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“There’s time.” The espresso cup looks like a toy from one of Adeline’s childhood tea sets in my father’s big hand. “We don’t have to rush. Let’s get yours over and done with, and then we’ll deal with the rest.”
My phone rings. I down the coffee and put the cup on the side table to take my phone from my pocket. It’s Roch. My gut tightens. If he’s calling at this hour, something must be wrong.
I push to my feet. “Excuse me. I need to take this.” On my way to the study, I answer the call. “What’s going on?”
“There’s been an incident.”
My muscles tense. “What happened?”
“I had to pull a guy off Sabella at a party.”
I stop dead. My vision unravels. Fury bursts through my veins. “Did you break his bones?”
“I didn’t have to. It didn’t go that far.”
I resume walking. “Where is she now? Let me speak to her.”
“I already dropped her off at home. I don’t think it would’ve been the right moment for a lecture. She was crying.”
Fuck.
Clenching my jaw, I enter the study and slam the door. “Is anyone going to press assault charges?”
“No. The party was at a friend’s house, a girl in Sabella’s class.” He chuckles. “There was a commotion after I threw the guy in the pool. May, the girl who hosted the party, wanted to know who I was. She was freaking out about me gatecrashing her party. Sabella told May that Edwards hired me as her bodyguard before I could say anything.”
I sit down behind the desk. “Did this friend—May—fall for it?”
“Sabella was very convincing. She’s obviously not keen on her friends knowing I work for you. I get the idea she hasn’t told anyone about me, not even her family, because she called her sister on the way with an excuse that the party was boring and that the chauffeur of her friend’s father was driving her home.”
I don’t care if Edwards knows I’m having his daughter watched. He should be glad I’m taking my duties as her future husband so seriously. Sabella obviously feels differently.
“May was worried I’d tell Edwards there was no adult supervision. She said her parents didn’t know she was throwing the party and that she’d get into trouble if they found out. She asked if we could keep what had happened quiet, so word of what transpired is unlikely to reach Edwards.”
“Who took Sabella to the party?”
“Her sister drove her and her neighbor, Colin Taylor. Colin didn’t want to let Sabella go home alone. He insisted on coming with us, but Sabella persuaded him to stay. I think she was embarrassed.”
My grip tightens on the phone. I’m an embarrassment to her, am I? The inexplicable disappointment that had lodged into my heart when she broke her word to always like me hits me straight in the chest again. It’s unfounded. I always knew there’d come a day she’d hate me. I have no scruples about who and what I am. I’m a devil. Scum. Despising me is unavoidable. But she said she’d always like me, and the sound of it was sweet. I didn’t expect her to, but I wanted her to prove me wrong. She didn’t, did she? No. She stopped looking at me like I was her hero just as I knew she would.
If not for her father’s dishonorable deceit in misleading us with his false promises, Sabella could’ve liked me still. Now, that’s water under the bridge. All of it. That’s okay. Once Sabella is living with me, I’ll work on softening her toward me again. Like I told her, I did what I had to do to bring us together. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep us together.
“What about Colin Taylor?” I ask, grinding my teeth.
“One of his friends from school offered to drive him home.”
“I don’t give a fuck how he’s getting home.” Jealousy erupts inside me. “Is he someone I need to worry about?”
“I’ve been watching them closely. They’re more like brother and sister than what Sabella and Ryan are.”
“How was she?” I ask, hoping, needing, wanting, and hating myself for it. I’m only setting the stage for more disappointment. “When you left her.”
“Sabella? Upset. Mouthy.”
Upset? “Does she seriously give a damn about that fucking prick who tried to touch her?” Because if she does, I’ll kill him. With my own hands.
“Not about him. She said she was going to tell him to piss off. She was angry about me. Said my interference is ruining her life.” He hesitates. “Do you want me to enlighten her family about me? Maybe you should let them know I’m keeping tabs on her. That way, we don’t have to lie ourselves out of awkward situations. It can’t hurt for them to know you have eyes on her. It’ll motivate them to be more careful about where and with whom they let her go out.”
