She tilted her head. “Such as?”
“You’ll keep your distance frommychildren.” She arched a brow, unimpressed by my show of dominance and my icy tone, but I didn’t miss the flash of hurt in her eyes.
“I’d like to remind you,” she retorted, her voice calm, “that you don’t have all the rights when it comes to one of those children.”
I gritted my teeth. “I’d argue otherwise, considering you wanted nothing to do with that child.”
“I don’t care what you think, Lykos. The facts are that I have rights too.”
I took a step forward, getting into her personal space, but she didn’t budge. She kept her spine upright, her chin tilted up stubbornly, refusing to break eye contact. “Don’t push me, Violet. You won’t like the other side of me.”
“I could say the same. I’m not that young woman from a decade ago. You’ll find I have significant resources at my disposal too, and I’m more than willing to use them.”
Fuck, I couldn’t help but be impressed. Yet the fact remained that she didn’t want our daughter. She brought her to me and left her behind.
“I’m not going away this time, Lykos,” she added. “I want to be close to my child, and I’m going to make sure Aria knows who she is and who I am.”
“We’ll have to agree to disagree on that,” I stated slowly, reining in my anger and hurt. What about me? Did she even consider what it would do to Dimitros and me if she were to take Aria away from us? “Don’t get any bright ideas when it comes tomydaughter, Violet. And you’ll stay here, under my roof, where I can keep an eye on you. Considering you want to be closer to Aria, you’ll find the arrangement agreeable.”
“Fine.”
She’d been here less than an hour, and I was already struggling to hold on to my control and dignity.
“Anything else?” she asked as she sat back down, crossing her legs. My eyes followed the movement, locking on the smooth skin as her skirt inched up. My dick swelled, and I made a show of stepping toward the hallway and checking that Aria had done as I said, so I could adjust my pants. “Or would you rather just stare at my legs?”
How was a mere mortal man who hadn’t touched a woman since that night ten years ago supposed to resist this temptation? Or even keep his sanity while looking at her…
“You shouldn’t be here,” I muttered, more to myself than her. I didn’t know if I’d survive being close to her, both of us sleeping under my roof. Yet, I knew that saying “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” definitely applied here. She wasn’t exactly an enemy, but I needed to keep an eye on her, because Violet was up to something.
“But Iamhere. And as I already stated, I’m not going anywhere,” she stated matter-of-factly. “Besides, it was mereseconds ago you were telling me I am to stay under your roof. You’re giving me whiplash with all this stay, go, stay, go.”
I turned, facing her once more. “Last time, you couldn’t wait to dumpmydaughter at my doorstep and get away from her and me. Why all the sudden interest?”
“That was then,” she said, wincing, and I knew I’d struck a nerve. “This is now. Things have changed.”
“You don’t get to play with my family, Violet,” I said, my voice low but threatening. “You don’t get to change your tune now, all these years later. You lost all privileges the moment you brought our daughter to me and turned your back on her.”
She smiled sadly. “Who says I turned my back?”
“I do,” I growled, bending over and getting into her face. “I fucking do. What you did…”
I stopped myself before I said too much. I didn’t want to admit that even now, over nine years since I last saw her walking away from us, it still fucking hurt. Never mind me, I deserved it, but how could she abandon our baby like that?
“Like I said, now that I’m here, I’m not going anywhere. Not without Aria.”
She crossed one leg over the other, leaning back in a show of ease, but she couldn’t mask the hurt expression in her eyes. Good, maybe it was time she hurt too.
“We’ll see,” I said, barking out a laugh. “Let’s see how fast you run this time, considering your track record.”
That landed.
She tried to hide it, but I saw it in the pause before her next breath, in the slight tremble of her bottom lip, and the way she fisted her hands in her lap.
“You know nothing about me, Lykos,” she snapped. “You have no idea what—” She cut herself off, then gave her head a subtle shake. “I’m not arguing with you, a goddamned man.”
I narrowed my eyes. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
She leaned forward slightly, resting her elbows on her knees. “It means you lack the wits to carry on a reasonable conversation. I don’t waste my breath when it’s a moot point.”
