“Jesus, pops. She’s sixteen! I’m. Not. A Fucking. Pedophile.”
“I never said you were, but I also know firsthand how someone like her can be hard to resist. She’d make you throw away your morals and your goddamn soul for just a little taste and all she’d have to do is whisper,yes.”
“Bullshit.”
“So you don’t want her?” The knowing glow in his eyes didn’t need an answer. “You’re only twenty-two and still a kid yourself. I know what you’re thinking.”
He watched me, dangling the bait. He was a lot more calculating and patient than I was. I sighed and gave in. “What am I thinking?”
“You’re wondering just how far you could push the boundaries that keep you separated before your conscience gets the better of you.”
“Wrong.”
“How so?”
“Because I’m wondering how many of her boundaries I could push before I destroy her.” He swore and shoved his hand through his hair when I gave him the answer he sought.
I wanted her.
My mind was made up, and I wasn’t changing it. Not for him, her father… or her.
“You can’t have her, son.”
“It’s too late to stop me.”
“You are not going to pursue her, Angeles.” He used my full name to let me know he was serious.
“Maybe not today.” I met his stare. “But she’s mine, pops.”
He sighed. “At least allow her to grow up. She’s got years before she’ll be ready to be a lady of this life. Even then, Theo may kill you before he allows you to take her.”
“When I take her,” I said, letting him know I would take her with or without Theo’s approval, “the first thing I’m exorcising from her mind is her father.”
“Meaning?”
“She’s too dependent on him.”
“She’s sixteen,” he reminded me unnecessarily. I was well aware of her age. It was the only thing that has held me back.
“I meant her emotional dependence on him. The only man she’ll need to take orders from is me.”
My father left knowing he couldn’t persuade me onto some righteous path. I holed myself in my room until the sound of her laughter drew me out again. Erin left hours ago. She should have been alone.
I was drawn to the guest room she had turned into her own since everything in that room belonged to her… right down to the racy boy shorts and tiny tops she liked to wear when her father wasn’t around.
I didn’t bother to knock. I twisted the knob and pushed open the door. If the door had been locked, I would have broken the fucking thing down.
She watched with wide eyes as I entered. After a brief glance her way, I searched the room. If I had taken in the sight of her half-naked in tiny shorts and tank in the middle of her ruffled lime green and black sheets, I would have lost it.
“What are you doing here?”
“I live here.”
“Well, why are you barging inmyroom?”
“It’s a guest room, which means it belongs to whatever person who temporarily inhabits the room. Spreading your shit around does not make it yours,” I lied.
Pain appeared in her sensual brown eyes. “Get out.”
“In a minute.” I ventured deeper inside as she pressed her thighs together and eyed me. She wasn’t even aware of the cues she gave off. She wanted me. Maybe even as much as I needed her. The thought had me wanting to climb right into that bed with her and do things that were illegal. “Who is in here with you?”
“Excuse me?”
“I heard you laughing.”
“And that means someone is in here with me?”
I’d had enough of her games. I stalked her, which made her scramble to get away from me. I was too quick for the Sprite. With one hand, I grabbed the front of her pathetic excuse for a shirt and lifted her in the air. I held her safely out of the way as I used my other arm to rip the mattress and box springs beneath it away.
There was nothing underneath it but dust.
“Have you lost your mind?” She struggled to free herself from my hold. She even growled, and I found it to be the cutest sound. I set her down on her feet and ignored her as she cursed. I searched her closet full of clothes and even knocked some from the hangers. “Satisfied?”
“Why were you laughing?”
She gestured to the TV she hadn’t had before I left and smirked. She’d been using the TV in the living room since she didn’t have a personal one. She must have convinced her father to install one while I was gone. I was still high off being angry, so I pushed my body into her smaller one. I wasn’t above intimidation to get the reaction I wanted.
“Move,” she warned.
“What will you do?”
She cocked her head and snorted just before she brought her knee up. Lucky for me, I was quicker. I gripped her underneath the offending knee and wrapped her leg around my waist. Because we were standing in the middle of the fucking room, the only leverage I had to offer her was my hand.