Heartless Hero (Crowne Point 1)

“So don’t,” I said. “Just for now, for tonight.”

When I reached for him again, he didn’t push me away.

“What are you staring at?” I asked, peering at Theo from over a book. We were alone in the library, and every few minutes I’d look up from my book to see him staring.

“You.” He leaned forward, elbows on his knees. “You get lost in a book the same way you get lost in my cock, you know that? It’s fucking distracting.”

I looked down, cheeks flaming.

“Shit, Abigail,” he said. “You know what that look does to me.”

Still looking down, I set my book on the studded suede arm of my chair, then got to my knees, walking to him. His eyes transmuted, burning coals. As I got closer, he spread his legs enough to allow me between his knees.

“Sweet girl…” Theo threaded his fingers into my hair, caressing from my scalp to the middle of my back. His eyes creased, and I knew he was about to rip open the wound between us.

“Don’t,” I pleaded. “Just… not right now.”

At least Theo and I seemed to have perfected this part. Communication, our emotions, our truths, were all tangled in the barbed wires of our past.

But this? This was easy for us.

I placed my head on his thigh, and he slowed his caress.

“Your grandfather wishes to see you.” I jumped up at the voice, hitting Theo’s chin with my head. He cursed and I rubbed my scalp, turning to find my grandfather’s guard in the arched doorway.

How much had he seen?

“M-My grandfather?”

I hadn’t met with my grandfather one-on-one since the night Theo had ruined my relationship with him.

I stood, leaving my book discarded on the soft velvet wingback, and followed the guard.

When we reached my grandfather’s office, the guard placed a hand on Theo’s chest, not allowing him to follow me through the doors.

“It’s okay,” I said. “Nothing bad is going to happen to me in my grandpa’s office.”

Theo’s frown deepened, his jaw clenched. Even I didn’t quite believe my words, but I followed my grandfather’s guard through the doors.

Grandfather’s guard deposited me like a package, then shut the door, leaving us alone.

“Edward Harlington is joining us soon,” Grandpa said, facing an expansive window. “I know you’re aware of his… predilections.”

Predilections, that was a nice way of phrasing it.

“You knew?”

Grandpa turned to his desk, unlocking a drawer. He pulled out photos, placing them on the desk. At first I was expecting them to be the ones from my box, assuming my mother had shared them, but they were of me and Theo, all from the last month.

Mostly in compromising positions, like kissing, there were even photos of us the night out on the Riviera.

My lips parted, but no words came out.

“There’s nothing I don’t know, Abigail.”

“Are you following me?” I finally managed.

“I would have been foolish not to, after what happened at the Swan Swell.” Grandpa folded his arms, watching me. “I know now you were not behind those photos, just like I know that it doesn’t really matter because