“I need your complete obedience in all matters,” I half-joke. Her mouth pops open, and I know she is about to start yelling at me, but I cut her off before it starts. “I’m joking. There is no catch.”
“Warren… I can’t do this. Where am I supposed to stay? I was paying for food and books with the leftover money. Without it, I have nothing.”
“You will stay with me, and I’ll give you anything else you need. You don’t have to worry about this. Just pack your stuff and let’s get out of here.”
For a long moment, she just stares at me, I don’t know if she expects me to say anything else and if she does, I don’t know what she wants me to say.
“You aren’t serious?” Her face twists into this strange look. It’s both fear and joy. “Wait, you are.”
“Let’s go, Harper. I hate that you’re back in the same situation as before, and on top of that, I need to do some investigating and find out who the hell did this.”
“You don’t have to help me. I can figure it out myself…” She stubbornly states, but I’m not having it. Grabbing her by the chin, I tilt her face to mine.
“I’ll do whatever I fucking want, and because I want to help, I will. Now, please, stop being stubborn, grab your shit and let’s leave.”
Harper’s lips form into a flat line, and it looks like she might fight me some more. My cock comes to life at the thought. I’ll gladly take her over my knee and spank her ass until there isn’t a lick of defiance left in her. Shockingly, she pulls from my hand, grabs her backpack off the couch, and slips her shoes on before walking back over to me.
“Ready,” she murmurs.
I nod and grab her hand, tugging her out of the room and closing the door behind us. We walk down to the car in silence, even though I’m boiling over with anger and a need to unleash it. As soon as I have Harper in the car, I pull my phone out and walk around and get into the driver’s side. Before I even start driving, I dial my father’s number.
“Son,” his voice meets my ear.
“Why did you do it? Just tell me,” I growl, strangling the steering wheel with my free hand.
“Do what?” He plays dumb, which only makes me burn hotter.
“I’m not a fucking idiot. How did you find out about Harper staying off-campus, and why the fuck did you go to the school with the information?”
Silence. Nothing but silence greets me, and that’s all the answer I need.
“Stay the fuck out of my shit and leave Harper alone.”
“Do you really think a girl like her is at a university like Blackthorn to get an education? She is there for one thing only, to find a rich guy and use him. Probably trying to get knocked up.” I press my phone closer to my ear.
“You know nothing about her,” I growl into the phone, hoping that Harper didn’t hear what he just said.
“I know enough. She’s no good for you. She is going to use you like she did before. Mark my words. She will destroy you. You deserve better, and if I can get rid of her, then I will.”
“Leave. Her. The. Fuck. Alone.” I project each word into the speaker with a harshness that I’m sure even he can feel.
I’m done fucking around. Harper is mine, as she always has been. I don’t care if her parents worked for mine. I don’t care about our past anymore. All I care about is us and moving forward. I finally have her in my hands again, and nothing is going to ruin this for us.
“You’re making a mistake, Warren. A huge fucking mistake.”
“No, you are. Leave her alone.” I hang up the phone and toss it over my shoulder, damn near swerving off the road in the process. Forcing air into my lungs, I focus all my attention on breathing, taking deep calming breaths. Looking over at Harper, I half expected her to be sank into her seat, fear in her hazel eyes, but that’s the last thing I see.
Instead, I see something that I never thought I would see in her eyes again. Love.
It’s such a profound feeling that it makes every other emotion inside of me dissolve into dust. Love? Could I love Harper again? Could I let go of everything, forget that she ever hurt me? I guess I’ll have to decide because going against my father won’t be easy, but it will be worth it if I get to have Harper.
18
Harper
Everything goes back to normal, or as normal as it was before. I return to classes thanks to Warren, who is actually making an effort not to be so territorial when it comes to his friends. It seems like everything is going well, considering we are pretty much starting all over again. Well, apart from all the fighting he is doing with his father. That isn’t making things easy.