“May I have my panties back, Sir?” I asked.
“No.”
It was worth a try.
CHAPTER THIRTY
WAIT, WHO IS THAT WITH THE NEPO BABY?
TRIPP
“Tell me about your family,”Greer said quietly.
I thought she was already asleep. After Gilded, she’d dozed off in the car. She’d barely woken when I’d carried her through the front door and had swayed on her feet when I set her down long enough to arm the security system before taking her right upstairs. She hadn’t bothered to keep hold of the overnight bag she’d brought, leaving it downstairs to deal with another time.
She must’ve caught her second wind and wanted to use it to talk about the one subject I worked hard to avoid.
I would answer for her, though. “What do you want to know?”
“Anything. Everything. I know your mom passed, but not much else. Were you close?”
I gave a small, bitter laugh. “No. I barely knew her.”
“She passed when you were young?”
“A decade ago.”
She sat up. Or tried to. I put my palm to her cheek to keep her against my chest.
If I was going to share, I was doing it with her naked body pressed tight to mine as a distraction.
I gave a harsh exhale, and she rushed out, “You don’t have to tell me. Forget I brought it up.”
“Hush, siren.” I took a second to find my words. “My mother was one of Clark’s soap groupies. She was young and ambitious as well as damaged and stupid. She wanted to star beside him. She thought they’d have this epic storyline that they would echo in real life with a lavish wedding before living like royalty. Clark led her on as he banged everything with a pulse that smiled his way. She got it in her head that getting pregnant would force him to settle down. Spoiler alert, it didn’t.”
“Oh no,” she whispered.
“Yup. He didn’t propose on the spot like she hoped. He accused her of cheating before kicking her out. Once I was born, it took multiple paternity tests before he believed I was his kid. By that time, my mother was over her dream of landing him and even more over being a mom. If you can call it that… She signed her rights away to Clark, who was also over being a father despite the fact he hadn’t spent five minutes in the role. I never heard from her again.”
“Ever? Not even once you turned eighteen?”
“I had no interest in chasing down someone who hadn’t wanted me. I didn’t even know she died until six months after it happened when one of her friends got in contact with my dad. Well, with Percy. I don’t think Clark would’ve passed on the message or the coffee table.”
“Coffee table?”
I lifted my shoulder. “I think they sold everything else of value, so all that was left of hers to give me was a coffee table.”
“That’s something, I guess.”
I didn’t bother to point out that it went unused in my media room—except when Chase Majors had snorted coke off it. That was probably a fitting tribute, though.
Greer didn’t offer platitudes or empty assurances. She just snuggled closer, giving me comfort I didn’t need but would damn sure accept.
After a couple minutes, she said, “I have a Christmas present for you.”
My hand trailed down her back to her raw and tender ass. I soothingly stroked it before gripping it. Hard. Her whimper was half pained hiss, half moan. “You already gave me the best fucking present I could ask for.”
“Good because this one is small. And stupid. And really cheesy.”
