All Chapters of FAMILY SECRET: CLAIMING MY FATHER'S TOY: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

"You shouldn't be in here."The voice came from directly behind me—so close I felt his breath against the back of my neck, raising every hair on my body.I whirled around, and my stomach dropped straight through the floor.Julian Kingston. Jesus Christ. He was taller than I'd realized when I'd caught glimpses of him earlier tonight—broader too, filling the doorway like he owned not just the space but the air in it. And those eyes. Dark, unreadable, tracking my every micro-movement like I was prey that had just made a fatal mistake.Which, let's be honest, I probably had."I was just—" My voice came out wrong. Too high. Too guilty. "The door was open, I thought—""Shh." He pressed one finger to my lips, and the casual intimacy of it made my breath stop. "Let's not start this by lying to each other, Elena."Before I could move, his hand shot out and wrapped around my wrist. Not bruising, not violent, but absolutely unbreakable. When I tried to step around him — because what else was I s

My mother's heels clicked against marble, each step a countdown to disaster.Julian's fingers were still inside me. Silas's hand was still clamped over my mouth. And Mom was maybe thirty seconds away from walking into this office and finding her daughter naked on her employer's desk."Elena? Sweetheart, are you up here?" Her voice was closer now, right outside in the hallway.Silas's eyes locked onto mine. He didn't look worried. He looked interested — like this was all just another variable in an equation he was solving "Julian," he said quietly. "Under the desk. Now."For a second, I thought Julian might refuse. His jaw clenched, and something dangerous flashed in his eyes. But then his fingers withdrew from me — slowly, deliberately — and he dropped to his knees, disappearing into the shadows beneath the massive desk.Silas moved faster than I thought possible. He grabbed my dress from the floor and shoved it into my hands, then positioned himself behind the door just as it starte

"Elena! Breakfast is ready!"My mother's voice echoed up the stairs, bright and oblivious.Julian sat up on my bed, pocketing his phone. "You heard her. Better go play the perfect daughter.""What do you want?" My voice came out steadier than I expected.He raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?""You're in my room. Silas said you had 'instructions' for tonight. So what do you want?"Something flickered across his face — surprise, maybe, or approval. "Careful, Elena. You're not in a position to take that tone with me.""I'm not taking a tone. I'm asking a question." I crossed my arms, hyper-aware of what I was still wearing inside me, but refusing to show weakness. "You and your father made it very clear what I am to you. So tell me what you want so I can go convince my mother everything is fine."Julian stood, closing the distance between us in two steps. He was close enough that I had to tilt my head back to maintain eye contact."What I want," he said slowly, "is for you to meet me at the

ELENAPain exploded across my skin — sharp, burning, stealing my breath. I gasped, my fingers clutching the edge of the desk."Count," Silas commanded."One," I choked out.Behind me, Julian made a sound like he was in pain."Eyes on her," Silas told him. "This is what it costs when you play games with me."The second strike fell before I'd recovered from the first. Then the third. Each one a line of fire across my skin."Four," I gasped. "Five."By the sixth, tears were streaming down my face. But underneath the pain was something else. Something that horrified me.Heat.Not from the strikes themselves — though my skin burned — but from deeper inside. From the place that responded to Silas's control, to the absolute authority in his voice, to being laid bare and claimed in front of Julian.The seventh strike pulled a sound from my throat that wasn't quite a sob."Seven," I whispered.Silas's hand smoothed over the marks he'd just left, and the gentle touch after the pain made my legs