Chapter Sixteen—Blake
I lean back in the chair in the office, staring at the door. I can hear the blood rushing in my ears, my heart thumping hard in my chest as I focus on what needs to be done here.
The moment I heard whispers about what she’s been up to, I knew they were true. I don’t know what it is about Sophia, but I’ve known she was trouble since the moment I laid eyes on her. If I’d been smart, I would have used that to shut down everything going on between us, but my stupid ass had been so drawn to her that I couldn’t keep my hands to myself.
And now, she’s working against me. At least, that’s what I think. Patricio came to me a few days ago to warn me that some of the staff noticed her snooping around the office and asking regulars questions, which might have gone without remark if it had been anyone else, but after what I told her, I can’t treat it as innocent.
She wants to know more about my world. I should have known she would push it further. She’s never seemed satisfied with the bare minimum, always searching for more. It's why she still has my thistle pin, even though I should have kicked her ass for taking it from me. Anyone else who stole from me would have paid the price in pain, but her? With her, the rules are different.
And that’s dangerous for me.
Finally, the door to the office opens, and Sophia stands there before me. Her eyes flash with fear— rightly so—when she sees me sitting there.
"Close the door," I order her, and she does as she’s told. Seeing her obey me so easily is almost distracting. It's hard not to think about the way she gave in to me outside in the alleyway, when we fucked a couple of weeks ago. But that’s not what tonight is about.
"What is this about?" she demands defiantly, crossing her arms over her chest. I almost have to admire her attitude. She must know I’m on to her, but she’s still coming in here like she’s the one calling the shots.
I tip my head to the side. "You really don’t know?"
"No, I don’t," she fires back. "And I have a couple of tables out there that need clearing, so if we could just—"
"You’ve been snooping, haven’t you?"
She falls silent. For a moment, I can tell I’ve thrown her, but she quickly covers it up.
"What are you talking about?" she snorts derisively. "I haven’t got time to do anything outside of work and studying. I’ve been so busy—"
"Because people who work here have told me that you’ve been sneaking around the office when nobody else is in," I continue calmly, "and interrogating some of our regulars about how they know me. You telling me that hasn’t been happening?"
She shifts her weight from foot to foot. "Not the way you’re saying it. I mean, yeah, I—"
"Listen to me, Sophia," I tell her, cutting her off before she can try to spin this any other way. "I don’t believe you. I think you’re trying to get to the bottom of what’s going on here because you’re uncomfortable working in a place associated with my family. Is that true?"
The words hang there in the air between us. I almost want her to deny it. Fuck, I want her to tell me I’m crazy and paranoid and she would never do that. Because I want to be able to trust her. I want to be able to want her without getting her all tangled up in the mess of my professional life, but the moment I told her the truth about what I did, I changed things. I gave her no choice but to do something, whether she wanted to or not.
"You really think I’m just going to stand by and let this place be used for God knows what?" she exclaims all of a sudden. "I— you must think I’m crazy, Blake! I’m not some criminal. And I’m not willing to look the other way when your family is using this place and God knows how many others for things that probably kill and hurt people every day!”
She wraps her arms around herself protectively as she speaks. Rage rises in my system. Who the fuck does she think she is? I tell her something, and she turns it against me like this?
I wanted to trust her.
"I should have known better than to trust a fucking thief," I snarl.
I can see her face going pale even in the dim light of the office. "What do you—"
"You took that pin from me because you’re nothing more than a petty fucking pickpocket," I continue. I don’t even know what I’m saying. I don’t believe it, that’s for sure, but I’m so fucking pissed at her, I’ll let anything come out of my mouth right now.
"Blake, I didn’t mean to… it wasn’t about that, I—"
"And when you couldn’t get any cash for it, you decided you were going to try and expose me and my family," I go on, cutting her off as I rise to my feet. She backs away from me, pressing herself against the wall of the office, clearly terrified.
I push my face close to hers. I can feel the heat between us again, but this time, it’s far removed from the sheer passion that consumed the two of us before.
"You want to see how far this goes? I’ll show you. Get your shit. We’re leaving."
"Blake, I’m not going anywhere with you when you’re like this," she protests, her voice trembling helplessly. "I… I…"
I stare at her.
"Did I offer, or did I tell you?" I snarl. "Get. Your. Shit."
"Where are we going?"
I ignore her, pushing open the door and gesturing for her to head to the staffroom. She does as she’s told, seemingly giving up on any attempt to defend herself now. She can tell that it’s not going to work, not when I’m like this.
My head is spinning. I can’t believe I let her so close, close enough that she’s started investigating on her own. She wouldn’t have known a damn thing if I hadn’t been so interested in her. She’d have just been some girl I met at a party and never thought of again. But her defiance, her sharp tongue, they drew me in. But they come with a sharp mind attached, and I don’t want to find out what happens when she turns that mind to my family’s business.
The eyes of the staff turn to her as I follow her, and they seem to be able to read how serious the situation is. She shoots a few looks around, imploring someone to help her, but they all just look away. They know better than to get involved with something I’m in the middle of. While all of them might not know the details, they know enough—enough to keep their distance when it’s something heavy.
