Chapter 43
FORTY-THREE
COLE
A ll I do is blink as Lana leaves the table and heads back upstairs, my mind spinning from what just happened.
“I like her,” my mom says with a smile, and I frown at her.
My girl has just cut my dad apart with her words, and she likes her? How did that happen?
“Me too,” Gracie agrees. “She’s kinda scary and really puts Cole in his place.”
I groan, since my mom and sister don’t even know the half of it, and stare towards the door.
I have no idea what to do right now. Do I follow after my father, or after Lana?
My mom knows where my mind has gone because she pats me on the arm. “You should speak to your father. I have a feeling you two need to have a good talk. Don’t worry about Lana. We’ll check on her,” she says, gesturing between herself and my sister.
I nod and stand from my chair, our dinner forgotten from all of the dramatics, and head to my dad’s office, where I find him sitting behind his desk, pouring a glass of whiskey. I open the door wider and he looks up, nodding at me before he grabs a second glass and starts filling that one, too.
He slides it across the desk and waves for me to take a seat.
I sit down, staring at the man I’ve looked up to my entire life.
He may have been born into money, but he’s still worked hard every single day to get where he is, and I admire him for that.
He could have thrown his life and money away, but he didn’t.
He looks just like me, only older. His greying hair is short, but we share the same facial characteristics, eye color, and jawline.
“So, this Lana girl…” he starts, and I put my hand up to stop him.
“I swear, if you say a bad word against her, you won’t like the outcome,” I growl, and he smirks at me.
Fucking smirks.
“You do know she’s hiding something, right?” he asks, and I bristle.
I’m about to clap back at him, but I can see the concern in his eyes.
“I know,” I admit. “She’s told me a lot, but I know there are still things she’s holding back.”
He nods in understanding. “You love her.”
I mull the words over in my mind.
Love?
Do I love her?
“I have no idea,” I say with a chuckle. “I just know I want to keep her around.”
“Well then, I’m happy for you.”
I murmur a thank you and go to stand, only for him to say, “Stay another minute, would you? ”
I shift in my seat, waiting to hear what he has to say.
“What she said back there…” he begins, and I inwardly groan. This is the part where he starts berating me and remind me of where my future is head?—
“She was right.”
Wait, what?
Did I hear that right? Did he really just admit to Lana being right?
“I know I’ve been a lot harder on you than I am Gracie, and I know I’ve pushed you, a lot, to meet some pretty high expectations, but it’s only been because I want so badly to see you succeed.
But your… friend made me realize that maybe I haven’t gone about things the right way, and that maybe you’ll work things out on your own, without me constantly looking over your shoulder.
In the last couple of years, our relationship has stopped being about family and started being about business, much like it did between my father and me.
I hated it, and Lana’s words made me realize I’ve been doing the exact same thing to you as he did to me.
I want to get to know you as my son, Cole.
Rather than the man who will one day inherit my empire. ”
I’m… speechless.
Seriously, fucking speechless.
Never, in my entire life, did I imagine having this conversation with my father. I knew he and my grandfather had a rocky relationship, I just never knew the reason why.
“And what exactly does that look like?” I ask, since I have no idea what a normal relationship between us would look like.
“Well, I guess it starts with having you and Lana here for Thanksgiving without talking about the company, school, or your grades, and we build up to the bigger stuff over time. ”
I nod slowly, still in disbelief that this went the way it did. I honestly expected him to ream me out for my choice of company and kick us both out of the house. But not only did he not do that, he admitted to Lana speaking the truth and wants her to stay.
“So… we’re good?” I ask, standing from the chair. I need to go upstairs and check on Lana for myself.
“We’re good, and tell Lana I’m sorry, would you?”
“Yeah, I will,” I murmur before leaving the room and heading upstairs, expecting to find my mom and sister in my room with Lana. Only, when I open the door, I find Lana alone, sitting on the bed with her head in her hands.
“Hey,” I whisper and close the door behind me.
She glances up at me, her eyes searching mine, and I smile, wanting to ease whatever she’s feeling right now. I know it was hard for her to come here with me, and I don’t even think she realizes how much of a nervous wreck she was on the drive here.
“You okay?” I ask as I approach her. I stand in front of her and run my hand through her hair, detangling the strands with my fingers.
She hums. “Are you?”
“I am. My dad apologized for how he was. We talked, and I think we’re gonna be okay.”
“That’s good,” she whispers. “And are we gonna be okay?” The vulnerability swimming in her eyes threatens to bring me to my knees.
Goddamn this girl and everything she does to me.
She’s such a contradiction, but I think I’m finally finding my way past the barriers she keeps in place and getting closer to the real her.
“We’re good, little menace. It was hot, seeing you stand up for me like that,” I say with a smirk, and she bats her eyelashes at me.
“You think?” she purrs before standing so we’re chest to chest.
