Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 127201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127201 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
I shake my head, pulling her back against my chest, trying to console her. “No, baby. I don’t want you worrying about that. We have enough to prove that you were assaulted and kidnapped, and that any actions I took were to save your life. Even if those actions might have been particularly . . . brutal.”
She nods, more than agreeing with my assessment of how her life-saving went down, but then her brows furrow, and her gaze shifts back to mine. “Wait. How do we have proof that he assaulted and kidnapped me? Isn’t it just my word against his? Nobody else was there.”
Ahhh fuck.
“We have got . . . fuck.”
“We’ve got what?” she pushes, a deep suspicion in her eyes.
“We’ve got surveillance on your apartment complex,” I finally admit. “More specifically, inside your apartment.”
Tilly sucks in a breath, her eyes wide. “You . . . What?”
“The good news is we have video footage of Jordan breaking into your apartment, trashing it, and then assaulting you before dragging you out of there. Right down to the moment he shoves you in the trunk of his car. The bad news is, you now know how fucking far I’d go to protect you.”
“Jesus fucking Christ.”
Tilly pulls off my lap, scootching off the edge of the bed and getting to her feet before pacing the length of my bedroom. “You put cameras in my home?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“After you had me look into that asshole who’d been making those accounts online,” I explain. “He hadn’t just been trolling you online and posting that video. I did a deep dive and found evidence that he had been following you. There were pictures of you on the street, with Zeph, on campus. I wanted to make sure there was nothing more to it, so I had cameras installed outside your building, the hallway outside your door, and inside your apartment.”
Tilly just gapes at me, her mouth opening and closing as she tries to figure out which insult to hurl at me. “You just . . . What?” she demands, shaking her head. “First off, that guy online was Jordan. He bragged about it while he had me hanging from a fucking chain, but more than that, you had no business not telling me that you’d found pictures of him following me. That’s not cool. You should have told me. I could have protected myself better.”
“I didn’t want you scared, Tilly. I was monitoring the situation, but yes, in hindsight, you are right. I should have told you. I was wrong for that.”
She nods as though not having expected me to give in and admit my wrongdoings, but that’s the difference between a man and a boy. I’m not here to argue with her, despite how fucking gorgeous she is when she’s angry.
“Okay. Fine. I mean, it’s not fine, but . . . You know,” she says, glancing away. “But this doesn’t make it okay. You can’t just go around bugging my apartment with cameras. That’s fifty shades of fucked up. Were you just watching me all day, jerking off like a happy little clam, thinking you were getting away with something?”
“It’s not like that,” I explain. “Did the idea of seeing you any time I wanted do something for me? Absolutely. Did I get myself off watching you? Yeah, I won’t deny that. But that wasn’t my intention. I wanted to protect you, and I only checked in every now and then. I wasn’t sitting in a fucking dark room, madly jerking off for hours if that’s what you’re thinking.”
“I . . . I don’t even know how to respond to that.”
A smile pulls across my lips, and I climb out of bed before striding across my room, her heated gaze locked on mine with every step I take. I walk right into her, my arms wrapping around her waist as I pull her in against me. “You say thank you for being a fucked-up asshole who’ll go above and beyond to not only protect you but fuck you into oblivion any time you want.”
Tilly tries to fight a smirk, but it stretches across her face anyway. “It really is fucked up.”
“Mm-hmm. And now you know how far I’ll go.”
“You’re in love with me, Caesar Di Rozé.”
I nod, letting out a breath. “I’m aware.”
“You’re obsessed.”
“Yeah.”
She grins. “You jerk off like a crazed stalker watching me through your little phone.”
I shake my head, but all I can do is grin back at her. “Have you had enough yet?”
“Not even close,” she tells me, pulling out of my arms and stepping around me before limping across the room and reaching for the bathroom door. Only she stops at the very last second and glances back at me, those bright eyes shining like diamonds. “Oh, and just so you know, I fully intend to hold it over your head for the rest of our lives.”