Page 96 of Under His Control

I should be happy I won’t be his prisoner anymore, that I’ll be released from Cedric too, and my family will be safe. This is all working out in my favour.

Last night put stupid hope and stupid ideas into my stupid head. I was touching my stomach and thinking about having his babies. God. It’s so fucking ridiculous in hindsight!

The truth I’ve always known showed up and gave me a hard, reminding slap: false hope leads to disappointment. Every damn time.

Just because Jacob admitted that last night was important to him doesn’t mean he’s ready or willing to pursue anything serious with me.

I’m the daughter of the woman who tried to send him to prison and I colluded with her too. It doesn’t matter that I tried to do the right thing in the end. I still ruined his life.

Then there’s his sister. Elizabeth’s opinion is important to him, and she was disgusted when she found out about us. She also thinks I’m a whore.

And after suffering a public scandal over the false rape accusation, he definitely won’t want to risk another scandal if the media discovers he’s fucking his ex-stepdaughter.

Too many obstacles.

Too hard to overcome.

I swallow my last pancake bite with a sip of coffee and lean back in my seat, trailing my finger along the collar. My collar. I’m keeping it.

“When are we leaving?”

“It’s going to be a long drive so the sooner the better.”

“What about your job?”

One corner of his mouth quirks up a little. There isn’t any humour in his expression.

“It’ll be there waiting for me tomorrow.”

But I won’t be here waiting for you.

21

Jacob

Snow falls to the ground in a wild spray as I sweep it off my car. I wish it were that easy to brush away how I feel right now. To be clear and free of what’s weighing on me.

While I’m doing the right thing for Penelope by taking her home, it sucks for me. In a few hours, she’ll be out of my life again, likely for forever unless we bounce up on each other by chance. The odds of that is pretty damn low when we’re five hours apart.

Am I seriously going to let that happen?

What the fuck else am I supposed to do? Penelope only sought me out to fix a problem and I’m going to solve it today, if all goes well. After that, there won’t be anything tying us together.

Unless I got her pregnant last night.

I used money to trap her with me. Now that’s no longer feasible, I want a baby to do it next. Good god. Penelope was once a villain in my life’s story. I’m one in hers too with these schemes.

Though there was nothing villainous about last night for us. Everything about it was perfect. Unforgettable. Her flushed face from pleasure, the taste and feel of her body, her sweet moan when she said she was mine.

I want to believe that, but it’s easy to say things you don’t mean in the heat of the moment. Or she meant she was mine in that particular instance. Not that she wanted to be mine completely.

At the end of the day, staying with me was never her choice. She’d prefer to go back to living her life in the city. A young and pretty girl wouldn’t want to be stuck in a small town with an asshole who’s old enough to be her father.

I don’t deserve her anyway. I held a grudge against her for years for something she did as a kid, treated her poorly when she came seeking my help, and took advantage of her in revenge. And, all along, she was the one who saved my life.

She deserves someone closer to her age. Someone who doesn’t come with baggage and a shared bad history. Someone who’ll love her and take care of her the way she should be.

I can be that last one.