I tuck a piece of hair behind her ear before murmuring, “I do. It was all I could think about, getting back up here to see you—Hey, did my mom and sister come talk to you?”
She bites her lip and nods. “They did, but I sent them away. I just needed you, no one else.”
“You needed me, huh?”
She pushes me to sit down on the bed and I do, spreading my legs so she can stand between them.
“I’m beginning to think I do—I think I do need you,” she whispers, and my heart thunders in my chest.
I need her, too, more than she could ever imagine.
“And what do you need from me, baby?”
She slowly lowers herself down until she’s kneeling between my legs and her hands find my zipper. “I need you to be a good boy and teach me how to suck your dick, for starters.”
Fuck. Me.
How can one girl be so—Hang on a goddamn minute.
“ Teach you?” I ask, because surely I heard her wrong, but she smirks and nods her head.
“The first time I ever had a dick in my mouth was when I woke up bound to my bed and you shoved your cock down my throat. You should know I don’t get on my knees for anyone, Cole. It seems you’re the exception to that rule, so I’m gonna need you to direct me.”
The sound of the metal against metal of my zipper is the only noise in the room, and I hardly take a breath as she reaches inside my slacks to pull out my cock. I lift my ass from the bed, and she removes them and my briefs completely before focusing her attention on my dick.
Her fingers wrap around my length, and I bite my lip to keep from making a sound as her thumb brushes over the tip.
She looks up at me, her eyes filled with trepidation meeting mine, and I smile reassuringly. “It doesn’t matter what you do to me, little menace. I could come from this alone, so don’t ever be nervous with me.”
She chuckles softly before taking me into her mouth.
Her lips wrap around my head, and her tongue slides down my length, but she doesn’t go any further.
I remove my shirt and throw it towards the pile of clothes near her feet before brushing a stray piece of hair from her face and staring down at her in awe.
I was telling her the truth. It doesn’t matter what we do together, because I know anything with her will be amazing, simply because it’s her .
“So perfect,” I murmur softly, and she hums around me, the noise vibrating against me, and I curse under my breath, my hips involuntary lifting from the bed and making my cock slide farther into her mouth.
“Fuck. I’m sor?—”
My words die on the tip of my tongue as she hums again and takes even more of me, her hand wrapping around the base of my cock and twisting as she sucks.
“God, you’re sucking me like a pro. You sure you haven’t had practice?” I ask when I hit the back of her throat, and she doesn’t so much as blink an eye. She releases me with an audible pop and flutters her lashes at me.
“I think we both know I did well the last time your dick was in my mouth.”
She’s right about that, it was hot as hell. And looking back now, I internally cringe at me calling her a whore for using her mouth on the dean. Jesus, no wonder she was always so pissed at me when I used to say shit like that.
I don’t even get a chance to respond before she’s taking me to the back of her throat again and I groan, this time not bothering to try and keep still, or quiet, for that matter.
I buck from the bed, fucking her mouth in slow, measured thrusts, reveling in the way her eyes fill with tears. She looks so pretty, kneeling between my legs and worshipping my cock with her hot mouth.
Her free hand slides from my thigh and up to my chest before she scrapes her fingernails back down my stomach. I groan, loving the feeling of her touching me.
Her hand roams over my skin as she continues taking me in her mouth, sucking and slurping on my cock so good that she almost drives me to the edge far too soon. My hand finds her hair, and I pull her away from me, panting.
“Too soon,” I rasp. “You’re gonna make me come, baby. I need to be inside you when that happens.”
Laughter shines in her eyes as she looks up at me. “Not bad for my first real time, huh?”
“Not bad?” I ask with a chuckle, shaking my head. “Lana, that was fucking perfect. You’re fucking perfect.”
The humor from her eyes vanishes, instead replaced with something that looks like… awe? Appreciation? I don’t know, I just know that I like seeing that look on her face. It beats the scowls and glares that she used to give me.
We’ve come so far in such a short amount of time, and I’d like to think that with time, we can only get closer. That I can only get closer to the real her.
She stands on shaky legs, and my hands dart out, wrapping around her waist to steady her before pulling her closer to me. She stands between my legs, her fingers finding my hair and running through it, massaging my scalp in a way that makes me want to purr like a damn kitten.
I undress her slowly as she stands before me until she’s as naked as I am, her smooth skin on display and begging me to taste her all over.
“Lie down on the bed for me, baby.”
She snorts. “I don’t take orders from you.”
“I’d be more inclined to believe you if you weren’t just on your knees worshipping my dick like a good little girl, taking my directions ever so well. Now, get on the bed, little menace,” I say, my tone authoritative and leaving no room for argument—and to my surprise, it works.
She does as she’s told, lying down in the middle of the bed and looking to me to tell her what to do next.
Holy shit, she’s submitting to me.
The badass girl who’s never submitted to anyone is submitting to me , and I can’t wait to see what else I can get her to do. I can’t wait to see how far I can push her before she finally snaps and tries to take back control.