Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107660 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 538(@200wpm)___ 431(@250wpm)___ 359(@300wpm)
“No,” Rose answered. “Corbin did business with my father and became his protégé, of sorts. When my father passed, he made Corbin my guardian.”
My gaze bounced between them, noticing the age difference. Not that it was obvious. Corbin had a youthful smile, but it also created deep grooves beside his eyes. Rose’s confidence added the illusion of years, but I saw her youth. Sometimes people assumed I was older than my twenty-five years because of the way I ran a board room. Despite my lack of confidence in the club, I had it in spades everywhere else. I just wished I wore it as well as her and didn’t feel so exhausted by it.
Shaking off the thought, I replayed her answer and paused. “So, Corbin raised you?” I asked, wincing as soon as the question left my mouth. It didn’t make sense that he would raise her and also be her fiancé, but I blamed the long walk to the room wearing down my critical thinking skills.
Lucian snorted behind me. I went to glare, but Corbin’s rolled eyes and groan distracted me. Meanwhile, Rose laughed.
“Hardly,” Rose responded once she collected herself. “I was a teenager when my father passed. Corbin and his ex-wife didn’t know what to do with me, so he gave into her demands and sent me away to boarding school and paid my way through college with very minimal communication. But,” she started, her mood changing to something more upbeat, proud, and more than a little seductive. “When I came back after college to claim my father’s empire, I took full advantage of his guardianship and wormed my way into his life until he couldn’t live without me.”
“I’m so sorry about your dad.”
Rose shrugged, brushing it aside.
Corbin stretched his arm along the back of the couch and wrapped his hand around Rose’s neck. It was a move of dominance, but also comfort—like he knew the first part of the story caused her distress. Or maybe he had at one point.
I imagined the scenario—the young woman making an older man notice her. Making an older man, who was in charge of caring for her, see her as a woman.
It was hot for lack of better words.
Very, very hot.
“So, Lucian,” Corbin started as an aside, “have you tired of Emily and now you’re looking for a replacement?”
“Yeah, right,” I barked a laugh, intervening, ignoring the sting of jealousy over hearing her name. “If I was here with Lucian as anything other than a guest who is observing, I sure as shit would be more than a replacement. I’d be the top and only pick for someone.”
Corbin raised his brow with a look toward Lucian that said, goddamn, you got your hands full with this one. And it didn’t bother me. It didn’t make me want to pull back and retract my words because of this man’s reaction to a more forward side of me.
“This is who Lucian requested to come as an observer tonight. I made sure she signed an NDA,” Corbin explained to Rose.
“So, you don’t have any plans to participate with Lucian?” asked Rose, her brows pinched tight.
I hesitated, remembering the last room we saw with the woman bent over the bench. When I arrived, I had no plans to do anything with Lucian, but after watching that scene, I couldn’t help but wonder.
“I don’t think Aspen has any intention of playing tonight,” Lucian answered for me.
“So, if you and Lucian aren’t here as partners, then how did you two meet?” Rose asked.
I considered lying or creating a less complicated story for his friends, but ended up going for bold honesty. “Lucian Daire is currently purchasing half of my family’s company and attempting to steal the rest from me before I can steal the rest from him.”
The honest confession provided a barrier of relief, reminding me of the man I came with. Reminding me who Lucian truly was outside of the man who guided me through the confusion of hallways, introducing me to a whole new world.
Lines blurred between our animosity and my curiosity, and I didn’t quite know where to go from that because I didn’t know what lay on the other side of my curiosity, but I didn’t know what lay on the side of my animosity either.
“Do you often come to private clubs with someone who is trying to steal your company?” Rose asked, a hint of humor in her raised brow.
Since I’d never been to a club like this before, I struggled to find an answer, but her direct question encouraged me to continue my blunt honesty.
Hell, maybe viewing someone else’s reaction to my situation would give me insight to where I should even start in understanding it. Maybe their faces would screw up in shock and affirm how absolutely insane I was to even consider letting Lucian take me anywhere, let alone touch me. Or maybe they would accept it, not react, and give confirmation that my curiosity wasn’t as ludicrous as I imagined, like when Lucian talked about us and how it made me feel less alone.