Unexpected Fate (2 page)

I lie down on my bed and stare up at the ceiling. Maybe I should go away for college. I planned on living at home while I attended Georgia Tech, but there is no way I can deal with this stuff any longer. If my father had things his way, I would be shipped off to become a nun. Or he would buy an island and make it an all-girls cult.

“Uhggggg!” I yell to the empty room.

“Seriously, Dani-girl, things can’t be that bad.”

I jump up when I hear the deep, gravelly, insanely sexy voice coming from my bedroom door. That voice. My lord. The things it alone does to me should be classified as illegal.

My hair slaps me in the face, a good handful landing in my open mouth, and I hastily pull it out before I turn to where
he
is standing.

My lord, he’s beautiful. He’s always been. My heart speeds up when I take in his smirking face and the mischief dancing in his brown eyes.

“Cat got your tongue?”

I shake my head.

“Speechless?”

I shake it again.

“Do you really have some flesh-eating, boil-slash-Ebola-like sickness?” he laughs.

I narrow my eyes at him, and his rich laughter booms through the room.

“I’m just kidding, Dani-girl. Come on. Get yourself ready and let’s go rock this prom.”

My jaw drops again. “What?”

For the first time, I notice that he’s dressed in a perfectly tailored tux. My eyes travel down his tall form to his shining, black dress shoes. On the way back up, my eyes hit the corsage spinning around his finger before I look back up into those gorgeous eyes.

“Let’s go, beautiful.”

“Does Daddy know you’re here?” I ask, not moving from my spot.

He sighs, steps into my room, and walks over. His cologne, Gucci Black, wraps around me. He’s worn the same scent for years. I perversely sniff it every time I hit the mall with Lyn and Lila. That scent—it’s my undoing.

He grabs one of my hands and gives my knuckles a kiss before placing the corsage around my wrist. He gives my hand a squeeze before letting go. Placing his strong hands on my shoulders, he presses down until I’m seated on my bed. Kneeling before me, he takes my feet one by one and fastens the straps of my black heels before standing and grabbing my hands, again, to pull me to my feet.

The whole time, I act like a freak and just gape at him.

What in the hell is going on?

“Ready?” he asks.

“Uhhh . . .”

“Right. You’re ready,” he laughs, grabs my hand, and pulls me through the house, down the stairs, and into the entryway of the house, where my parents are waiting.

Mom has her camera ready, forcing us to take some pictures, for all of which I’m sure I’m just standing there in a daze. I think I smiled in them, but I was too busy trying to figure out what the hell is going on. Daddy smiles big and triumphantly the whole time, like he’s won some battle here.

“Oh, good. You got here,” Nate mumbles through a sandwich he’s stuffing down his throat.

I shake out of my stunned stupor and look over at him. “You did this?” I ask with disbelief.

“Well, duh. Can’t have my little sister miss her prom because of some boils. Plus, I knew this guy,” he says, pointing at our father, “wouldn’t mind
him.
” He takes another bite before he looks over my shoulder. “And I know
he
isn’t going to try to pet the cat.”

“Nathaniel Gregory!” Mom gasps.

“What? Why do you think Dad acts like he does? Just because I’m willing to say the words doesn’t mean you have to freak out.”

I look over at my mom, who has turned bright red.

Daddy laughs at her embarrassment and pulls her into his arms. “Are you sure we didn’t drop that one a few times as a baby?”

She slaps his hard stomach and shakes her head. “You look beautiful, honey. Have fun, okay?”

I smile at her and move my eyes to Daddy to judge his mood.

He just smiles at me. “I trust
him.
He won’t let any of those pimple-faced, prepubescent boys touch a beautiful hair on your head. Have fun, sweetheart.”

I walk over and give them both a hug, standing up on my toes as far as a can to whisper my gratitude in his ear. He’s annoying, overprotective, and possessive of his girls, but I love him and I know he comes from a good place.

“Uh, excuse me? Do I not get any little-sister love here? I’m the one running this show, you know?”

“You’re such a dork, Nate,” I laugh and give him a hug before turning back to my date.

He’s standing by the door, talking in low tones to my daddy. I can’t hear him, but he’s still smiling, so I’m guessing there isn’t any talk about dismemberment going on. He looks over, his smile deepening and the lines around his eyes crinkling. Something moves behind his eyes that darkens them slightly, but he looks back over at Daddy, finishing up their conversation.

“Ready, Dani-girl?” he asks a few minutes later, making my heart speed up again.

Holy. Crap.

“Yeah. I’m ready.” Or at least as ready as I’ll ever be.

That night, while dancing to Brett Young’s “Kiss by Kiss,” I knew I would never be the same. I could feel the jealous waves coming off every female in the room as
he
held me in his arms. Of course, I had a man and not a boy as my date. Five years older than I am and very obviously not a teenager.

Being held in his arms was a dream come true. His scent invaded my lungs with every inhale. His eyes twinkled as his smile held me hostage. I knew I would never love a man as much as I love him.

Yeah. That was the night I confirmed what I had always known. What I had always felt.

Cohen Cage owned my heart and I never wanted it back.

