Page 21 of His to Possess

What anass. I think I could actually smack him right now. “I’m not going to sit in your penthouse for a week. I have a job.”

He jerks back, seemingly shocked. “What?”

I blink at him, momentarily distracted from my anger by his strange reaction. “A job. You know that thing where you go do work for someone and they pay you money?”

He glares. “Not cute, Lilah. Where do you work?”

“Why does it matter?”

“Damn it,” he mutters, eyes a little wild. “I do not have the patience for this.” He leans in close once again and drops his voice, command echoing in every word. “Tell me where the fuck you work.”

“At Joey’s bar,” I whisper, not really sure why I’m telling him but somehow feeling like it would be impossiblenotto obey him. “I waitress.”

“You’re a waitress?” he growls, seeming even angrier.

“What’s wrong with being a waitress?”

“You went to Duke,” he spits out, and my cheeks flush as hard as they had when he first walked in.

“I didn’t graduate.”

He rears back, gaping down at me. “What? Why in the hell not?”

Suddenly, I feel close to tears. I wrap my arms around my middle and slide off the bar stool, needing to put some space between us. “I don’t see why that matters. It has nothing to do with the state of my virginity, which is the only reason why I’m here, right?”

“Lilah.”

I can’t read the emotion in his voice but I don’t really care. I need to not be in this room right now. “I’m not feeling well. I’m going to lay down.”

“Wait.” He catches my arm as I try to scurry past but I refuse to look up. “I want to talk about this.”

“Well I don’t.” I wrench my arm away, and this time he lets me go.

I’m almost out of the kitchen when he calls after me, his voice strained. “If you want to go home to pick up some things, I’ll take you whenever you’re ready.”

I want to refuse. The last thing in the world I want right now is for Philip Matthews to see where I’m living. But I simply don’t have the energy to argue anymore. And I’m afraid if I stay in this kitchen for another minute, I’ll burst into tears.

“Give me half an hour?”

“Of course.” I pause in the doorway for a second longer, half expecting him to say more. When he doesn’t, I quicken my pace and hurry back to my bedroom where I can finally let the tears fall.

Philip

Ihave half a mind to fire Jane. She stopped by first thing this morning to deliver Lilah’s phone and give me a preliminary report of her findings—not bad for less than twelve hours work. She found out plenty about the girl in my guest room, including things that had absolutely shocked me, but she hadn’t told me she was working in some fucking bar, or that she left school.

I don’t understand what’s happening here. What the hell did she mean she didn’t graduate from Duke? And how had I not heard about it? It’s not like I’ve ever made a habit of checking up on her—she’s always just been my little sister’s best friend. But that same little sister calls me at least twice a week and basically never shuts up once she gets me on the phone. Why wouldn’t she have mentioned something like that? Lilah is her closest friend.

Though now that I’m giving it some thought, I haven’t heard her mention Lilah too much lately. I figured it was just because Veronica is out of the country, too full of info about her new friends and everything she’s doing and seeing in Europe to keep me up to date about old friends from home. But maybe it’s more than that. Maybe they’ve had some kind of falling out.

I glance at the time on my phone. Evening in Rome. I’d been planning on waiting for this until I had more info, but after what Lilah just said and everything Jane told me earlier, I think it’s high time I have a chat with my sister.

She answers on the first ring. “Philly!” In spite of the giant clusterfuck I seem to have landed myself in, I can’t help but grin at the sound of Veronica’s voice.

“What have I told you about that name?”

She laughs. “That you love me so much I’m allowed to call you whatever I want?”

I snort. “Nice try. So. How’s Rome?”