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I rolled my eyes but pressed kisses to each knuckle. He smiled, smug like a cat who’d dined on a fat canary. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so pleased he’d resorted to throwing punches on my behalf. I mean, I could defend myself. But it was nice to have a rest. Nice that he wanted to do it.
I still couldn’t help but wonder. “And your father?”
Arsen said he wasn’t like my biologic. And maybe he wasn’t. To Arsen. But I was not his son.
“Yes, baby, he fired Niles too. He also said he was going to take care of all of this.”
“You mean make sure you aren’t charged with possession.”
“That we aren’t.”
I shifted uncomfortably, my stomach clenching.
“What is it?”
“I didn’t have anything to do with this,” I declared.
“I know that, baby. I already told you I believe you.”
“But this is definitely something he would do.” I elaborated. Didn’t that make me guilty by association?
“McClaren?”
A hollow feeling bottomed out my stomach. “You know, if I’d been a good enough son, that would be my last name too,” I told him, staring across the room at my bare walls. “Matthew Miller McClaren. I’d be triple M.”
“That last name isn’t good enough for you,” he said passionately. “I know you like threes, but some things are just better in pairs. Like the M in your name. And us.”
“Us,” I echoed.
“Look at me,” he demanded, clutching my chin to make me listen. Sometimes I liked it when he made me do things. I didn’t have the power to overrule my brain, but he did.
“Your last name doesn’t matter right now because, eventually, it will be mine.”
His?
Surprise and disbelief must have broadcast across my face because he nodded. “When I said you’re mine, I meant it.”
“But it’s too soon. You’ll change your mind.”
“I agree it’s too soon to get married. But someday it won’t be. And if you ever say I’ll change my mind again, I’ll wash your mouth out with soap.”
My nose wrinkled. “Soap?”
He nodded, decisive. “Clean that filthy mouth right up.”
I couldn’t help but smile, but it was short-lived as my mind circled back to my worries. “What if it was him?” There really was no what-if about it. This was exactly something John McClaren would do. “How could you trust me? Your family?”
“You are not him. One has nothing to do with the other.”
I said nothing.
Arsen sighed. “I told my father about the abuse.”
I stiffened, pulling my hands away from his. “What?”
“It’s important he knows what McClaren is capable of. And also proof you’d never help him sabotage my father.”
“I wish you hadn’t,” I said, self-conscious of what the enemy of my enemy now knew.
