Page 88 of The Apprentice
His mouth twisted in displeasure. “Yeah, well, apparently he is. Sloan’s known since his father died. This entire fucking time. He’s known whoLorwas, too, and he didn’t fucking tell me. This is like one big cosmic joke. This nobody can take everything away from me. The Company ismine.”
“Fionn, listen to me. Look at me.” I clasped his face between my palms and turned his head so he had no choice but to stare into my eyes. “Sloan will not do that. He trained you from the very beginning. You are his apprentice. He chose you.”
“Because he had no other choice. Now he has Lor, and he likes him. Everyone does.”
I frowned. “And you think Sloan doesn’t love you, Fifi?”
He tried to pull away from my hold, but I didn’t let him. “Let me go, Daire.”
“No. In this room I am your Daddy, and you will listen to me.”
“Daire.” He struggled harder and went to shove my chest, but I dragged him into my arms.
We’d wasted too much time already, and I wasn’t going to let this come between us. I refused to watch him wonderwhatifas though Sloan would ever consider giving the Company to anyone but Fionn. That’d never happen. Sloan loved Fionn like a son. He was hard on Fionn, sure, but only because he had to be. Sloan wanted nothing more than for Fionn to succeed, to gain the confidence and willpower needed to betheboss.
“This company is yours. Sloan knows that, everyone fucking knows that, boy. Even Conall.”
He trembled so much that I felt the vibrations down to my bones.
“Let me go,” he said, voice dark and unrecognizable. All the agony he felt dripped out through his tone, and it shattered my heart into pieces. This wasn’t my boy. He was broken, trapped in a shell of fear. I had to bring him back to me.
“No.” My grip tightened. “Never.”
He swung, and I didn’t have time to duck out of the way before his fist connected with my cheek. I stumbled backward—surprised more than hurt—and he made a move toward the door to escape. I came back to my senses before he could reach the exit and wrapped an arm around his waist as he struggled.
“Let me go, Daire. You fucking asshole, let me fucking go or I’ll have your head for this.”
“No.” My cheek throbbed, and I made a mental note to praise him on his punch later, when he wasn’t fueled by the kind of fury that could destroy a man.
He kicked, and I moved just in time to avoid my cock being a target. There was nothing I could say that would calm him down. He was panicking about losing his place not only in the Company, but in his family, and no words would get through to him while he was like this. I needed to find a way to center him quickly.
I forced him toward the bed as he continued to fight me the entire way. His yelling echoed around the room, but I didn’t think anyone would come in.
I threw him onto the mattress face-first. When he went to get up again, a scream tore out of his throat. Before he could move, I dropped on top of him, pressing my arm against his upper back to hold him down.
“Fucking get off me! I’m going to have you killed for this. I’m the fucking apprentice. I’m Sloan’s nephew. Fuck you, Daire.”
“You are my boy.” I pressed my weight down on him as he kicked up at me again. “I am your Daddy. I’m going to give you what you need. Even if you fight me the whole way through it.”
“Fuck off!” The sound that left Fionn came from the deepest recesses of his chest, so painful that it was like a knife straight to my heart. I’d never expected to see my boy like this, and I never wanted to again.
My hand came down hard on his ass, thecrackof it reverberating louder around the room than his screams had. He froze and a choked gasp fell past his pretty lips.
“You will listen to me,” I ordered, my voice calm yet firm, leaving no room for argument. I struck his ass again—this time hard enough for a moan to crawl up and out of his throat. “I’m your Daddy, boy, and I have you. Do you hear me?”
He sobbed, his voice broken and raw. “It’s my company.”
“It is, boy, itisyour company. Sloan’s not going to give it to anyone else.”
Another smack to the ass and the cries quieted down. I didn’t let up, striking his cheeks over and over again—until there were only moans slipping out of his pretty mouth. His spine was still tense, but his shoulders had relaxed and he was no longer struggling.
“Are you okay?” I murmured into his hair, rubbing a soothing circle on his ass.
“Yes.”
I winced at the rawness in his voice.
“I will be. Thank you, Daddy.”
