Page 18 of Bred By the Boss

“Perfect,” he breathes raggedly into my ear. “Love that you’re going to be full of me all night. Beautiful and bred and mine.”

My heart warms at the praise.

Maybe tonight won’t be so bad after all.

***

Hours later, I’m standing with Connor in the lobby of a fancy hotel, dazzled by the wealth on display. The marble floors are polished to a high shine, elaborate chandeliers cast beautiful golden light over everything, and expensive furniture lines the walls, waiting for expensively clothed butts to sit on them and bask in their comfort. Everything seems so perfect and expensive, as if even the smallest speck of dust won’t be tolerated.

Instead of feeling out of place, I feel like I fit in at Connor’s side. The dress he picked out for me is perfect. It’s understated but elegant, and it makes me feel like an old Hollywood star. I managed my own hair and makeup, but in the car, Connor had kissed a lot of my lipstick off. Not that I really minded. It looks blotted now, adding to the subtle glamor I was aiming for to match the dress.

As we walk across the shiny tile to the ballroom where the event is, my hand strays to my neck. After kissing me hungrily on the way here, Connor had presented me with a gift—a necklace. Between my collarbones rests a large, flawless sapphire hanging from nothing but a delicate white gold chain.

“It’s not a collar like I’d promised a few days ago,” he said with a knowing smile. “But it matches your eyes and it’ll still remind everyone there that you belong to someone.”

I’m still breathless from the gesture, if I’m being honest. I’ve never received something so precious before as a gift. When I’d told him that, his eyes had darkened as he’d looked away.

He hasn’t said much since, but judging by the gentle way he leads me into the ballroom, he’s not angry with me for saying something like that. He knows where I used to live and work better than anyone else at this point. I trust him when he says that he doesn’t care about my humble background.

I just wish I knew what was bothering him.

The evening starts so smoothly I have a hard time remembering why I was so concerned about how I’d do around all of the wealth and affluence. It’s not that these people are normal, because they definitely aren’t. They’re just a lot more normal than I thought they’d be. They have families and friends and seem to want to talk about them just as much as they want to talk about the latest and greatest program or innovation.

Just as I’m beginning to relax, content to stand by Connor’s side and listen to him chat with his colleagues in the tech industry, someone grabs my arm roughly. I’m pulled away from Connor’s side, and left exposed to whoever has me in their clutches.

“Margaret!” the man hisses. I freeze in his grip, my body running cold at the sound of my mother’s name. “What the hell are you doing here?”

I stare at the man’s face, reddened with heat or anger or maybe even alcohol. The smell of scotch on his breath makes my stomach turn, first with disgust, and then with fury.

Standing before me, with his hand wrapped around my wrist, is my father.

Before I can push him away, someone steps between us. The hand wrapped around my wrist disappears as Connor pushes me behind.

The years don’t look like they’ve been kind to him. It’s been, what, a decade? Maybe more? The last time I saw him, he wasshouting at my mother for something I didn’t really grasp at the time. I was on the cusp of being a teenager, but even then, I couldn’t understand why my mother still loved him after all he’d put her through.

As I look at the man I'm supposed to refer to as my father, with his red face and watery, furious eyes, I still don’t understand.

Chapter Nine

Connor

I knew Robert was rumored to be something of a mess these days, but I didn’t expect it to be quite this bad.

The man is clearly sloshed out of his mind, and judging by the smell coming off him in nauseating waves, he’s been hitting the cash bar for something foreign and expensive. It occurs to me that I may not need to see my plan for revenge through at all, not if he’s acting drunk and disorderly at an event with multiple important news outlets in attendance.

I just have to keep Noelle out of the limelight, if that’s the case.

“You!” Robert spits at us. I’m not sure who he’s referring too. His head lolls between the two of us, as if he’s not sure either. Two important people from his past appearing together must be hard for him to grasp in his state. What had he called Noelle?

“Margaret, who the fuck is this?” he slurs, drawing himself up to his full height. He might have been formidable a decade ago when he stole my program from me, but where he’s fallen from grace, I’ve only grown into a better, stronger man.

When I look back at Noelle, I see that her normally soft eyes are hard with rage as she peers at her father from behind my arm. Her full lips are pressed into a tight line as she steps forward. So much for keeping her out of the limelight.

“Father,” she says coldly. “It’s me, Noelle.”

Robert looks at her, dumbfounded. She doesn’t bat an eye.

“Noelle, remember? Margaret’s daughter? You remember Margaret, right? The woman who sued you for child support that you neglected to pay, even though you were flush with cash?”

---