Page 68 of Tangled Roses
“Is this what you want?” He whispers, as his wicked mouth hovers dangerously close to mine and I swallow hard.
“You know it is.”
He edges my panties aside and rubs his thumb on my clit and says huskily, “Do you want me to fuck you in this car? To mess up your appearance and leave you in no doubt about my interest in you. To walk beside me with my cum in your panties, leaking down your thighs as you make pleasant conversation with senators and public figures.”
“No.” I stare at him defiantly and whisper, “I don’t want to go at all. Tell your driver to turn the car around, Arman, and fuck me senseless all night instead.”
This time he laughs out loud as he removes his hand from my underwear and leans back against the seat.
“One hour is all it will take, and then I’ll take you up on your inviting offer.”
“You’re a sadist.” I grumble and he chuckles softly.
I change the subject to calm my racing heart and say casually, “There is no mention of my father in gran’s diaries. I’m guessing Marsha never told her.”
“She was probably ashamed.” He replies flippantly, and I hate how that makes me feel.
“Ashamed?”
My voice quivers and he grasps my hand and says softly, “Think about it, malysh. Teenage pregnancies were frowned upon more than they are now and she was probably ashamed of her behavior, not of you.”
“If you say so, but I’m struggling with this whole abandonment thing. I mean–” I take a deep breath. “She didn’t want me. That’s obvious, which is why her behavior in your office was so strange. She could have shrugged and told me to go to hell, but she was genuinely afraid. Did that strike you as odd, Arman, because it did me?”
“It did.”
“So, whoever my father was, or is, could be devastating if it came out, or he might be a criminal, violent, or someone of power who wouldn’t look kindly on a bastard child sullying his reputation.”
“It may be any of those things.” He shrugs. “My brother is investigating the school Marsha went to. I’m convinced that this entire mystery began there and somehow the women are connected. What I don’t know is where my father fits in and I hope to God he wasn’t involved with Marsha intimately because–”
He doesn’t need to complete his sentence and I gasp. “You don’t think–”
Arman grips my hand and laces his fingers with mine.
“I think of every possibility, Ellie, and the only way we can rule my father out of your life is to take a DNA test.”
“Arman!” My eyes fill with tears because his point is clear.
What if his father is also mine?
My world explodes into a million pieces as the devastating truth of my situation hits me hard. Is Arman my half brother? Because if he is, our souls have been damned to hell.
CHAPTER 42
ARMAN
As lightbulb moments go, I can’t believe I never saw it before. Marsha knew my father, and nothing can alter that fact. She was also a school friend of Veronica Scott-Stanley, which means they may have met him in Switzerland. I’m aware he worked there after college, studying banking as part of his business education and I never thought anything of it.
My heart thumps with desperation because I must face the fact that Ellie might be my half sister and the connection we share may be because of that. Have I done the unthinkable and fucked a family member? Have I confused lust and obsession with family? I hate what we may have done, but even more I hate knowing it could be the end of us.
I don’t miss that she gently removes her hand from mine and shifts away, creating distance between us. She obviously feels it too and I hear the emotion in my voice as I whisper, “We will take the test in the morning. “
“Yes.” Her voice shakes. “That’s a good plan but–” She hesitates and I note the quiver in her voice as she whispers tearfully, “I couldn’t bear it if we’re related because then I would lose you.”
I have no answer to that. There is nothing I can say to comfort her because she’s right. She would lose me because I would make certain that we are never alone together again. I can’t be trusted around her and my heart aches as I contemplate it becoming a reality. I can’t lose Ellie, not when I’ve just found her and yet fate can deliver a cruel hand on occasion, and I must hope that hand isn’t mine.
We make our way into the hotel where the fundraiser is taking place after having agreed its best if Ellie accompanies me as my assistant. No one knows to the contrary and if shit does become real, nobody would discover our shame.
I am emotionally screwed because I want Ellie so much it shocks me. I’ve never wanted anyone before and I’m second guessing my reason for that now. Is our bond one of family, not lustful desire? I hover around the word love because I don’t know what it means. I’ve heard of it but never understood its meaning before. I thought my father loved my mother, but how could he? He apparently loved two women and if that is love, I want no part of it.