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Hot on his heels and stomach rumbling, I refused to let it go. “Maybe if you weren’t fucking me every night, I could get more sleep!”
He paused before he turned to me with menace. “Not another word.”
Exasperated, aware no defense would work, I knew it was pointless, but I dug in anyway. “I’m exhausted! And it’s a half a point!”
Ray’s brows drew together. “It’s the difference between the school you want and the school you settle for.”
I shrugged. “So what! Princeton, Brown. I’ll take any of them.”
Ray walked toward me and pinned me to the table. Setting his plate down he looked behind him to Olivia. “Shut the door.”
“Yes, sir.”
Once we were alone, I felt my skin start to thrum with anticipation. Ray had other plans. “So now we’re backtracking? Any of them? Any. Of. Them? That’s not how you win. You set your sigh
ts on one fucking thing, and when you attain that, you move onto the next. You don’t settle.”
I shrugged with a bite in my voice. “Fine, I’ll work harder.”
“Smarter,” he corrected as he gripped my face. “Smarter. Order and excellence, Taylor.”
“Yes, sir,” I snapped as I pulled my face away. My disobedience seemed to eat at him as I refused to indulge. I was exhausted. I had months left and a lot to prove before I flew his coop with my inheritance. Not that being with Ray was so horrible. He showered me with gifts and gave me the attention he was capable of. There were no more women, at least, not at the house. It seemed he’d finally accepted our situation. And I loved the things he did to my body. It always came with the price of his immediate absence. We never slept in the same bed. And he never, not once, let me forget my place.
He peered down at me with intent eyes. “You . . .” His breath came out harsh. “You can do this, Taylor.”
“I will,” I swore as he tipped my chin up with his finger. “I will, Ray. I promise.”
“You never take second, ever.”
“I got it.” Ray’s forehead began to bead with sweat, and he was paling rapidly.
I wiped the moisture off his brow with my palm, and he jerked from my grasp. “What’s wrong?”
“Flu or something. Go to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“What are you thinking of?”
Daniello’s voice was distant but snapped me out of my haze.
“A friend.”
“You do not have any friends.” His voice was cool, much like that of the man who had been haunting me. I couldn’t help but think Ray’s manifestation in my thoughts was a warning of sorts. A way of telling me I was throwing it all away.
“You don’t know everything,” I said with pure contempt. I didn’t know what his issue was, but he had just ruined a good amount of blissful days with his temperament. “Fine, I was thinking about a man I used to fuck.”
Daniello’s jaw ticked as he glared at the Chevy in front of us. “I do not wish to know this.”
An hour later, he pulled into the garage, and as soon as he was parked, I jumped out of the car and rounded the bumper to take the wheel. “Thanks for the vacation.”
Daniello stood with the door open, the key ring on his finger. “It is not over.”
“I’ve got news for you, buddy—”
Daniello frowned. “What news?”
I let out a sarcastic laugh as he gripped my shoulders. “I was deep in my thoughts, Taylor Ellison.”
“Fine. Can I go?”
