Possession(89)

“Sir, you have Mr Montgomery waiting for you in reception.”

All lust leaves me at the sound of my father’s name. What in the hell is he doing here? I look up at Drake and see the annoyance in his eyes. “Okay. I’ll be right there.”

The guard nods. “Very well, sir.”

The guard leaves, and Drake turns to me, leaning his head against mine. “I’m sorry about this. If you want to stay out here until he leaves—”

“I want to come inside with you.”

“Are you sure?”

I nod my head, but I can’t believe that Drake is letting me choose. He takes my hand and leads the way. All the while, my heart is thumping in my chest. What on earth could he be here for?

Once inside, I see my father pacing in the reception room. He spots us and lifts his head, but he is obviously surprised when he sees me. “Brought her in to gloat I suppose?” he sneers at Drake.

“I don’t know what you mean,” Drake responds.

“You know exactly what I fucking mean.”

Drake storms towards him and picks up his collar. “Don’t you fucking dare come into my house and talk to me like this. You seem to keep forgetting who you’re talking to.

“You must have known. You must have! Why would you give us all that money only to make us lose it all?” My eyes widen, wondering what the hell he means.

“Because it was never about the fucking money. It was always about Evelyn.” Drake turns to me with a smile, but my father looks like he wants to kill me.

“I should have sold you to Isaac when I had the chance.”

In no time, Drake punches my father, and he lands in a heap on the floor. My father cries out, and I see when blood starts to drip from his nose. He tries to get up, but Drake holds him there by his foot. “I’m going to tell you what’s going to happen next. First, you’re going to leave my house and never return. Second, you’re going to take your penniless, worthless fucking arse out of this town and preferably out of this country. You are not to come within ten miles of this town. Ever. Again.” Drake bends down and grabs him by his collar again. “Be grateful to your daughter because if it wasn’t for her, you would have a bullet in your head by now. Got it?” My father vigorously nods his head. “Now, get out of here before I squeeze you by your scrawny little neck until there’s no life left.” Drake pushes him away, and we both watch as my father gets up, stumbles, and then walks out.

At first, I don’t know what to say. Drake’s just standing there, looking angry. Thoughts of when he hit that pervert, Charles, come into my head, but this time, it’s different. I can really feel the murderous anger pouring off of him. But despite all his anger, I need to know.

“What happened?”

Drake inhales sharply before walking over and pouring himself a glass of bourbon. He takes a swig and then pours another before turning to me. “I like to play with the stock market at times, and people—including your father—know I’ve gotten good at it. There was a company called Briars, which was once a blossoming company. I got word that they had made some bad business decisions and were about to go bust. I just thought it was a good idea to convince your father to invest all the money he had left into it. I told him he would be set for life if he invested. He believed me as he had no reason not to. He invested all his money a few days ago and just found out this afternoon that he’s lost the lot. As you can tell, he is rather angry.” He finally smiles at me.

“Did you do all that for me? But all your money—”

“You heard what I said. It wasn’t about the money. It never was. Things changed for you in a dramatic way, and while you got the shit end of the deal, they were left lording it up like they were a king and queen. How was that fair to you? Something had to be done.”

My eyes start to water immediately at his words. I know Drake has always been there for me, but I never thought he would do something like this. Does this mean he truly loves me? He must. Mustn’t he?

Without another thought, I walk up to him and place my hand on his arm. “Can you get your driver to take me home? I would like to freshen up for our dinner.”

“Of course. Do you want me to come with you?”

I shake my head. “No. I will only be an hour tops. Stay here, and I will be with you soon.”

Drake nods and asks Kane to escort me home and wait for me once we get there. Once home, I take a quick shower and slip into the one dress I can still fit into. It’s long, red, and coincidently one of Drake’s favourites. Once I’m ready, I slip into my high heels, walk over to my coffee table, and deal with something I should have dealt with ages ago. Once done, I grab my bag and head outside to where Kane is.