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I burst out laughing, and so does she. Sam frowns and wraps his arm around her waist, pressing a kiss to her cheek, and my amusement is instantly gone. Emilia seems startled, and it’s obvious she hadn’t noticed him. How very interesting… she’s always hyper-aware of me.
“What does that mean, darling?” Sam asks, and Emilia stiffens.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” she says. “It’s from a TV show.”
Sam looks at her in confusion, a flash of uncertainty in his eyes, and I breathe a sigh of relief. I don’t want her to let him in on any of our inside jokes. There aren’t many parts of Emilia that are still mine, and I want to hold on to the ones that are with all my might.
I inhale deeply and try my best to smile at Sam, catching him off guard. “Your house is rather impressive,” he says, and his British accent grates on me. I wonder if it’s one of the things Emilia loves about him.
I smile in thanks and sigh. “How about I show you around?” I say, hoping he’ll say no.
Sam grins at me and nods. “Oh, I’d love that. I’ve been curious about this mansion of yours. I must admit that I’ve never been in a property quite as grand as this one.”
He looks at Emilia and smiles at her. I watch as he walks up to Emilia and takes her coffee mug out of her hand. Just that small act pisses me off. Emilia is a clean freak, and all our lives, I’ve been the only one she’s ever shared food or drinks with. “Let me have a few sips of this, darling,” he says, pressing a kiss to her cheek.
“Oh no, don’t,” she says, her eyes flashing with panic. She takes the cup back from him, and he frowns. Emilia smiles nervously and brushes her hair behind her ear, her hand trembling. “I, uh, I accidentally put salt in it,” she tells him, and it’s my turn to frown. I shouldn’t be surprised that she keeps our pranks from him, but it annoys me nonetheless.
Sam smiles at her and shakes his head. “Sleepyhead,” he murmurs, amusement twinkling in his eyes. I grit my teeth when he places his hand on the small of her back and smiles at me. “I’m rather wretched without a cuppa in the morning, but I think I’ll be fine,” he tells me, and my goodwill is instantly gone. Well, that lasted long. I glance at my watch and sigh. Ten seconds, or so. That’s how long I lasted before wanting to punch him in the face. Even his fucking voice irritates me. I’m tempted to mimic him, but I resist.
I see Emilia bite back a smile, and I unintentionally glare at her. Surely, she doesn’t like that dumb accent of his? I shake my head and inhale deeply. I really need to get a hold of myself.
Sam asks me a million questions as I show him all the different rooms in my house. I pause in the theater room and sigh. I designed this room with Emilia in mind. It’s basically a much more luxurious set-up of what I arranged on her sixteenth birthday. It’s crazy to think that that’s over ten years ago now. Here I am, standing in this room, with the man that has everything I’ve ever wanted.
I shake my head absentmindedly and lead Sam to the next room. The worst thing is that he’s actually a nice guy. He’s tried his best to help with John too, and he seems to treat Emilia well. I can tell that he feels intimidated by me, but he’s nice nonetheless. He’s a little too nice, in my opinion. I can’t understand what Emilia sees in him. He’s so fucking dull. I haven’t seen him make her laugh even once.
“You might like this,” I tell him, unlocking the door to my safe room. His eyes widen as we walk into the room, and I have to admit that even I am impressed every time I walk in. “It’s completely secure, with its own generator and satellite connections.” I click the security feeds on, and all angles of the house are covered. “The only rooms that don’t have cameras are the bedrooms and the bathrooms. I have a security team that monitors my property and my office, but I do keep copies for reference too.”
Sam looks impressed and I smile at him as he plays around with the multiple controls. I was exactly the same when I got it all installed the first time around. Sam frowns at one of the screens, and I follow his gaze, my eyes narrowing.
“Oh dear, what is she doing?” Sam asks, confused. I zoom in on Emilia to find her kneeling in my dining room, something that looks suspiciously like glue in her hands.
“What is she doing?” Sam asks, frowning.
I shake my head at him and lean in closer, curious. “Is that… a whoopee cushion?” I murmur, amused as hell. “Where the fuck did she even get that?”
Sam looks more stressed out by the second, but I just find it amusing as hell. She even found one that matches the color of my chairs. I watch as she glues it to my usual seat in the dining table, a huge smile on her face. She did warn me that there’d be payback…
“I have no idea if that’s even going to come off. My god, I can’t believe she’s doing this. That’s destruction of property. How much are those chairs?”
I laugh when she pushes against the pillow and bursts out laughing. I love seeing her like this.
“Two thousand dollars each,” I tell him. Worth it. That smile of hers is worth far more than a measly chair or two. I glance at Sam, the outrage on his face, the stiffness in his every move. I can see why he’d like the version Emilia portrays of herself in his presence, but the real her? He could never handle the real Emilia.
“Don’t worry about it,” I tell Sam. “For Emilia, this is quite a mild prank. Hell, it’s probably one of her lamest. I guess it’s the best she could do without time to prepare. Just pretend like you don’t know. I don’t care about the chair.”
All I care about is the smile she’s got on her face right now… the smile that I put on her face.
Chapter 31
Emilia
“How are you feeling, Daddy?”
He looks tired, and he’s really struggling to stay awake these days. He’s taking longer naps, and he seems less cheerful than he was a few weeks ago. Sam checks his equipment and questions his nurses, and Dad follows Sam’s movements with a frown on his face.
“I’m fine, Princess,” he says, but he doesn’t sound fine. My heart is breaking. I hate that I’m so helpless. That there isn’t anything I can do to help.
“I really am fine, Emilia,” Dad says, smiling at me. “Go on. Just go to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow morning, all right?”
