Page 51 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 5
“But…there has to be something I can do to help. Or maybe if we can figure out a way to get Isabella to stop blackmailing you? What happened to the private investigator you hired?”
“He didn’t find anything. I’m pretty sure she got to him and paid him off.”
“She paid off a PI that was hired to find dirt on her?” What kind of tangled mess was Matt caught in?
The door to my bedroom flew open and Matt and I both sat up.
Mr. Pruitt was standing there with a frown on his face. He cleared his throat.
Matt practically fell out of the bed as he moved away from me. His hair was sticking up funny in the back and I’m sure I looked equally unpresentable.
“Matthew, could you please give me a moment alone with my daughter?” Mr. Pruitt’s voice was even icier than usual.
Matt smoothed his shirt as he stood up, just making the scene look even worse. We’d barely touched, let alone whatever it looked like now. “We were only talking,” Matt said.
“Mhm. Downstairs. Now.”
Matt turned around, giving me a reassuring smile. “I swear we didn’t do anything. But I’ll wait downstairs so she can tell you herself.” He walked past Mr. Pruitt.
I busied myself sweeping some of the crumbs from my bedspread back into the Pringles can and looking anywhere but at him.
“There are rules in this house,” Mr. Pruitt said as he made his way over to me. Before I could climb off the bed, he sat down on it next to me. “Each designed to make sure you’re behaving like the lady you now need to be.”
The lady that I wasn’t?I think normally I’d be offended by the comment. But instead I wanted to laugh. I bit down on the inside of my lip to prevent myself from even smiling. I was definitely still high. And I had a feeling that was probably against one of Mr. Pruitt’s rules.
“We follow a very strict no-processed foods diet, for starters.” He lifted the Pringles can out of my hand.
“I don’t usually eat like that either.”Only when Cupcake drugs me.
“Good, good.” He tossed it into the trash, landing a perfect shot.
“Nice!” I said. Every ounce of me wanted to lift my hand for a high-five, but it was better not to risk it. Instead, I slid my hands underneath my legs to keep them still.
A small smile spread across his face.
God, he knows I’m high.
“I used to play basketball in my youth.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. He was smiling from the compliment on his shot. Not the fact that he was about to call me out on my drug usage. “It shows,” I said. “You played in high school?”
He laced his fingers together. “You’re just like your sister when you’re in trouble. Trying to change the topic to anything but your conduct.”
I swore I threw up a little in my mouth at the comparison.
“Another rule is that you are not under any circumstances allowed to have gentleman suitors in your room.”
Who talks like that?
“Unless they’ve asked me for your hand, of course. But clearly you’re too young for such talk. So…no boys upstairs.”
I nodded. “No boys in my room. Got it.”
“Are you two being sexually responsible?”
I made a choking sound and he stared over at me as I gasped for air. “No.”
He lowered his eyebrows. “Brooklyn, it’s very important that you’re responsible when it comes to protection and…”