I pull her outside, where it’s just started to rain. She digs her heels in when she realizes that I’m actually serious about this.
"You can’t just… you can’t just drag me out of here!” she protests. "I have a shift to finish. I don’t want to let anyone down, I—"
"Trust me, they’ll understand," I growl as I reach my car and pull open the door for her. "In. Now."
"Blake—"
"I said now."
The tone in my voice doesn’t leave any room for argument, and finally, she seems to get it through her head that she’s not going to get away with this. She reluctantly climbs into the car, and I slide into the front seat next to her.
I can feel her staring at me, her chest rising and falling quickly, but I don’t look at her. I’m not giving her that, not now. I’m not letting her off with this. God knows I’ve already done that too many times already, like letting her get away with stealing from me—what the hell was I thinking? I’m furious with myself for believing for an instant that I could trust her when it’s so obvious the kind of person she is.
I tighten my grip on the wheel and drive a little faster, pressing my foot down on the pedal. I know how to control this car, know it like the back of my hand, but I want to see her sweat. I want her to understand that she doesn’t get to play with me the way she has without some kind of payback.
"Please, Blake, slow down," she begs me, but I ignore her. The streets are whipping by outside, the lights blurring together into a mess in the corners of my vision. I can hardly hear her.
It doesn’t take long till my father’s mansion looms up on the horizon in front of us. I screech the car to a halt outside the front gate, which slides open almost at once. I roll the car slowly along the gravel driveway, my knuckles nearly bursting out of my skin from how tightly I’m holding on to the wheel.
She’s stopped trying to reason with me now. She seems to realize that it’s a lost cause. Whatever I’m going to do to her, I’ve already decided on it, and she knows it.
She stares up at the mansion before her and the enormous estate that overlooks the edge of the city. A huge garden, immaculately kept, surrounds it, maintained by the same gardeners who’ve worked for my father for decades. Because I know, damn well, that I’m not going to bring in anyone new, anyone I don’t know I can trust… anyone like her. Fuck!
With the car at a halt, I push her door open and nod for her to get out.
"Blake," she tries one more time, her voice low. "You… you can just take me back to my dorm. You can just let me leave. That’s all I’m asking you to do, really, you don’t have to—"
"Out."
She steps out, and I follow her, a hand on the small of her back as I lead her up the steps. I swear, I can hear her heart pounding even through her skin, every inch of her on fire with terror.
The front door is opened by the porter before we even reach it, and I push her over the threshold. She stumbles slightly, her shoes squeaking on the marble floor, and she straightens up and wraps her arms around herself. The porter doesn’t say a word as she stares at him, silently imploring him for help.
"My office," I order her, pointing her down the corridor at the far end of the entrance hall. I stalk after her, trying not to notice the sway of her ass in her jeans. She has no idea, no fucking idea, who she’s pissed off, but I’m going to make sure she knows.
When we reach the office, I pull the door shut behind us and turn on her before she even has a chance to sit down.
"You’re going to be staying with me for a while."
Her eyebrows shoot up. "What the hell are you talking about?"
"You need to drop that attitude, Sophia," I warn her. "Or it’s going to get you into more trouble than you can handle."
She recoils from me slightly, her breath hitching in her throat.
"I’m not going to be staying here," she argues with me. "I have a life. A job. Studies. People are going to notice if I suddenly vanish from all that—"
"So you’re not," I reply calmly. "I’m going to get my men to drive you back and forth to everywhere you need to be. Afterward, you’ll come straight back here, where I can keep an eye on you."
She barks out a laugh, though there’s no mirth in it.
"You’re kidding me, right?" she exclaims, like she can hardly believe it. "I’m not going to do that. You can’t keep me fucking prisoner here—"
"You want to bet?" I snarl at her, and I jab my finger back down the hall toward the porter who let us in. "You saw how he reacted. You really think anyone would care if something happened to you here? Nobody would. Nobody gives a fuck. I could have shot you dead right in front of him, and he wouldn’t have done a thing about it."
She starts at those words. I can’t blame her. They’re brutal, but I need her to know that she can’t get away with what she’s done.
"So, unless you want me to test that theory," I continue, steadying my voice slightly, "then I suggest you play by my rules. You’ve shown me you can’t be trusted. Prove to me you can, and we’re not going to have a problem, are we?"
"You’re crazy."
Her words, like her, are defiant till the end, but her tone is defeated. She knows I’m not going to let her walk out of here. I smirk.
"True as that may be," I concede, "I have my methods. And I’m not going to let you screw them up. Now, how about one of the maids shows you to your new room?"
"What about my stuff, I need my—"
"I’ll send someone to your dorm room to fetch everything you need."
She frowns. "I don’t like the idea of some random person going through my stuff."
"Neither did I," I point out. "But that didn’t stop you from taking my pin, did it?"
She lowers her gaze. She doesn’t have a comeback for that. Good. I’m finally starting to get through to her.
"Glad to see we’re on the same page," I remark, and I gesture for her to leave my father’s office. I’m almost not used to it without the smell of cigar smoke in it, even after all this time.
She leaves. It might have taken me too long, but I’m going to get this girl to prove herself to me, one way or another.
And if that means that I have to spend a little more time up close and personal with her? So be it.