Four years later

UGH.

I swear to God, if he wakes me up like this one more time, I’ll kill him.

Like, really kill him.

Throwing back the covers, I jump out of bed, shivering when my bare feet hit the cold hardwood floor and the cool air hits my fevered skin. Then I march—because really, when you’re in a snit, you shouldn’t just walk. Full-on toddler-like stomping needs to ensue. The door, yanked open and flung back, bounces off the wall with a loud
thwack.
Then I stomp some more down the hallway until I hit his door. Then, because this is completely normal behavior for a twenty-one-year-old chick, both hands come up and I bang the hell out of his door with both fists.

“You no-good, dirty pervert! I swear to God, Nate., I hope you get a flesh-eating STD and your dick rots off!”

I can hear him laughing at me through the door. The freaking sicko.

“Turn that crap down, Nate!” I yell before a big cough takes over and I have to pause while hacking up a lung . . . or two.

Does he turn it down? Nope, not that low-down, dirty dog. He turns it up and the sounds of female moans, manly grunts, and skin slapping echoes through his doorway and into the hall.

“You’re disgusting!” I scream, doubling my efforts to break down his door so I can kill his sick porn-watching ass by kicking my feet between beats of my fist. “When I get in there, I’m going to beat your head in with your porn collection. Go to town on your thick skull with one of those DVDs until it all just explodes! Nasty dirtbag!”

“Little princess, what in the hell are you doing?”

I spin around and march over to where my father is standing. His hair is standing on all ends, his eyes looking tired, and his expression is a mixture of confusion and exhaustion.

“
That
in
there
is exactly why I need my own place. Do you know how disgusting it is waking up to the sounds of your own brother beating his junk? I swear, Daddy, I’m going to kill him!” I end my rant and instantly deflate, coughing a few times. “I just want some sleep. I feel like crap and I literally just fell asleep, and now, the king of pocket play is at it again. Can we just buy him a hooker? Please, Daddy! Let’s get him a hooker.”

His lips twitch, and his arms unfold from his chest, opening wide for me to fall into them. Which, of course, I do. I’m not ashamed that I’m still very much a daddy’s girl.

“We aren’t getting your brother a hooker. They’re too classy for his ass.”

I laugh and hug him tighter when his gruff chuckles vibrate through his chest.

“What’s wrong with my girl?” he asks, pulling me back and looking into my eyes.

“Nothing. Just a little cold. I’ll be fine . . .
with some sleep!
” I yell towards Nate’s bedroom. And, of course, dissolve into a coughing fit that has my overprotective father narrowing his eyes.

“Go on back to bed, little princess. Let me deal with your brother. I’ll have Mom come up and check on you.” He gives me a strong hug and spins me toward my room. Then, almost like my words just hit him, he says, “And no more talk about moving out. Not happening.”

Ugh.

Seriously. He’s told me since I was a little girl that I would never leave his house because I was his little princess and, if he couldn’t watch out for me, then all the dirty, thieving, no-good men of the world would get their hands on me.

To say that growing up with Axel Reid as a father was a little . . . tough, would be an understatement. Don’t get me wrong. I love my daddy. But he is protective with a capitol P. Possessive of “his girls,” which is what he calls Mom and me—to the point where he would probably kill a man who looked at us cross.

I love him . . . but sometimes, I want to strangle him.

That being said, I know that, if I ever needed someone in my corner, no questions asked, that person would be my daddy.

I shuffle back down the hall. Now that I know that Nate will be handled and the rush of trying to kill him has started to fade, I realize just how bad I feel. I came home early yesterday from what was supposed to be a girls’ weekend at Lyn and Lila’s apartment with them and Maddi Locke. We had the best weekend planned of makeovers—and by that, I mean me dying and cutting their hair—junk food, and a Gossip Girl marathon. It wasn’t an hour into the night when I felt like I had been hit by a truck.

Maddi made sure I got home okay, and I crashed instantly.

I drop down into bed, pull the covers over my head, and try to ignore how bad my body hurts.

“What’s wrong, Dani?” Mom whispers a little while later after walking into my room and closing the door softly behind her.

I can still hear Daddy yelling at Nate from down the hall, but at least the damn porn sounds have finally stopped.

She sits down, and her cold hand presses against my forehead. “Sweetheart, you’re burning up. Tell me what’s bothering you.”

“I’m okay, Mom. I just need to sleep,” I mumble and burrow deeper into the pillows.

“What you need is a doctor, little princess,” Daddy grumbles from the now open doorway.

“Go away,” I groan and try to ignore them so I can go to sleep.

“Go away my ass,” he snaps.

I hear him bend down and kiss Mom before whispering to her low enough that I can’t understand him. Another kiss—gross—and the sounds of him walking away.

I finally start to drift off with my mom’s soothing touch rubbing my back and she begins to hum softly. Of course, that is short-lived, because not even two minutes later, I’m being wrapped up like a burrito cocooned in my blanket and lifted off the bed. I don’t have to open my eyes to know that Daddy is getting his way. The scent of leather and cinnamon hits my nose, and I hear his rough complaining.