Chapter 20 Chapter Nineteen
ARA
Ursula's words were all I could think of as Thayne and I were escorted by his security to where the convoys were parked.
She knew my darkest secret now. What would she do with it? Would she reveal it to the world? Would she use it to keep blackmailing me until she got what she wanted?
“I have removed all the block apps preventing you from commenting and interacting with posts online. You're now free to call and text whoever you want, whenever you wish." Thayne's voice startled me.
“Why the change of heart?" I asked him, studying his face.
To all of New York, he was inaccessible and unreadable. But in just a matter of days, he'd shown me parts of himself most didn't know.
He'd done crazy things to me, things that made me question my sanity.
But at the same time, he'd given me an opportunity to help my siblings escape a life of ruin.
“I want all of you, Ara. I need you to cooperate with me in loosening my father's grip on the Slade's empire."
"You can't have all of me when I'm still confused about this, about us. One day I might wake up and you could just call this off and I'd end up right where I started.” I confessed.
"You have nothing to worry about. Not my father, not even Madison or my sister. I -” The vibration of his phone in his pocket interrupted him.
I turned to face the tinted windows, my thoughts racing. Thayne was mute, so I couldn't tell who had called him or what the person was saying.
Even if I pretended to be satisfied with this arrangement, I would forever be trapped.
Thayne would never let me have his heart, and with Ursula bearing my secret in her palms, I was plagued with insecurity and fear.
I whipped my head around when I heard Thayne punch his fist through the demarcation separating us from the front seat.
He cursed under his breath and tossed his phone over his head where it landed in the back with a loud thud.
What was the matter?
“Thayne, what is wrong?" I asked, reaching for his shoulder.
He flinched when I touched him and I frowned.
Something was wrong.
“I know I probably shouldn't be asking, but -”
"Why didn't you tell me?” He asked without looking at me.
I already knew what he meant. Ursula called him to tell him.
But why was he pissed?
“I didn't imagine there was a need to tell you. It's my past, and I can't just share it with anyone.” I explained.
"We'll be getting married in a few weeks, Ara,” he ground out. "You should have told me! I would have made sure to protect you from this mess!” He punched the demarcation, and this time, his knuckles burst open.
He didn't even flinch. Not even as blood started running down his fingers.
"Thayne, you're bleeding. You need to-”
"Madison took my birth status to the press on my father's order. He ordered Ursula to dig up your past, and now the press have that, too.”
My head spinned. No. It wasn't possible. It couldn't be.
Thayne pummeled the demarcation with his fists until all his knuckles were ripped open.
I needed to distract him. He was going to rip more than just his skin before the drive was over.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck!" He cursed.
“Thayne!" I cried when he punched the demarcation again and I heard the loud snap of bone.
It didn't stop him, and when it became unbearable for me to simply watch him destroy his knuckles, I launched myself in his lap, straddling him and forcing him to lean back.
"Look at me.” I said.
"You can't help me, little lamb. I'm a wolf, and lambs don't help wolves.” He murmured.
I took his bloodied hands and lifted them to examine them.
I didn't know why, but I couldn't resist the urge to fix Thayne. Right now, for some reason I couldn't explain, he felt like my responsibility.
When he wasn't looking, I gently lifted the finger he'd broken and snapped it back in place.
His eyes flew open and he gripped my waist.
“Don't," he warned.
I ignored him and focused on the next twisted finger.
I snapped it in place and Thayne flipped me so I was on my back and he was hovering over me.
“I asked you to stop."
“Allow me to take care of you!" The words came out as a yell. I just couldn't help it.
He blinked. “In case you didn't understand what I said earlier, Madison divulged my secret to the press, and the tabloids are calling you a product of rape." He said this in an aggressive tone that told me he was trying to push me away.
“I don't care about that. I care about -" I stopped myself before I could say ‘you’.
“You shouldn't, little lamb." He said, his eyes tracking my tongue as I slipped it out to lick my lips.
“You don't tell me what to do.” I snarled.
I wished he felt as affected as I was by him. Despite the new threats hanging over our perfect arrangement, all that mattered right now was this moment.
I didn't know what we were arguing about right now, but I was sure it was stemming from suppressing our feelings for too long.
“Don't break the rules, little lamb. Don't. Fall. In Love With Me. You're not ready for this side of me." With this, he got off me and the door opened for him to get out of the Porsche.
I didn't even realize we'd arrived at the penthouse.
What just happened?
Instead of letting the escorts help me out of the vehicle like usual, I staggered out of it on my own.
Thayne hadn't even bothered to wait for me. Who or what exactly was he mad at?
That I'd helped set his broken fingers in place or Madison and Ursula for putting holes in our armor?
His escorts followed me into the elevator, their faces blank and unreadable.
“I want to go up alone.” I announced.
For a long time, nobody moved.
"I said, I want to go up alone.” I snapped.
Instantly, they filtered out and I rode up alone.
It was time for me to step up and play my role. No more hiding.
To protect my interests in this arrangement, I needed to prove to Thayne that I had a backbone, that I could handle everything the press was tossing my way.
And there was only one way to show him that.
“Thayne!" I called out as soon as the elevator doors parted and I caught sight of Thayne leaning by the wall.
“You think I'm fragile? That I'll let your father break me? We had an arrangement, and it stays that way.” I said, striding up to him.
"Tell me you're mine, and then I won't look back in my battle against my father." He said, moving from the wall, eating up the remaining distance between us in three giant strides.
“And you won't call off this arrangement?” I asked.
"Take a look at that ring on your finger. I put it there for a reason.” He said, missing my question entirely.
I swallowed. I knew what he wanted. Assurance that I wouldn't back out from the arrangement suddenly. But that was what I wanted from him too.
We'd been denying ourselves this from day one.
“If I say I'm yours, will you protect my sisters from the coming battle?” I asked, aware of the fact that our lips were almost brushing.
"I'm a man of my word," he said, tracing the curve of my neck with his bloodstained finger.
“Then I'm yours." For all my bravado, I could taste the fear in my voice. This could all go wrong.
I just didn't know how yet.