What Daddy Left Behind のすべてのチャプター: チャプター 61 - チャプター 70

~ Thea's POV"If I trip in these heels, I’m holding you responsible," Maya said, her voice muffled as she struggled into a long dress in her bedroom. "I’m talking a full lawsuit. Emotional damages. Physical trauma. Everything."I sat on the edge of my bed, staring at the midnight-black silk gown hanging on the door. It looked like a spill of ink against the white wood. Just looking at it made my heart do a nervous, erratic flip in my chest."You won't trip," I said, though my own hands were trembling. "You’ve been practicing in the hallway for three hours."Maya emerged from her room, and I let out a genuine breath of admiration. She looked stunning. She had chosen a deep purple floor-length dinner gown with a sweetheart neckline that made her skin glow. It was elegant but had that "Maya" edge to it, especially with her dark hair pinned up in an intricate, messy bun."You look beautiful, Maya," I said softly."I look like I belong on a yacht in Monaco," she corrected, checking her ref

~ Stellan's POVI felt Thea’s body jerk against mine. Her instinct, that foolish, soft, bleeding heart of hers, kicked in instantly. She took a step forward, her hand slipping from my waist, her face crumpling into concern. She was going to go to her. She was going to try to manage the woman who had just tried to butcher her reputation in front of half of New York’s elite.I didn't know if I should call her plain stupid or just leave her to her fate.But she was my woman, and I can dictate however she moved, as long as it meant she was good."No," I growled.I clamped my hand down on her hip, an iron anchor that arrested her movement instantly. I pulled her back, hard, until her spine collided with my chest."Stellan," she whispered, her voice shaking so violently I could feel the vibrations against my ribs. "Let me get to her and slap that attitude out of her. Everyone is staring. I have to—""You will do nothing," I commanded, my voice a low rumble in her ear. "You are a Mercer. Yo

~ Thea's POVI had whispered, the plea hanging in the heavy air of the car like a white flag of surrender.I thought, for a fleeting, naive second, that he might actually listen. That the blood on his lip and the desperation in my voice might pierce the Dragon of Wall Street's armor.I was wrong.Stellan didn't give me space. His hand shot out, and is fingers wrapped around the back of my neck."Space is not an option," he snarled.He yanked me forward. I didn't have time to gasp before his mouth crashed onto mine again. This wasn't the silencing kiss from moments ago; this was a declaration of war. It was rough, wet, and angry. He bit my lower lip, punishing me for biting him, licking the metallic tang of blood that bloomed there.I tried to push him away, my hands flat against the starched front of his tuxedo shirt, but it was like trying to shove a mountain. He only deepened the kiss, his tongue invading my mouth with a rhythmic, carnal insolence that made my toes curl in my heels

~ Thea’s POV"Thea?" Stellan asked, his voice dropping an octave, vibrating with a suspicion that made the hair on my arms stand up. "Who was that?"I looked up at him, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. I tried to keep my face blank, but I could feel the blood draining from it. The fear clutching my throat wasn't the fear of the press outside, or even the fear of the man sitting across from me who had just spent the last eight hours claiming every inch of my body."Just... spam," I said. My voice came out too high. Too brittle. It sounded like glass breaking. "Just a random number. Probably a reporter trying to get a quote."Stellan didn't blink. He stared at me, his dark eyes stripping away the layers of my defense. He knew a lie when he heard one. He traded in lies, in secrets, in the currency of hidden things.And he knew that reaction. He knew that my trembling hands weren't the reaction to a stranger. They were the reaction to a ghost."Open it," he command

~ Stellan’s POV The lie tasted worse than the cheap wine I had found in her apartment.Just spam, she had said. Just a random number.I sat at the head of the massive mahogany table in the main boardroom of Vaughn Enterprises, my gaze fixed on the skyline of Manhattan visible through the floor-to-ceiling windows. The city looked small from up here. Manageable. Everything down there moved according to patterns I could predict, markets I could manipulate, and people I could buy.Everything except Thea Mercer.My hand rested on the polished wood surface, my fingers tapping a slow, rhythmic cadence that seemed to set the heart rates of the twelve executives sitting around me. They were terrified. They should be.I wasn't listening to the Vice President of Marketing drone on about the "optics" of the gala. I was back in the limestone bedroom, watching Thea’s face pale as she looked at her phone. I was watching the tremor in her hand. I was watching the practiced way she flipped the devi