Page 28 of The Billionaire’s Contract Bride

“I told you.”

“No. You said long enough. That photograph is fourteen months old. Were you watching me before that?”

His face went completely unreadable. That was an answer, too.

“Why me?” she whispered.

Damien looked at her as though the truth sat somewhere beneath her skin. “Your father once worked for a company my family controlled.”

Aria went rigid. “My father died when I was eight.”

“I am aware.”

“What company?”

“A Blackthorne shipping subsidiary.”

“He drove delivery trucks.”

“Among other things.”

“What other things?”

Damien straightened, stepping back. The sudden loss of his heat should have relieved her, but it didn’t. She hated that as much as she hated his lack of answers.

“That discussion will wait.”

“Until when?”

“Until I decide you are ready.”

“You don’t get to decide when I’m ready to know about my own father.”

“In this house, I decide when information becomes dangerous.”

Aria’s fingers tightened around the frame. “And you wonder why I call this place a prison.”

“Prisons do not give their occupants keys.” He reached into his pocket and placed a small, elegant gold key on the desktop beside her. “Your bedroom. The only duplicate is sealed in the security office, requiring simultaneous authorization from Lucien and Helena to access.”

Aria looked at the key, but didn’t touch it. “Is that supposed to make me trust you?”

“No. Trust is what people request when they lack evidence. I am giving you evidence.”

“While refusing to answer my questions.”

“Some truths do not become less dangerous simply because they belong to you.”

Aria hated how absolute he made everything sound. “I’m keeping the photograph.”

“For tonight.”

“Forever.”

“We will negotiate in the morning.”

“We’re getting married in the morning.”

“Those are not mutually exclusive.” He tapped his phone, unlocking the office doors.