Page 6 of Point of Contention

I closed my eyes on a long blink, then pressed the button to lower the privacy divider. Once I informed Cole of the destination change, he adjusted his route, heading south to Park Slope instead of deeper into the city to my penthouse.

Her desire to go home was another chink in my armor. It made me feel lost, desperate.

Despicable, unfamiliar feelings.

I grasped at straws while we drove, but could come up with nothing useful to say, nothing that might change her mind. She wanted to be away from me and I had to give her that space.

It was I, after all, who’d destroyed any semblance of normalcy in her life. Whywouldn’tshe want to distance herself from me? From my father?

“We’re going to need to talk about this,” I said as we turned onto her street. “At some point…”

She nodded, but didn’t respond.

My driver guided the car to a stop in front of Rylan’s house and panic seized my chest.

All too soon, Cole pulled her door open.

I stared down at my hands fiercely gripped around my thighs and focused on keeping them in place instead of grabbing her by the neck and hauling her into my lap. As much as I wanted to bend her over my knee and punish her for making me feel this way, take her home with me to reassert myself as her Dominant, then worship her like she deserved, that wasn’t whatsheneeded right now.

She needed me to be patient.

She needed me to let her go.

When she didn’t immediately exit the car, a glimmer of hope bloomed in my chest.

“Are you upset with me?” she whispered without turning around to face me.

The uncertainty in her voice gave my armor another beating. “Rylan, look at me.”

Her shoulders rose and fell on a deep breath, then she gave a sharp nod and turned slowly around to face me. Tears glistened in her eyes, but hadn’t slipped down her cheeks yet.

I swore under my breath. “Give us a moment.”

Cole closed the door quickly and I slid across the seat, pulling Rylan into my arms. She turned and scrambled up onto my lap, pressing her nose into my neck as the tears began to fall.

Finally allowed to touch her again, I couldn’t stop. I ran my hands through her dark hair, over her back, everywhere all at once and it still wasn’t enough. “Why would I be mad at you?”

She sniffled but didn’t lift her head. “Because of what I said… about marriage.”

“No.”Yes. “Marriage is not the natural next step for us, Rylan.” I pressed my nose into her hair and breathed deeply, tightening my arms around her. “It was a preposterous idea when Rombauer suggested it. I don’t want to get married.”

And yet…

That fucking awful twist of pain in my chest would beg to differ.

What had this woman done to me?

Rylan lifted her head to look up at me, eyes narrowing as she swiped at the wetness on her cheeks. “What did you just say?”

I replayed my words in my mind. “I’m not mad at you?”

“No, no.” She shook her head, waving her hand in the air absently. “That Mr. Rombauer suggested this?”

Fuck.

Her brow furrowed and I sensed her pulling away from me before she even moved. “You knew this was going to happen?”

My heart stuttered. “No. I squashed it immediately, told him the idea was ridiculous and out of the question. I assumed that was the end of it.”