Page 74 of Forbidden Empire

So, there I was, pacing in and out of the room she was resting in like some rabid yo-yo, totally failing to bottle my temper and ignoring every other feeling clawing its way up from the pit of my stomach.

Knowing I needed to get my shit together, I decided to walk around the perimeter of the building and inspect the security.

When I stepped back into Esme’s room, she jumped and sent the book she was reading tumbling to the floor.

She tried to reach it and then yelped and winced like an injured puppy.

“Stop,” I grumbled, squatting to grab the book and dumping it back in her lap.

Her eyes locked on mine, and for a second, I forgot how to breathe. There was a whole hurricane of emotion in her stare, and all of it was directed right at me.

I hadn’t even considered how she might feel.

I’d been so wrapped up in my own mess, staggering under the weight of it, that I never paused to think about what she was dealing with.

Now, we were locked in this silent standoff, both of us stubborn as hell, both refusing to blink first. But underneath all that attitude, some part of us was just relieved.

We were safe.

At least for now.

Not that I’d put it past her to pull some reckless stunt and drag us right back into a shitstorm.

I didn’t trust her one bit.

And judging by the suspicion and hostility lurking behind her eyes, she didn’t trust me either.

A flicker of guilt stabbed through my chest.

Still, she’d screwed up, and she needed to hear it.

“You could have died,” I snapped, the words sharp, my tone as cold as I could make it.

I wanted her to understand just how close it had been. Inches, maybe less, between her and being gone forever. And I wanted her to know what that would have done to me.

She neither flinched nor blinked, giving no indication whether she heard the accusation in my voice.

“So could you,” she said, with a shrug, like we weren’t talking about life and death. Like it was nothing.

That just pissed me off even more, a rush of anger burning in my chest.

“Do you think you’re invincible?” I shot back, not bothering to hide the fury anymore.

She looked at me, chin up, eyes stubborn.

“You don’t get to decide when I fight,” she said, another shrug, full of attitude.

I stared at her, shaking my head.

This was what I was up against.

A woman-child, stubborn, impossible, convinced she already knew it all.

A brat who refused to listen to reason.

I closed the distance, leaned in, and stared into those defiant, flashing eyes. “You disobeyed me, Esme.”

“You don’t own me.”