She was her own woman and she was a leader of his Pride too now.She had to come into her own for her own benefit—his helping in situations she could deal with would do her more ill than good.
The office was large and loaded with furniture that screeched the man’s wealth.Everything about it screamed quality.The heavy oak furniture was antique, and the walls loaded with books Ryan didn’t doubt were first edition.His chair was leather, mocked up to be a period piece.There were paintings on the wall he recognized as early classics, and a fireplace so large Ryan had to question what state the architect of the house thought they were in—California didn’t exactly require blazing hearths.
The days it wasn’t sunny weren’t exactly Arctic temperatures.
Joseph fit right in.Though he was at home in his study, he wore pant suits and a tailored shirt.He’d pulled the cuffs up to rest on his forearms and had gone without a tie.
He still managed to look ready for business, and maybe he was.Both Shawn and El had told him he worked predominantly from home, going into the city to handle things there on occasion, but most of his executives came to him rather than vice versa.
As he got to his feet and approached Ryan’s mate, he saw the glint of a discreet but expensive Patek Philippe and a ring on his other pinkie finger.
It was an odd choice.
Quite delicate, feminine in a sense.But large enough for even the manicured digits of a wealthy man.
He wasn’t sure why it caught his attention, it just did.
“El?”Joseph repeated, sounding a little aggravated now.
Even though he didn’t like the man, he could empathize.El was taking a hell of a long time to confront the matter.
“I’m a Shifter.”
The words were spoken quietly, but Joseph reacted as though he’d been hit by a bullet.He jolted, staggering a step backward and at the wrong angle so he didn’t collapse into his chair but against the side of his desk.
“Excuse me?”
She turned her gaze from the window, and her eyes were cold.So brittle it hurt Ryan to see.
This wasn’t his El.She wasn’t brittle.She was warm and open.Not cold and closed.Yet here he saw a side of her that he knew she’d created to protect herself from her family.
What must it be like to need that shield with those you were supposed to love, who were supposed to love you in return?
Leilani, for all she drove him insane, loved him.He never doubted that.And Trip’s jailbird of a dad adored him—Trip walked on fucking water as far as Robert was concerned.
Marc’s mom?The Duke’s mistress?Had only ever whored herself to keep Marc safe.
Yeah, as a Triad, they were surrounded by love from their family units.It was just El who was on the outside looking in; a fact that hurt him more than he could say.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Joseph said, sounding so unconvincing Ryan couldn’t withhold his snort.
Joseph didn’t even have it within him to flash Ryan a glare.He held out his hands and cupped El’s shoulders.She stiffened in his arms, and a flash of pain glanced over her father’s face.
“El.”
Her name was a whisper on Joseph’s lips.
“What?”She swallowed, kept her gaze cast away from him, like she had something to be ashamed of—a notion that had Ryan’s left eye twitching in irritation.
She had nothing to be ashamed of.Nothing whatsoever.
“Who’s my mother?”
Joseph stiffened further and he closed his eyes.“Annabel is your mother.”
Anger rushed through El.Ryan saw it whip through her, literally putting her back up.She bristled, her hair seeming to come alight with the energy the powerful emotion gave her.
“You dare say that to me?”she spat, and her father took a step back.He was scared.
