Chapter 31 BLOCKING THE TRUTH
Ginnie
I stood there, my body straightened just enough to block the window completely. My pulse was roaring so loudly in my ears that I was sure he could hear it.
“There’s nothing there to see about Lily” I said, forcing the words out despite the fear raging inside me. “You’re imagining things.”
His eyes darkened.
“I said move.”
I shook my head in protest—a slow, controlled movement to convince him otherwise. “Why are you even staring at Lily playing?” I asked, “She’s just a little child playing… My sister. Why does that concern you?”
“It concerns me because I saw something,” he snapped back, his voice coming out as a low, dangerous whisper.
“No, you didn’t.” I took a step closer, invading his space deliberately so he couldn’t look through the window, “And even if you think you did—why are you acting like it’s your business?” I scoffed softly. “Lily isn’t related to you in any way.”
For a terrifying second, his eyes dropped to my mouth, then they lifted again, locked on my eyes now and not looking away for even a single second.
“Watch your tone when you speak to me.”
“Why?” A bitter laughter slipped out of me before I could stop it. “Because you suddenly care about human children now?”
The atmosphere changed instantly, something predatory unfolding behind his gaze before he parted his lips to speak, “You are nobody to question me. Do you understand that?”
He stepped closer. Close enough that I could feel the heat of his body against mine, “Come to think of it, what are you so afraid that I’ll find out about?”
“That wasn’t—”
“Then what was it?” he cut me off before I could finish, his voice echoed across the study room. “Huh? Because you looked like someone who’s just seen a ghost. You should see your face right now.”
“You’re just trying to make things up,” I said, my voice rising now despite my effort to keep it steady, “She’s not your family, so you don’t get to look at her like she’s a puzzle you need to solve.”
His gaze hardened. “You’re protecting her.”
“Yes,” I said instantly, “Because she’s my family and not yours.”
The words hung between us for a second, sharp and reckless. Something dark flickered across his face, “This is the last time I’ll warn you to mind the way you speak to me, Ginnie.”
“Or what?” I demanded. “You’ll what—claim her too?”
He stepped closer, forcing me back half a step without touching me. “Move!”
“No…” the word slipped out before I could stop it. That did it for Varkos, one second he was calm, and the next his hand shot out, fingers closing around my arm, brutal and unyielding.
Pain flared across my arm instantly, wicked and merciless. But before he could fling me aside—
I tilted the tray.
The hot liquid in the tray surged, splashing straight across his white shirt, soaking into the expensive fabric, and steam rose instantly between us.
“Oh—!” I gasped, jerking back as if shocked. “Oh my god…I’m so sorry!”
The cup clattered to the floor and shattered.
“What the fucking hell—“
His hand released me instantly as he looked down at his ruined suit, fury rolling off him in waves so thick I could taste it as tea dripped from his shirt.
“I’m sorry,” I rushed, bending slightly as if to help, my pulse pounding so loudly I swore he could hear it from the little space between us. “I didn’t mean to…please, Varkos, it was an accident—”
“It wasn't!" His head snapped up. “You did this on purpose, right?”
My breath hitched. “I swear—”
“You swear?” he growled, “Do I look like a fool to you? You think I don’t know when I’m being played?”
Something inside me snapped at the tone of his voice—so relentless that I myself couldn’t stop it. “Maybe,” the words rolled out of my mouth before my brain could think, “if you stopped barking orders at me like you own every ounce of air that I breathe, accidents like this wouldn’t happen.”
Shit!
What the hell did you just say, Ginnie!
His hand shot up instantly, as if ready to rip me into shreds before I would even realize it. Then—
“Varkos?”
A familiar voice sliced through the tension as the door creaked open. Kenna. She stepped into the study, gaze sweeping the room—and landing immediately on the shattered teacup. Then to Varko's stained shirt, and finally… me.
“Well..well,” she hissed. “I see your personal slave is getting bold.”
She stepped fully into the study, turning to face Varkos, “I told you,” she continued smoothly. “I told you exactly what would happen if you showed these filthy humans even an ounce of mercy.”
Her eyes gazed back at me with disgust. “Now the fucking bitch thinks that you defending her gives her the illusion that she has the right to talk back to you.”
I lowered my eyes instinctively as Kenna stepped closer, “Why did you spill tea on my fiancé? Are you blind or something?!”
“I—” I swallowed. “It was an accident.”
A bitter laughter escapes from her. “Of course it was,” her gaze snapped back to Varkos. “This is what happens when you claw off a wolf’s ear for touching her, and now she thinks she can forget her place.”
Kenna didn’t wait to get a reply for Varkos, she took another step toward me, until there was no distance between us. “Listen carefully,” she said, her voice dripped with venom, “If you ever raise your voice to him again or even dare to disrespect him…I will personally make sure you regret it.”
Her eyes turned darker. “Painfully.”
“Get out,” she snapped, straightening up deliberately, as though talking to me was a heinous burden she was finally freed of.
Relief and humiliation crashed into me at the same time. “Yes,” I whispered, turning quickly toward the door. My hands shook—but beneath the fear, something else stirred.
“Oh, God!”
The words escaped from me the moment the door closed behind me, my breath coming out in a shaky rush. Immeasurable relief stirred inside me with just knowing that my plan to distract Varko's attention from the window had worked.
Off Lily…whatever he thought he saw her do.
My bare feet barely touched the stone floor as I headed toward the lawn, my heart pounding with one singular thought—
To get Lily out of there before he sees more!