Page 125 of Claimed At First Sight

I press my lips together, closing my eyes briefly to contain the fury this woman unleashes in me. Every instinct I possess is demanding that I reassert control of this conversation. Of her.

Neither impulse is likely to end well.

When I open my eyes again, Mia is still glaring at me, every bit as furious as I am.

If I don’t leave now, I’ll put her over my knee and give her a damn good spanking for challenging me. And today is not the day to test where that impulse leads.

Clutching the album beneath my arm, I turn and walk out.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Mialina

Argh!

I pick up the book I was reading before this arrogant ass stormed in here and throw it against the door.

Unfortunately, it does nothing to settle the hornets buzzing inside me.

“Controlling, pompous, overbearing lunatic,” I yell after him, even though he probably can’t hear me anymore.

The man steals my property, interrogates me like I’ve committed a crime, announces he’s locking my book in a safe, and somehow leaves acting as though I’m the unreasonable one.

How? How is that possible?

What kind of twisted mental gymnastics does one have to perform to arrive at that conclusion?

I’m going to need a new word for infuriating because Maximo has officially exhausted the existing vocabulary. Maybe obnoxiferous or…

I stomp along the length of the room, tapping my chin.

Exasperidiotic. Yes, that sounds right.

Actually, at this point, his name should qualify as a verb.

Stop maximoting me.

No, that sounds encouraging.

Stop maximoting all over my life.

Much better. Yes, that seems accurate.

Though he’d probably see it as a compliment having even part of his name in the new verb.

Still fuming, I spin on my heel and storm up the stairs. Sienna sticks her head out of her bedroom.

“Are you okay, Mia?”

“Yeah. Fine.”

She raises an eyebrow. It’s obvious I’m not.

“Go back to bed,” I tell her, not breaking my stride.

She frowns. “It’s only six o’clock.”

I continue marching down the hallway.