CHAPTER 13
Sutton
I stared at Dad’s new cottage and rubbed at my temples.
When Dominic, Leon, and Theo decided they wanted something, they didn’t give it a cooling off period.
No twenty-four hour pauses for the men with no spending limits.
I’d almost laughed when Dominic announced I was going to move in with them.
When I realized he wasn’t joking and made it clear I’d never leave my dad behind, he made a single call and informed me that the guest cottage on their property would be prepared for Dad within the hour.
I’d had to race home to beat the movers.
I’d barely informed Dad about the sudden change when the movers came in and started packing things.
It was insane. Dad and I weren’t attached to the house we rented but it was strange to have your entire world uprooted in a single day.
It was scary to know that some people had enough money to do that, to just snap their fingers and have people less fortunate than them moved around like game pieces.
Dad had been puzzled at first but that had quickly turned into concern when I told him about the coming changes to his healthcare.
He knew how much the cheap treatments and doctors cost, so the idea of someone paying for good doctors to treat him was questionable.
He kept asking me if I was sure I was just going to be the nanny.
It was mortifying to know I’d volunteered to give them my body for the cost of his health.
I couldn’t stand the idea of him thinking I was anything like my mom but using my body to get what I wanted was exactly what Mom would’ve done.
Only she wouldn’t have done it to help anyone else. Just herself.
I hugged myself tight as I watched the movers unpack for Dad while he supervised.
The guest house was nicer than the home we’d just abandoned and much bigger.
Unfortunately, it only had one bedroom so I didn’t even bother asking if I could stay there with him.
I had a feeling I knew the answer anyway.
I was standing outside, watching Dad through the huge windows at the front of the house. They practically glowed in the dark back yard. I made a note to install curtains for him so he didn’t flash everyone.
The air around me changed and I glanced to my left and watched Theo step out of the trees. I smiled at him and tried to hide a yawn.
He stood beside me and watched my dad with me.
“Why aren’t you in there with him?”
I looked up at him and for a second I felt so weak and overwhelmed that I just wanted him to hold me.
“He, um, kicked me out. I guess I was fussing over him and he didn’t appreciate it. I just worry about him. I won’t be here to help him set up his nebulizer in the middle of the night now so I need to make sure he has everything in an easy to reach spot, but he said I was making him crazy.”
Theo pulled out his phone and tapped a few buttons before holding it out to me.
“There are cameras outside the house and sensors inside. As long as his movements seem normal and there are no loud sounds, the sensors won’t go off. A fall would alert me instantly and there are guards on duty who’d be in the house in less than two minutes. He’s safe, Sutton.”
I was staring. I knew it was rude but I couldn’t look away or close my mouth. I wasn’t used to anyone meeting my level of worry about my dad and exceeding my expectations. The instant weight it took off my shoulders was so overwhelming I threw myself into Theo and hugged him tight.
“Thank you, Theo. Thank you so much.” I realized he wasn’t hugging me back and cringed. “I’m so—”
His arms tightened around me and his big body heaved with a deep sigh before he rested his chin on my head.
“You’re welcome.”
I didn’t want to pull away, maybe ever, but I forced myself to.
Instead of looking up at him I looked back towards the guest cottage and watched Dad settle on his new sofa.
One of the movers appeared with a glass of amber liquid for him and I was moving towards the house before I even knew I was going to.
“He can’t drink on his medicine. What is he thinking?”
Theo caught my arm and pulled me back to his side.
“Look at him.”
I did and what I saw made me go a little weak in the knees. Dad looked at peace as he sipped his alcohol. For the first time in longer than I wanted to remember, Dad looked like he was melting into the couch with a big smile on his face.
“Oh.”
“I looked up his condition and the medicine he takes. One glass of whiskey won’t hurt him. I promise.”
My heart thumped harder.
“You looked it up?”
“Well...yeah.”
“I normally do that stuff alone. There’s no one else.
Just me and Dad. As much as I love reading and learning, all the medical stuff is so hard for me to make sense of.
” I turned to face him and found him watching me.
