Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 173(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34680 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 173(@200wpm)___ 139(@250wpm)___ 116(@300wpm)
“I don’t even know what that means. I’m an adult now. I don’t need anyone to take care of me.” She shakes her head.
“You’re mistaken.” Once again, I find myself staring at her lips.
“You can’t just say that.”
“Hmm?”
She rolls her eyes. “You can’t just say ‘you’re mistaken’ to someone like that and then offer no explanation.”
I rather enjoy her tone–pert with a side of schoolmistress. Amusement starts to bubble beneath my surface. “Why not?”
“Well, first off, it’s rude. Second off, you don’t know what you’re talking about, so when you say ‘you’re mistaken’”—she tries to drop her voice low, mimicking me—“with that tone of yours, it makes it sound very dismissive. But you don’t even know me. I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
I smirk. “Sounds to me like your two points all boil down to just the first point–you find me rude. And, no disrespect intended, Vivian, but there’s no way in hell you are capable of taking care of yourself.”
“What?” she asks sharply.
“Just look at you. A little lamb in a world full of wolves.”
“Does that make you one of the wolves?” she fires back.
“Yes.” I don’t see any point in hiding that fact. “I’m the only wolf you’ll ever have to worry about.”
“What does that mean?”
“Now that you’re under my guardianship, I intend to protect you. All you have to do is follow my commands and–”
She wrinkles her nose. “I’m not a pet.”
No, you’re my pet. “I don’t see what’s so bad about following your parents’ final request.” I have no qualms about weaponizing their untimely demise, especially when it means I’m keeping their daughter safe. Safe and close to me.
“I don’t know.” She leans back with a sigh. “Like I said, I don’t even know who you are. Not really. When I’d talk to Mom and Dad, they rarely mentioned you. And when they did, it was more or less in conversation with each other about what a total hardass you are. How you got this business deal, or that victory, or crushed so-and-so. That’s the extent of what I know about you.”
At least her parents did me justice in their glancing mentions. “That’s more than I know about you.”
“Exactly!” She sits up. “That’s why you should let me stay with Charles at my parents’ house and–”
“Why do you call it that?”
“What?” she asks.
“‘My parents’ house.’ Don’t you mean ‘my house’?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I mean …” She slumps back again. “I’ve barely set foot there. I have a room that I get to stay in a few weeks of the year–holidays and stuff–but other than that, I live at my boarding school. Mom and Dad had kids, but then they sort of ticked that off their to-do list and left the raising of Charles and me to nannies and boarding schools.” She glances at me but then doesn’t look away, as if searching my face for any sort of ridicule or possibly understanding. She must find something encouraging because she continues, “I loved my parents. Don’t get me wrong. But … when I think about them, I think about them like two well-meaning strangers. They never wanted to hurt me. It took me a long time to realize that. I’m still trying to work through it, I guess. But I have to hold on to that–they didn’t want to hurt me.”
“But they did?” I squeeze her small fingers in mine.
She shrugs. “It doesn’t matter now. They’re gone.”
“It matters.” I release her hands only to wrap my arm around her shoulders. To my surprise, she leans into me, resting against my chest. “They’re gone, but your feelings toward them are still there. You have to own that and live your life with the promise to yourself that when you have kids one day, you’ll do better for them. That’s what I have to tell myself, too. I was raised by my father. Long story short, he was a violent drunk. I never drink, don’t touch a drop. It’s part of my promise to myself to be a better man.”
She’s silent for a long while. We ride in silence, my driver taking us straight to my estate, only stopping for a moment at the front gate.
When we roll to a stop, she looks up at me, her eyes so big and full of innocence. “You’re not what I expected.”
I glance at her lips again, unable to stop myself. “Neither are you.”
4
VIVIAN
My lips start to tingle as Griffin’s eyes linger on them once again. Why is he always looking at my mouth? The sound of the gate has me jerking my attention away from him. Thank goodness, because I found myself staring at his mouth too. Out of the corner of my eyes, I see a flash of orange that catches my attention.
“Stop the car!” I scream as I open the door to jump out. Both the seat belt and Griffin stop me from going anywhere.