I exhale heavily.
This is what she does.
She’s fleeing. I showed her how deep my primal instincts to protect her run and she believes it’s too much for her. Except I know the truth, and deep down so does she. She would have never let me inside her flat without telling her family that someone follows her everywhere if she didn’t like it. If that wasn’t what she craved. She would have never let me touch her like I did if her darkness didn’t writhe with pleasure at my presence.
And it’s time I show her how good we will be together.
No more hiding behind a mask. No more watching from the shadows.
Lucie has been mine for months.
It’s time I claim what’s mine.
SIXTEEN
LUCIE
Mina downplayed her wealth when she said her family owns acabinby Loch Lomond. I was expecting a rustic, unassuming, one or two-bedrooms townhouse.
Thecabindoes have a rustic feel to it, but it’s clearly a modern structure with a wooden facade to give it a chalet vibe. And it’s literally a ten-bedroom mansion with a massive deck terrace overlooking Loch Lomond, with a heated pool emitting vapours that’s calling my name. I can’t wait to dip into it after our study session. Even the threat of rain isn’t enough to deter me. And in case it does rain too hard, each bedroom is equipped with an infra-red sauna and a jacuzzi. Planted on a large property with a lush forest, and a perfect view of a meadow close by, it’s breathtaking.
“Can I live here forever?” I ask Mina wistfully.
“Sure. If you want to buy it from Jay and I for sixteen million.”
I whistle under my breath and she chuckles, before pulling her lower lip in between her teeth. “I come from a very powerful Indian family.” She pauses. “The Chadha’s.”
I frown. “Of New-York?”
She nods and I wistle low under my breath.
“You know my family?”
“I knowofyour family. Everyone does.”
They’re a powerful business family. The Chadhas own everything in New-York. The Patriarch is a real-estate mogul said to rule with an iron-fist.
“This conversation is going to need wine,” she says as she saunters to the state-of-the-art kitchen with its own wine cellar behind tall glass doors. She uncorks a bottle and pours us a glass each before she continues, sighing deeply.
“My father… Appearance is everything to him. Jay’s sexuality, it’s a problem for him. Since we were born, we’ve been promised for marriage. Obviously, Jay refused and left.”
“I’m so sorry, Mina.”
She shrugs and takes a sip. I guess I was also a bargaining chip. Dante married me off for his own gain. I never thought about it this way but weeks away have opened my eyes. I’m glad he apologised. Maybe I could ask him to do it again just so I can receive it properly this time.
Mina looks pained and I wait patiently, letting her tell me—or not—what she’s so scared of. “Jay was his heir, but with his refusal to conform, my dad cut him off. I pay for a part of his tuition and my dad lets me because I agreed to marry who he wants.”
She winces and dread falls at the pit of my stomach.
“Who?”
“The Irish mob boss’s son. We’re engaged actually.”
My jaw drops. “Shit. I’m so sorry. What about Josh?”
“Josh’s just a fling. I thought if I slept around, my fiancé would hear about it and wouldn’t want me.” She scoffs.
“But he doesn’t care,” I supply. Of course he doesn’t. Whatever the deal is with Mina’s father, it’s more important than a virgin wife.
