Chapter 2

Gabriel's hand gripped my arm tightly, a grip that wasn't just physical but filled with anger. His eyes locked on mine with an intensity that made me tremble.

"Daddy?" I said again, my voice small.

He didn't answer. He simply pulled me through the crowd, which parted instantly before him. The faces that had been cheering and dancing froze, silenced by the presence of the commanding man whose aura radiated fury. I stumbled, trying to match his long, fast strides.

"Slow down! I'm tripping!" I protested.

He shoved open the bar door, guided me outside, and opened the door of his black car parked by the curb. Without a word, he pushed me inside.

"You've gone too far this time, Seraphina," he said.

The car sped off, leaving behind the chaos I had just escaped. I leaned my head against the window, trying to calm myself, but the alcohol still lingered in my system.

I glanced at him. He was furious truly furious and somehow, in the haze of my drunken mind, that anger looked tempting. Slowly, I unbuckled my seatbelt. The distance between us felt too far. I wanted to close it. Crawling across the wide center console, I moved toward him.

"Seraphina, sit down," he ordered, but that only made me want to rebel more.

Finally, I made it. I dropped myself into his lap, feeling a strange, foolish sense of triumph. My body pressed against his thighs, and I could feel every muscle in him tense.

"Sit back in your seat. Now," he said firmly.

But I had gone too far. The alcohol had shut down every bit of logic in my head. My hand moved on its own, sliding up to rest on his chest through the thin fabric of his shirt. I could feel his heart racing beneath my palm.

"Daddy's mad?" I whispered, leaning closer to his neck. I inhaled deeply sandalwood, mint, and something deeply masculine. It was the scent I had known since childhood, the scent that always meant safety. But tonight, it felt different.

He didn't answer, eyes still fixed on the road, though the veins in his neck tightened.

I looked at his mouth. His full lips looked dangerously tempting. Slowly, I leaned closer to his ear, my breath warm with the sweetness of alcohol.

"You look so tempting when you're angry."

It didn't even sound like me speaking. It was like a stranger had taken over my body driven by vodka and the fiery curiosity I'd buried for years.

"You're drunk," he said flatly.

"I'm twenty. I'm an adult," I muttered, annoyed at being treated like a child. My hand stayed on his chest, fingers tracing lightly. "I'm old enough to go clubbing, old enough to drink, and old enough for other things too."

The car jerked sharply as he pulled to the side of the empty road. The engine went silent, and suddenly, everything was still. He turned fully toward me, and for the first time that night, I met his gaze head-on.

"What other things? What do you think you know about being an adult?" Daddy asked.

"I know that I want you. I've wanted you for a long time. And I'm ready. I'm ready to make love to you."

In an instant, his large hand gripped my wrist and pried it from his chest.

"You have no idea what you're asking for, because you're drunk," he said, voice low but controlled.

He gently lifted me from his lap, guiding me back to my seat. The rejection burned. Shame crept up my neck, hot and heavy.

"Starting tomorrow, you'll be escorted by a Beta every time you leave the house. No more clubs, no more alcohol, and no more nights out without permission."

"I'm not your prisoner! I'm an adult!" I shouted back.

"Your actions tonight say otherwise. You can't take care of yourself. You let a stranger give you a drink, you let yourself get drunk, you danced like--" He paused, sighing as if words failed him. "Until you prove you can be responsible, you'll be under strict supervision."

I crossed my arms and turned toward the window, sulking like a punished child. Tears of frustration and humiliation welled up in my eyes. He still treated me the same way he always had as a little girl. Little Sera who knew nothing, Little Sera who needed protection, guarding, and control.

But he didn't see it. He didn't see that little girl was long gone. He didn't see the woman sitting beside him now the woman whose heart raced for him, the woman who had just confessed her forbidden desire and been rejected outright.

The car started moving again, carrying me back to the grand house that felt more like a gilded cage than a home. He thought locking me away with guards would keep me under control. He thought he could remain my Daddy forever.

He was wrong.

I would prove to him that I was grown. I would show him that I could take what I wanted. And what I wanted was him not as my Daddy, but as the man I had secretly loved all these years.

And I would do whatever it took to become his Luna someday.