Page 43 of Heir

I didn’t want to hold him back, and I wished he would stop treating me with kid gloves. He had been doing that since I’d called him in a panic and asked for a place to stay. I should have waited until I wasn’t feeling so freaked out to call him, but at that time, I had been feeling too much to think straight.

And I had a feeling this was only going to get worse when I finally told him about my mom, Uncle Frank, and—I shuddered—Grigoriy Savkin.

It felt like the walls were caving in, and I couldn’t breathe, so I stood and went to the kitchen, toward the back door.

I went out to a back deck. Very few people were here.

There was a couple making out in the corner before the girl pulled away, giggling.

The boy whispered something in her ear, and he pulled her up, and they headed back inside. It was easy to tell what they were planning on doing.

I looked over the pitch-black backyard.

I couldn’t tell how big it was from where I was standing.

We were in a remote house, a distance away from the city.

I couldn’t see any light coming in, and though I could still hear the music from inside, it wasn’t as loud. Plus, I could see the stars.

Which was what I had been doing when I felt arms go around my waist from behind.

I stiffened and turned to Gary’s flushed face. I supposed the flush was better than the paleness, but not by much.

He was way too damn close to me.

I pushed away, but he only followed, offering a small half-smile that I didn’t trust.

“Do you wanna dance?” he asked, his words slurring.

I smiled tightly. “There’s no music.”

The low thud from the music in the house didn’t count.

He swayed his hips suggestively. I kept my expression neutral.

“We can dance to our own rhythm,” he said.

“I can’t dance.”

He moved closer to me, grabbing my hips and pulling me toward him. “I can show you how,” he whispered, as if that was supposed to seduce me.

Instead, I could feel a slight panic coming on and I pushed off his chest.

“I don’t want to.”

“Why not? Do you just want to stay out here for the rest of the night like some loser?”

“Yes,” I answered honestly, trying to push him again. “Now, let go.”

“Hey, I’m doing you a favor. You were out here all alone. I felt sorry for you.”

“Perhaps you should do her a favor by doing what she asked and letting her go,” a dark voice said.

I stiffened, but this time for a completely different reason.

I swallowed and turned at the same time as Gary. The deck light was just enough for me to make out his gigantic frame and angry expression, hidden partially in the shadows.

And Gary—as drunk and high as he was—could see that too.

---