Page 42 of Daddy's Claim
I wasn’t ashamed to admit it was a pretty brilliant plan. And it was definitely working.
“You poor thing.” Reaching across the table, Rissa patted my hand. “I still can’t believe your father just traded you to thatmonster, like you were his product instead of his daughter. I think I would rather die.”
At her exaggerated shiver, I just barely resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “Michael isn’tthatbad. Once we stopped fighting all the time it’s actually been kind of… nice.”
“Really?” Interest shone in Rissa’s dark eyes. “Tell me more. You’re living with his cousin, right? And Cole’s new wife, what’s her name, Addison? Abigail?”
“Adele,” I provided, knowing perfectly well Rissa knew her name. “And yes. It’s a big house though, so other than meal times, we don’t really see that much of each other unless we want to.”
“What’s she like? Adaline.”
Without bothering to correct her, I shrugged. “Nice enough, I suppose. She used to be a cop, so she can be a bit of a hardass at times, but—”
Fuck. Taking in Rissa’s shocked expression, I mentally kicked myself. “She’s acop?”
“Former cop. But you can’t tell anyone. I shouldn’t have even told you. Please, Rissa, you have to keep that between the two of us.”
“Of course. You know all your secrets are safe with me.”
Guilt sat in my stomach like a lead weight, but I forced myself to smile. “Thanks. Anyways, like I said, it’s not as bad as I was thinking it would be. And the sex is…” Laughing, I waved a hand in front of my face.
“That good, huh? Tell me everything.”
Relieved to have moved on from my little slip up, I grinned and leaned forward. “You know the other night, when he caught me at the club after I snuck away?”
“Yes! You completely ditched me, you bitch.”
“I know. I’m sorry. It wasn’t really my choice, though.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Rissa rolled her eyes. “Daddy said it was time to go home.”
I prayed my face wasn’t as red as it felt. I would literally die if Rissa ever found out how close her statement was to the truth. “Anyway, he took me up to Luca’s VIP box and made me stand right in front of the windows while he fucked me.”
“Oh. My. God. So, like, peoplesawyou?”
“I don’t know. But they could have if they’d looked up at the box. It was the hottest fucking thing that has ever happened to me. I swear I came so hard I saw stars.”
“Now I hate you even more. I was on the dance floor getting groped by sweaty men with greasy hair while you were off getting the best orgasms of your life.”
“Sorry, not sorry.”
As we finished our meal, the guilt of what I’d let slip still sat in my gut, making it almost impossible for me to swallow, so I ended up taking most of my food home with me. To my surprise, Michael greeted me in the entryway, a wide grin stretched across his face as he approached me, and the guilt grew heavier with every step he took.
It’s not like Rissa will tell anyone. What am I so worried about?Doing my best to ignore the uncomfortable feelings, I stepped into my husband’s arms and let him hold me. It crossed my mind that perhaps I was starting to enjoy those spontaneous little touches too much, but I couldn’t find the strength to pull away when I was still feeling so awful about what had happened with Rissa.
“Did you enjoy your lunch, princess?”
“Yeah. It was nice.”
“Did something happen?” Pulling away, his eyes seemed to search every inch of me, as if he could see some physical manifestation of my inner turmoil. “You sound upset.”
“I’m fine. Just a headache. Too much wine with lunch, I guess.”
“Naughty girl.” Although the words were playful and his smile was back in place, the faux-scolding was still like a punch to the gut.
“I’m a grown ass woman, Michael,” I snapped, jerking away from him. “If I want to have a couple of glasses of wine with lunch, that’s my prerogative.”
Without waiting for a response, I stalked to the kitchen to place the leftovers I already knew I wouldn’t eat in the fridge. And if I felt a little stab of disappointment that Michael didn’t follow me, it was only because I was feeling sulky and a good, hard fucking would help. It wasnotbecause I felt like I deserved a spanking for telling Rissa about Adele and I was trying to poke my husband into giving me one so I would feel better.Absolutely not.