JACE-2(Lane Brothers, Book 3)(10)
I’d be really embarrassed and ashamed if not for the fact that Lucian himself is tense and most obviously aroused. It’s horrible, but as I lick my lips and look at him, I’m fiercely glad to see him reach down to readjust himself, his face a mixture of angry need and steely control.
Another reason to be happy is that I now know what he wants.
Let me be honest here: I’m not about to complain about bartering my body for the help I need, not when the fact of the matter is, I’m gonna be winning on both fronts.
I want him, hatred or not, and if I get everything I need, and him, well, that’s me finally catching a break.
“Jesus Christ, you had better get well soon, Ashley,” he growls, giving me a heated stare. “Now, let’s review so that when we get to your house we’re on the same page. You and Ben are moving in with me. No, I can see you’re going to argue, so listen first,” he says quietly.
“You and I both know that it’s only a matter of time before you either lose that house or your brother. To that end, I am willing to agree with that head shrink. Benjamin needs stability. The only way to get that is for you to be stable enough to give him the time he needs with you. That means no working two or three jobs just to keep your head above water.”
His face is so hard when he says it that I shrink back a little just to avoid whatever the hell anger he’s dealing with. That stuff is practically pouring off him in waves.
“Also, and I hesitate to say this because I don’t want to hurt you, but as hard as you’ve been trying, you’re failing miserably. Now, now, Ashley, love, don’t look at me that way. I meant no offense.”
No offense! That asshole wants to sit there all cool and calm—I can’t believe he’s able to be so controlled while I’m sitting here trying to get my vagina under wraps—telling me that my piddly efforts are as good as worthless!
Did I say I wanted him? Well I freaking well don’t!
“And then there’s the issue of the cost of getting him treated and into a new school where his reputation for bullying won’t affect his education. To get everything done I’ll need you to start packing and call that pit you’ve been slaving in. Quit. Today.”
By this time we’re at my house, and I can’t respond to a thing before he’s pulling me out of the car and up to the door. A wave of dizziness hits me as I open it and step in.
“Whoa. You okay, love?” he asks, grabbing my elbow.
No. Yes. I can’t really say. For one thing, I still feel like crap, thanks to the mutated disease I have, and for another, I feel like I just stepped out of the freaking bus and into the twilight zone.
I’m a practical girl, thanks to the huge mess my life had become after Mom’s death, but even being that, I still can’t wrap my head around this all. It’s too fast and—
“I don’t want to move in with you. I’m not a whore to be bought, Lucian Jasper.”
It’s out before I can call it back, and I watch as the sweet concern on his face morphs into something so hard and cold I take a step back in fear.
“Never use that word again. Ever. You understand?” he snarls, pulling me close with a hand twisted in my hair. “Nod yes. Good girl. Now then. It’s a good thing you don’t just want sex, because I plan to do a lot more than own your body. Go get packed. I’ll collect Ben, and then I’ll be by to get you.”
“But—”
He turns at the door and looks at me with a blank expression that gives me the total willies. More than his angry face did, and I swallow back the lump rising in my throat.
Sure I want him, and for damn sure I could really use his help with my shitty life, but I just can’t seem to deal with the thought of living with him. What happens if I stop hating him and then he chucks us out?
What happens if I lose my hard won independence and grit only to be abandoned just like before?
I can’t deal with that; I know myself. So it would be better to just get everything out on the table before I walk down a path that I know I won’t be in any shape to return from.
“Ashley, love, let me make this very clear for you before you say another word. You either do as I tell you, or I can place a call to that social worker you’ve been dealing with and tell her exactly how bad Benjamin has become. Your choice. I’ll be back soon.”
I pack. Of course I do, because as many years as I’ve been apart from him, I know the man all too well. Lucian Jasper, heir to the Jasper throne and fortune, is nothing if not a force of his own.
The man is determined, ruthless, and most of all just downright mean when he feels thwarted. I’d seen it in the eighteen-year-old boy who’d swept me off my feet and beaten the hell out of Tommy Banner when he’d tried fondling me at school.