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I give him a quick smile, but it doesn’t soften the hardness in his eyes. But I don’t budge either. My independence is what drives me. I’ve never relied on anybody. Not even him.

He takes a step into me. “You’re my family. And my baby. I’m here to help you. Get that through your beautiful fucking head, okay? Stop being so fucking stubborn and accept my help.”

The certainty in his voice, the confidence, it makes my independence waver. But only a little. “I amfineon my own, Trent.”

The muscles in his jaw flex and clench. “You drive me fucking crazy.”

I shimmy over to the end of the massive bed and Trent looks down, giving me a kiss on the forehead, holding my shoulders still. His thumb and forefinger grip my chin, forcing me to look up at him.

He holds my stare for one beat. Two. Just enough to tell things have changed between us. “You need to get used to a new life, Kitty Kat. I’m not shitting you. I’m your new Daddy and you’re going to learn to love it.”

Daddy.Daddy.It’s no less powerful to think of that word now that we’re outside the heat of the moment. Deep inside me, it spins my belly and makes a shiver crawl up and down my spine.

“My toes curl every time you say that word.”

“Good,” he growls.

And in that growl, I hear something new. A deep well of something more, something darker, simmering below the surface.

And I don’t know if I’m ready for that at all.

“We’ll see. You’re not my commanding officer, Trent. And I don’t know if you’re my Daddy. But fine. Let them move my stuff. I won’t stop them.”

He flares his nostrils and shakes his head, running his hand through his hair. “I like you fucking bratty like that. A lot. I just hope to fuck the drive to the attorney’s office is long enough to let my dick calm down.”

I look down at the front of his pants and sure enough, there it is—the thick pulsing outline of his cock, trying to escape from his jeans. And all because of me.

A quick ripple of desire tickles me as I look at it. And I wonder how in the world he can be hard again. So soon.

“Get out of here,” I say with a playful shove. “I can barely walk as it is.”

He takes my hand from his chest and kisses my palm. “Yellow dress today. I saw it in your apartment and brought it here myself.”

I blink back my surprise. “You did?”

“Fucking right. No way I was letting the movers touchthat.Wear it for me today. White panties. No thongs; no lace. Nothing slutty. Slutty isn’t bad, but there’s a time and a place for my baby to be a slut for me. Today, I need my baby girl to be pure for her Daddy, we clear?”

The wave of emotions inside me takes the words right out of my head. I want him. So much. But this is so, so wrong. I swallow hard, knowing somehow that I have to answer. And I have to answer in the right way. “Yes, Daddy. We’re clear.”

He likes that. I can see it. He hits me with a cocky wink and then gives me a greedy kiss on the cheek. His stubble scrapes my flesh a little and I nearly whimper in pleasure.

“See you later, baby girl,” he says, and then turns and leaves with his trademark Trent swagger.

As I hear his footfalls grow farther away, I let myself crumple back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling fan slowly spinning above.

The noise of the movers downstairs puts me on edge. I don’t like anybody being in this house with me, because the more people that know I am here, the bigger the risk of Rominovski finding me.

Findingus.

I watch the fan spin, trying to settle my breathing, calm my anxiety. But I can’t. The looming dread is inescapable. Keeping secrets from Trent before last night would’ve been difficult. But now?

Impossible.There’s just no way I’ll be able to hide the truth from him forever. And when I can’t anymore, then what?

The movers move my stuff with military precision, and when I try to help—to grab a box, or my drying rack, or whatever—I get nothing but a curt, “We don’t need your help, ma’am,” before they get on with business.

Feeling a little awkward and weirdly pampered, I make my way into the kitchen for a cherry yogurt. There, at the kitchen table, I find Edward, looking at his phone.

“Morning, soldier,” he says with a friendly smile.