The intensity of his gaze felt like a weighted blanket slipping over my body.
Maybe it should’ve freaked me out, the way he watched me and researched things about me, but I didn’t feel freaked out.
I felt comforted, like maybe I could let go of the reins a little bit without panicking that everything would fall apart.
“You’re a little strange, aren’t you, Sutton?”
I nearly choked on my laugh.
“I was just thinking the same thing about you. Not in a bad way!”
He nodded and tilted his head, studying me.
“I know you don’t find it bad. Which is what makes you strange. The way I am, the…oddness…it freaks people out. You’re not scared of me, though.”
I reached out and touched his arm.
“Those other people sound like fools.”
“No. They have every right to be scared of me. It’s their lizard brain telling them danger is near.” He inched closer. “Why aren’t you scared?”
I could tell he was genuinely confused by it and it made me hurt for him that he couldn’t understand why I liked him. I could understand people being concerned over him but if they talked to him, they’d understand that he was a sweetie. I rested my hand over his heart and smiled up at him.
“You’d never hurt me.”
He shuddered and pressed his hand over mine. “Never.”
“So why would I be afraid of you?”
“I’m different. I don’t function like normal people. I obsess and consume.” He brought his other hand up and picked up a strand of my hair. “It’s never happened with a woman before. I don’t know how far I’ll go, Sutton.”
There was probably something majorly wrong with me. Maybe if I had better insurance, I’d visit a therapist and work on it, but the things Theo was saying to warn me were making me burn with need the same way Dominic had on the observation deck.
“I’m still not afraid of you, Theo.”
His fingers tightened on that strand of hair.
“I want this.”
He had me under his spell. In the back of my brain, I was feeling very concerned about what I was doing.
It felt like I was on the edge of falling into something bigger than I could handle.
At the same time, I shucked away my own accountability by telling myself I’d basically signed up to let them do what they wanted to me.
As a means of getting Dad the care he deserved.
It was pathetic of me to not be able to admit I wanted the things being held out for me to take.
I swallowed and tilted my head.
“You can have it.”
Theo moved even closer, until our bodies were sharing one small patch of grass.
He was silent as he pulled a knife from his pocket and flicked it open.
He cupped the side of my neck with his hand and stopped breathing as he brought the knife close to my skin and cut the tiny chunk of hair.
The knife disappeared and then he brought my hair up to his nose and inhaled deeply.
The shiver that went through him made me breathe harder.
He was so affected by me. I’d never experienced anything like it.
A sudden thought occurred to me.
“Are there cameras everywhere?”
He shoved my hair into his pocket and stepped back, letting his hand fall away from my neck. He seemed nervous and that was the answer I needed.
“In my bedroom?”
He jerked his head from side to side.
“No. No bedrooms, no bathrooms. I’ll respect your personal space as much as I can, Sutton.”
“Show me?” I looked at the pocket that my hair wasn’t in. “On your phone.”
He did just that, staying still and silent as he showed me the live feed. I felt him shudder again when he showed me the cameras which captured the two of us. I noted where the cameras were and smiled when he finished and put his phone away.
“Okay.”
Theo frowned.
“Okay?”
I nodded.
“I just wanted to know where to smile when I’m walking around.”
He let out a groan and twisted away from me with his hands fisted on top of his head.
“Fuck.”
I hadn’t meant to torment him but I quickly understood I had.
He liked watching and my interest in it probably made him feel like I was giving him permission to push those boundaries.
He’d sounded anxious when he’d admitted he didn’t know how far he’d go.
There really was something wrong with me, though, because I wanted him to watch me.
I’d never once considered that kind of thing before this but Theo made me feel strange, not like my normal self at all. I didn’t want to question it.
“Go to bed, Sutton.” He barked the command at me but I didn’t take offense to it.
“Okay, Theo.” I smiled at him before checking on Dad once more and walking back toward the house.
I knew he was watching me. I knew I was pushing him when I looked up at the cameras with shy glances and smiles. By the time I got to my room in their massive house, I was shaking with desire. It took every bit of my self-control to not dive into the bed and touch myself.