Page 29 of Secret Baby Daddies

Harley sputtered out a shocked response.

“M-me? What the hell did I do?”

Jace gripped her hips and looked up at her.

“Not you. The asshole who threw you down and fucked you on the brick ground. Are you hurting?”

Her cheeks went dark red but she still lifted her face and met my gaze.

“I’m fine. Just annoyed that he foiled my escape attempt.”

Jace reacted like she’d struck him. “Escape attempt?”

I grunted.

“Am I still the asshole?”

Jace growled but Harley wasn’t finished being angry at me.

“Yes.”

Maddox walked into the kitchen and up to Harley without reacting to the tension in the room. He kissed the side of her head and then hesitated before gripping the back of her neck and pulling her in for a heated kiss. When he managed to let her go, he groaned.

“You are a tasty treat in the morning, sweetheart.”

Harley blushed even brighter and stumbled back a step. She looked at the three of us and ran her hand through her hair.

“Um. Okay. This is intense. I just want to know who’s taking me to work.”

I prepared for battle as I got ready to say what I had to say.

“After your escape attempt last night I think we need to talk. You tried to run into the pitch-black night with nothing but a dying cellphone and the clothes on your back. You could’ve been hurt. I don’t know if we can trust you being at work on your own if you’re willing to put yourself in harm's way.”

I knew damn well I was overstepping. I knew we’d kidnapped her from her life and wanted to keep her locked away in our ivory tower and that it was a bad plan. I couldn’t keep the caveman inside my brain quiet, though. I had a primal need to keep her within arm’s reach. I wanted to know she was safe and secure, that our baby was safe and secure.

Harley’s eyes narrowed and I watched her hands ball into fists at her side.

“I have a life. I have to work. Not just to support myself but because I made a commitment to Susie when I agreed to work for her. Iwantto work. You think you can just scoop me up and hold me captive? You have no right to keep me here.”

I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. It was like I was watching myself pissing her off and couldn’t do anything to stop it.

“What don’t you understand about being ours?”

A terrifying smile twisted her lips and a calm washed over her that sent a chill down my spine.

“You want to own me and lock me away like your sweet little princess? No. One. Owns. Me. You think you’re the first man in my life to wave his money around to keep me put? You’re not. I’m not a kept woman. I’m not a high-dollar whore. If you want anything to do with me, at all, you’ll take me to work and get your head out of your ass.”

Jace gripped the back of her hair and used it to tilt her head so she was staring up at him.

“You don’t have to be a kept woman and you’re not a fucking high-dollar whore. Let’s get one thing straight, though, little girl. Youareours. Whether you want to admit it or not, you are.”

She glared at him.

“And are you mine?”

He reacted poorly, pulling back and frowning.

“What?”