Page 31 of Theirs to Possess: The Marriage Claim
“You’re not going to like this.”
There’s patience in his eyes, maybe for the first time. “There’s nothing I can’t solve.”
Such confidence.Or rather, arrogance. As if he alone controls the world.
“Why don’t you try me, little one?”
I tip my chin back. “I have to go home tonight.”
Instead of simply overriding me and being a jerk about this, he appears interested.
“You have to go home because…?”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Isla
Dorian sets my glass down on the balustrade, and the crystal chimes against the stone. The motion brings him even closer. Even though we’ve been at this for hours and I’m exhausted, he looks every bit as gorgeous as he did when I first saw him.
His bowtie is still perfect, his jacket unwrinkled, and his shirt pristine.
He has a tiny bit more stubble on his face, but that only makes him look even more devilishly handsome.
“I’m waiting.” His tone is infuriatingly calm.
Impossibly he moves just a tad closer, and I back up in a useless attempt to save myself. But I have to try, buying myself some time.
I tip my chin back so I can meet his eyes. “Because of my cat.”
He blinks. Once. Twice. Dorian Vale, billionaire loan shark, looks genuinely perplexed. “A cat? You have a cat?”
“Yes.” I cross my arms, the lace of Margaux’s ill-fitting gown scratching at my elbows. “Calypso. She’s a rescue, and Irefuse to leave her alone for some extravagant honeymoon I didn’t sign up for.”
His mouth twitches—almost into a smile, but it’s too sharp for that. “You’re serious.”
“Deadly.” Even though my pulse is hammering, I hold my ground. “She’s family. Where I go, she goes.”
I try to hide my smile. “And remember, you said you could solve anything.”
For a moment, he just stares, assessing me like I’m a puzzle he hasn’t quite figured out.
“If you’re expecting me to go with you, she has to come too.”
He drags a hand into his hair. For the first time, I’ve seen a crack in his confident veneer.
“But she’ll be okay for the evening?”
Part of me can’t believe he gives a damn and isn’t forcing me to figure this out on my own. My respect for him reluctantly nudges up a notch. “Her caretaker should have fed her a couple of hours ago. But I’ve never left her for this long. She gets lonely, and she needs lots of enrichment.”
“Enrichment?”
Clearly that’s a foreign idea to him. “She requires a lot of playtime so she doesn’t get bored and destroy everything in sight.”
At my words, he goes pale. Maybe imagining her tearing up his expensive furniture?
“Fuck.”
“She really is wonderful.” I flash him a very big smile. “Cuddly. Adorable. You’re going to love her.”
