AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes, partially. But they also said I was an insult to their family lineage and I didn’t deserve any ties to the family estate, so they said they would do whatever they possibly could to remove me from those assets. The threat scared me because I’ve lived a billionaire lifestyle and wasn’t sure how I would manage without my family’s wealth. So I decided to get into a high-earning career. The connections were already there, so I decided to use them. Now I don’t need their money, but I refuse to go away just to piss them off.”
Her hand continued to rub my chest before it stopped over my heart. Her eyes were on the side of my face, and she stared like she wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. Her fingers started to move again, lightly touching my skin. “It’s both of your parents?”
“I can tell it’s mostly my dad. But my mom goes along with it.”
“How long has it been this way?”
“About five years.”
“And in all that time, there’s never been any kind of reconciliation?”
“No. Every picture they have of me has been taken down from their walls. They get together with other members of the family for holidays—and I’m not invited. I’m not sure how my aunts and uncles and cousins feel about everything because I’ve never really asked, but because my parents have taken this stance, they’ve all just gone along with it.”
“That’s unacceptable. Honestly, it’s senseless.”
“I think they’re embarrassed. By cutting me off completely, it will somehow preserve their untarnished reputation. Which is bullshit because our ancestors are guilty of worse shit, but whatever.”
She dipped her head to my shoulder and held me close. Both of her arms were wrapped around me.
“You’ve only known me well for a month, but you believed me without hesitation.” My hand moved up her thigh, feeling her smooth skin, the warmth of her beautiful flesh. “I didn’t have to defend myself. I didn’t have to do anything. You just knew.” An ache throbbed inside my chest. It was warm and good, but it was so intense that it hurt. I tried to will it away with my mind, dwarf it in size by ignoring it.
“I’ve never been with a man who makes me feel the way you do.”
My hand stopped on her knee, and I turned to look at her.
“They don’t make me feel beautiful. They don’t make me feel secure. They don’t make me smile.” Her eyes remained on my shoulder as she deflected my gaze. “I’ve told you to stop before, and you listened. You could have taken advantage of my sorrow that night, but you didn’t. You came to my defense when you could have just walked away. The man I know is incapable of doing such horrible things.”
I was wrapped around this woman’s finger—and I fucking knew it. From the beginning, I told myself this would never be anything more than a hookup, but deep down, I knew I wanted more. I’d wanted more from the moment I saw her. And I knew I would always want more.
But how would I get to keep her?
We lay in bed together, her lithe body wrapped in my strong arms.
It was the first time we were together in bed without fucking. My heart was too damaged by the shitty day, and feeling her in my arms was the best consolation. She fell asleep against my chest, her hair across my stomach. When bumps formed on her arms, I pulled the sheets higher up her body to keep her warm.
I was so relaxed with her, but I still couldn’t fall asleep.
There was too much anger inside me. Sometimes I wanted to punch my father in the face and break his jaw. I was never violent toward people unless they warranted it, and sometimes I wondered if he’d warranted my wrath. A part of me pointlessly hoped there would be a reconciliation someday, but I knew that would never happen.
I didn’t fall asleep until morning when the sky turned from black to a dark blue.
Then my eyes opened almost immediately after I closed them, seeing the bright daylight peek through the closed curtains. I squinted at the light, and then I felt the exhaustion behind my eyes because I’d only slept for a few hours. I tapped the screen of my phone, seeing that it was eleven.
Then I realized what had woken me up.
The aroma of breakfast.
I lay there and listened to the hot pans heat the oil in the kitchen, the sound of her opening and closing cabinets, moving dishes, using the sink. The sound was relaxing, so I just listened to it, knowing my baby was making me breakfast.
The only woman who had ever made me breakfast was my mother.
I eventually got out of bed, took a shower, and then walked into the kitchen in just the sweatpants I was wearing when I came over here. Once I stepped into the kitchen, I could really smell it. It was breakfast crepes, scrambled eggs with gruyère cheese and sautéed mushrooms and zucchini. She also had bacon and croissants. I looked at it all in amazement before I looked at her. “You did all of this?”
She was in her pajamas with a little white apron tied around her front, her beautiful hair in a loose bun. “I don’t have a secret butler hidden in the closet.”
“You’re way hotter than my butler.” I grinned as my arm circled her waist, and I pulled her into me, squeezing her ass as I kissed her, feeling my mouth still stretch in a grin that I couldn’t suppress. “You didn’t have to make me breakfast, baby,” I said when I pulled away.
“We always have breakfast when we do sleepovers.”
