Broken Soul (Jackson Family 3)

I pierced her with a hard stare. She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She would soon learn to just accept my orders when they were given. I was trying to take care of her.

“Did you choose to buy clothes that are way too big for you?”

She didn’t answer. She stayed silent, but that was answer enough. I growled softly. “Inessa, answer me,” I commanded, a warning threading through my voice.

She flinched. God, I wanted to wring the neck of whoever had made her so fucking frightened. “No,” she whispered. “I did not choose those clothes.”

I gritted my teeth before I forced my jaw to relax. “Just as I thought,” I grunted. “You will go shopping.”

She shot me a challenging look. I met her gaze evenly. I knew she felt cornered. She was unsure and a bit frightened, but I would take care of her. She would have to get used to that.

“I’ve never purchased my own clothes,” she snidely informed me. I arched a single eyebrow at her, prodding her to get to her point. “What if I buy something slutty?”

I almost laughed. Shaking my head, I fed her a bite of my pancake. She chewed as I answered her. “Inessa, what you decide to wear has nothing to do with me. You wear what you are comfortable with wearing. The only time anyone needs to worry about what you’re wearing is if they say something I don’t agree with.”

Fear flashed in her eyes for a moment, but bravely, she didn’t back down. “And if they do?”

It pissed me off so much that she felt she would be punished for some other fucker’s mistakes.

I leaned in close to her as I fed her another bite of my pancake. “Then they have me to deal with, baby girl. No one—man or woman—will make you feel uncomfortable or bad for your clothing choices, do I make myself clear?”

She relaxed, nodding as a small smile tilted her lips. I kissed her sweet, syrupy lips, licking them clean and drawing a moan from the back of her throat before I stood. “Finish eating breakfast. Emmaline will show up shortly for your shopping date.” I dropped a kiss to the top of her head. “Take your phone with you, and text me if you need me.”

“What if you’re busy?” she blurted, seeming a bit afraid of the answer.

Baby girl, what the fuck did your family do to you?

I cupped her chin, tilting her head back so she was forced to meet my gaze. “What did I say?”

She cast her eyes down. I growled softly and gently shook her. “Look at me,” I roughly commanded. She snapped her eyes back up to mine, fear shining in their depths. I wanted to fucking kill whoever had hurt her and made her afraid of my touch. “What did I say, Inessa?”

“Text you if I need you,” she whispered.

I dropped a quick kiss to her lips and rubbed my fingers over her jaw. She relaxed. “Then follow my orders, little wife.”

With that, I left the room, heading to get an extremely late start on my day.