“Thanks for dinner, Mom,” Prince was saying behind me.
“That’s quite alright, darling,” she murmured. “We know how he can be. I’m sorry she had to see that, though. Be sure you bring her back soon. I’ll keep him under control.” Prince chuckled, and then I felt his hand at my back as he guided me to the stairs.
“Goodbye, Sasha,” Eleanor said as I turned to say farewell. I was suddenly mortified at my outburst. “It was an absolute treat to meet you, darling. You’re going to fit right into our family.” She winked. “I mean that sincerely.” I nodded again, still not trusting my voice.
By the time we were back in the car and moving off down the wide drive out of the estate, adrenalin was still buzzing through my veins.
“You okay?” Prince asked, taking my hand in his and setting it on his thigh. I was sure my fingers were icy to the touch.
“Yes,” I managed to get out. As the anger ebbed, panic replaced it.What have I done?I’d just been introduced to one of the most powerful men in the city, the father of my fiancé, and I’d screamed insults at him.
“You were fucking incredible back there,” he said softly, keeping his eyes on the road ahead of us. I looked at him in surprise.
“You’re not upset with me?”
“Oh, Sweetness, I couldn’t be prouder.” He dropped his hand over mine and squeezed gently. We drove in silence for a time, lost in our thoughts, and then he went on. “Nobody’s ever stood up for me like that before.” I felt my brow furrow. “Not even my mother,” he added.
That surprised me even more. “But she…she obviously loves you.”
“Sure she does,” he agreed. “But I guess she’s always assumed we’d settle our differences on our own.”
I gave a small snort. “He’s not the kind of man who’d ever do that,” I said. I’d barely spent an hour with the man, and I knew that much.
“No. He’s not,” Prince agreed. We drove a little longer, and I sensed he was deep in thought. That wasn’t surprising – I was too.
“I’m sorry about the things he said to you,” he said at last. The lights around us were growing brighter, and I knew we were minutes from home. “You didn’t deserve that. I should have stopped him sooner.”
I shook my head. “It didn’t bother me,” I said. “He barely knows me. He was just trying to bait you. I could see that much. But what he said about you…that was unforgivable. You’re his son. His flesh and blood. How could he treat you that way?” I may have had a fucked-up childhood, but there’d never been a time when my own family turned on me that way. At the end of the day, we were all that we had.
“I’m used to it,” he muttered. I didn’t believe him. Things like that never stopped hurting your heart. “He shouldn’t have put his hands on you.” Something in his voice hinted at danger. “If I’d known—”
“How could you have known? I wasn’t going to broadcast it.” Drew Walker was a jerk.
“I should have guessed,” he said. “It’s not as if it’s the first time.”
I frowned. “He’s done it before?”
“For as long as I can remember.”
“Hits on your girlfriends?” I was astonished.
“Yup. Sometimes it works too.” His tone was neutral, but that didn’t make it better.
“I can’t believe that!” My head was reeling. What kind of woman hooks up with her boyfriend’s father? Worse yet, what kind of man pursues his son’s girlfriends? It was just too twisted.
“I guess it’s my own fault,” he brushed it off. “Spent too much time dating the kind of woman who puts a price tag on a man. My father’s a big-ticket item.”
His words made me shrink into my seat. There was a million-dollar price tag hanging off our relationship right now. And as much as I wished I could just brush it aside and tell him I didn’t want the money, I didn’t have that luxury. Emilio’s life depended on it.
The silence felt heavy for a while until he spoke again.
“What did you mean by that…knowing men like him?” he changed the subject. I almost felt relieved until I realized where this was heading.
I stayed silent.
“Sasha?” He looked at me. “What did you mean by men who prey on little girls?”
My breath froze in my lungs.Where do I start?Dive in head-first. It’s the only way. “My foster father raped me when I was 12,” I said, the words coming out in a rush.
