AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“What you want?” The words tumble from me, and my attention ping pongs from Rory to the giant who’s apparently his brother.
“Yes. What I want, Mouse. For now, what I want is your obedience when I tell you to eat your breakfast. And look at you, being such a good, good girl.” The praise washes over me, bathing me with an acceptance I hadn’t realized I’ve been missing.
I’m way more used to the more dismissive way my father treats me. That is, when he’s not pointing out all the ways I’m a disappointment. I know being away from his condemnation and strict rules is why I spent my first semester of college partying and wearing the most scandalous clothes I could find.
It was immature to be twenty years old and rebelling like a preteen, but I’m done beating myself up over it. And really, whether I was partying too much or not, there’s no excuse for the way Perry Hurd has been behaving. My dresses are not invitations to my body, no matter how short they may be or how much he might want to believe otherwise.
I wish I had one of those dresses on right now, then maybe, itwouldbe an invitation because there’s no denying the way my body is waking up and noticing all the ways this enormous near-stranger is affecting me.
ChapterSix
EV
Rory clockedmy intentions for his little girlfriend pretty quick. It’s not as though I’m making a great mystery of them, but I’m relieved we can avoid the dust up that would come from stealing his girl.
“Where’d Perla go?” Rory rushes into the kitchen after disappearing to get showered and dressed for the day. He races through life with an exuberance I never got the chance to indulge.
Rather than jealousy, being able to watch him embrace joy and normalcy has always been enough for me. I’ve set aside my wants and wishes to make sure he has the chance to be the captain of his own destiny, unencumbered by honor debts and crime family expectations. Yeah, Glory and Hunter would no doubt release me if I asked, but at this point, they’re as much my family as Rory is.
“Shower. Now, explain what the fuck is going on before she gets back. I want to know everything.” Taking a firm tone with Rory isn’t something I typically find myself doing. Even during the teen years when kids can be little assholes, he was pretty well behaved.
“You mean you haven’t digitally stalked every minute of her life up to now?” He smirks, secure in his right to tease me.
“I’m asking you, Ror. What’s going on with you and this ‘not girlfriend’ that has you bringing her to my home when I’m out of town?”
Of course, I already have script running to scrub the internet for her electronic footprint, but I want to hear this directly from him. Not just because I can count on him to give me fleshed-out details, but because the nuance of his explanation will give me necessary information about how he feels about her.
They both claim they’re not dating and never have. I don’t get any pining vibes from either of them, but I need to be positive Rory hasn’t buried unrequited feelings for this girl deep down.
“We met in Freshman Biology and got paired for lab. You know I don’t get close to people much.” Rory pauses and watches for my reaction. It’s actually one of the things we’ve argued about. I’ve worked hard to shield the kid, yet he walks through life with his guard too high. Always waiting for the shoe to drop and betrayal to come.
I guess some scars from our parents are bound to linger. Glory tried her best to be a mother figure for him while she parented her stepdaughter, Snow, but in those days, we were all living under the violent thumb of Xavier Kingston. None of us could totally protect the kids. Especially, considering Glory, Hunter, Maxen and me were impossibly young ourselves.
“I can see how a girl like Perla would slip past those walls you’ve got built, kid.” Holding back the lecture about his closed-off attitude is the right play. Rory’s shoulders relax from up around his ears, and his eyes sparkle with happiness.
“If I’d known you were gonna pounce on her like a lion goes after a gazelle, I’da brought her around sooner.” His lips quirk up in a grin that has an answering smile lifting my own lips.
Yeah, my brother’s clearly got love for Perla Walker, but the ring of authenticity when he jokes about setting us up assures me he’s notin lovewith her. With that hurdle gone, I just need to know why she’s hiding out with him here at my place. I’ll deal with whatever the problem is at the same time I get her fertilized and locked down. Which is to say; fast.
“She’s here now. You did good bringing her to me. To safety. I need to know what we’re dealing with, though. Before she gets down here and whatever the shit is upsets her.”
Rory’s smile drops away as he gets down to business explaining how he found out the grad assistant who teaches one of her classes has been harassing my woman. Stalking my girl. Showing up at her dorm and making her afraid to be alone.
Motherfucker’s on borrowed time, that much is for sure. When Rory tells me how Perla’s father told her it’s no more than she deserves since she insisted on a school so far from home, I add him to my list, too.
My sweet little mouse has had a lot of disappointment and mistreatment at the hands of men who’ve messed up their jobs of caring for her. Their fuckery is my gain, because now she’s mine. She’s mine, and they’ll reap what they’ve sown.
ChapterSeven
PERLA
“Rory?”I came out of the bathroom attached to Ev’s bedroom, the one he insisted I shower in while Rory got ready in his own, to find the door to Rory’s bedroom locked.
I’m unsure what I’m supposed to do now. My bag with all my clothes is on a shelf in Rory’s closet. The sleep clothes I wore to bed last night managed to disappear from the floor just inside the bathroom during my shower. A dollar buys a donut I know what the answer to that mystery is.
Sneaking in and swiping my clothes seems like something Ev would absolutely do. He was watching me sleep for crying out loud! The man disregards boundaries. Oddly enough, when Perry ignored boundaries, it was scary and infuriating. When Ev does it? Well, it’s a good thing I’m not wearing panties. They’d probably go up in flames.
Not that anyone would know with the way I’m wrapped in Ev’s robe. The fleecy fabric drapes and folds around me almost the way a blanket would. A train of navy blue fabric trails on the floor behind me, every shuffled step I take reminding me how much bigger than me he is.
