceding her memories. Would he have let himself be wound round her little finger?

With a rough, hyperventilative inhale, she met Warren’s agonised gaze. “Take me home.”

Kate peeled her eyes open. The raw feeling on her cheeks told her that she’d cried herself to sleep. Blinking, she realised she was no longer in the car, being held and comforted by Warren. She was in Warren’s bedroom—in his lap, laid out on the midnight blue sofa.

“Kitten?”

A cream blanket fell from her shoulders as she sat upright, weighed down by the bleakness within.

Warren pushed away the little workstation holding his laptop aloft, its wheels squeaking. He gave her his full attention, twisting to face her.

Her lip wobbled.

“Oh, kitten.”

Kate tried not to get lost in self-pity—again—but sank into Warren’s embrace nonetheless. “What kind of daughter isn’t loved by her own father?” she mumbled into his shoulder.

He retreated to cup her cheeks, staring deep into her soul. “The fault lies with him, not with you.” A tentative smile lifted his lips. “You forget, kitten, that I met you as a little girl. A little firebrand. And you weresoeasy to love, with your wide smiles and endless energy. The little sister I never had. Even then I felt it, this consuming need to protect you.”

She knew she shouldn’t ask it, but she did. “And now?”

His gaze burned like an inferno raged within him, churning and spitting flames. “Nothing I feel for you is siste—”

A quiet, restrained knock silenced him.

“Come in,” Warren answered.

Saffron entered, her brows knitted together. “Kate,” she breathed, rushing to the sofa. “Are you all right? Brax mentioned you were upset.”

“I’m okay,” Kate wrapped herself in the cream blanket, the heat from Warren’s eyes no longer keeping her warm.

“The food you ordered has just arrived,” Saffron told Warren, “but Brax said you wouldn’t be ready for it.”

“Food?” Kate perked up.

Warren’s lazy smile said it all. “Sweet and sour chicken. Salt and pepper chips.”

“Several portions of it, I hope.”

His hand rested on the small of her back. “What do you take me for?” The warmth of his touch disappeared as he stood. “I’ll be back with your food, Your Highness.”

Quicker than she’d expected, Warren returned with several bags, one of which had the heavenly scent of hot food. “There are quite a few different things down there, Saffron. Feel free to go and help yourself before Brax and the security team decimate it.”

Saffron bounced up, closing the door behind her as she left, shooting Kate a knowing smile.

“Did you leave her food downstairs just to get rid of her?” Kate asked suspiciously.

“Yes,” he said baldly, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “I want you all to myself. Is that a crime?”

---