Owned by My Sinful Guardian novel · Chapter 4 of 32

Chapter 4: The Keys

"Get in, Darby."

I stood on the wet grass with the duffel on my shoulder.

"Were you following us?"

"I was parked at the end of the street." He didn't pretend otherwise. "Since ten."

"That's a little creepy, Mr. Thorley."

"I know." His hand stayed on the door. "I couldn't drive away. Get in, please. You're in heels on a road with no sidewalk."

I got in.

The cab smelled like coffee and cold air.

He reached across me to pull the door shut, and his arm didn't touch me once.

"Hotel," he said, pulling away from the curb. "I'll get you a room downtown. On my card, for as long as you want it."

"No."

"Darby."

"I'm not waking up in a room you paid for." I plugged my dead phone into his cable without asking. "My friend Gretchen has a couch on the South Side. Take me there."

He looked at me sideways.

Then he took the turn for the Parkway.

We drove in silence for three exits.

The dashboard light made his face look carved.

He'd taken off the jacket, and his white shirt was rolled to the elbow.

There were old burn marks all over his forearms, the kind every line cook has.

I had one on my right wrist.

"I need to say something," he said finally.

"Okay."

"What happened in that washroom." His hands tightened on the wheel. "I'm the man your father trusted with you. I've been sending checks for your braces. And I put my hands on you in a bathroom like a..."

He couldn't finish it.

"Like a what?"

"You were eight years old the last time anybody showed me your picture."

"Twelve," I said. "Randall made me sit for school pictures for you until I was twelve. Then he said you'd stopped asking."

← Chapter 3 · All chapters · Chapter 5 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend