Chapter 33

Hannah My mom is many things, but appropriate isn’t one of them. She can barely stand and is laughing in that hiccup way I remember from my childhood. I’m so embarrassed. I don’t even dare to look at Tobias but keep my eyes on the table while blood gushes into my ears.

I might just be eighteen, but my mom is why I was forced to grow up way too young.

I matured because I had to cook her meals and take care of the dishes she left everywhere in the house.

My mom would party, and I slept alone in my bed, waking to her trying to sneak into the house in the morning but failing because she was drunk.

And then it would start, her arguing with my dad. He was always drunk, but unlike he didn’t leave the house-he was too busy lying dead on the couch.

my mom, They spent more time yelling at each other than asking me how I was and how school was going…

So yeah, my parents shouldn’t even be called parents. They let me down so often when I was young that I can’t remember ever coming home and thinking, “I missed my mom and dad.” Which is why I’m close to tears right now. I thought my mom was gone from my life, but here she is, ruining my date with Tobias.

How wonderful. Will I ever get rid of her?

I love my parents, but good lord, they are embarrassing…

“Mrs. Darling, how about you sit down?”

I look up to find Tobias guiding my mom to a chair by the table next to ours. He has a focused expression and a well-practiced smile on his lips. The one he uses for business, I’ve realized. “I don’t want to sit on this chair…” my mom pouts and crosses her arms over her chest. It’s an odd feeling watching your parent act like a child. I’ve seen it many times before, but this is the first time I see the reaction of a third party seeing my mom like this.

Tobias silently glances at me, and I wonder what he is thinking. Is he feeling sorry for me?

I can’t help the anxious feeling spreading within me. Even though I don’t like how my mom is acting, I still don’t want to hear Tobias say anything bad about her. Because as screwed up as it is, I still love her-she is my flesh and blood, so how could I not?

I disappear into my own world, blinking when Tobias grabs my hands to help me up from the chair.

“Are we going somewhere?” I ask.

“I called my driver and a butler. Your mother will be taken to one of my hotels if they can’t figure out where she is staying. As for you and me, I think it’s time to leave.”

Does he want to leave because my mom killed the mood, and he doesn’t feel the romance? Or does he want to leave because he pities me? I can’t tell, and it kills me.

I follow him out of the restaurant, past waitresses wishing us a good night while tears prickle behind my eyes.

What is going on inside his head?

I don’t know if I could take it if Tobias made fun of my mom. If he says something along the terms of, “Wow, she for sure was drunk…” I will cry. It might be true, but… I just don’t want to endure hearing it.

Then again, Tobias’s silence might be worse. We get into a cab, and the ride home is long and painful.

I’m messed up when we get out and walk up the stairs to the mansion.

“I don’t fit into your life…”

Tobias turns around while holding up the door. I don’t think he heard what I said, and he tilts his head, looking surprised. “Excuse me? Did you say something?”

My eyes are stinging from the tears. “You have everything. A mansion, a nice family, brothers, and a career-you’re successful, and I’m just… I’m just trying to figure out where I fit into that.

Tobias closes the door after I walk in, scowling. “You’re just saying that because you’re upset.”

“Or maybe I was thinking about it in the back of my head.”

He winces, and I hate that I hurt him, but I can’t help myself. My head is spinning. Tobias and I come from opposite worlds, and I’m stupid, so fucking stupid, for realizing that now.

No matter the dresses I wear or the makeup and hairdo, I will always be the girl from the slum with two alcoholic parents. I’m dirt, while Tobias is perfect and wealthy.

“I love you, I love you so much, but what if this is a mistake? What if we are just a disaster waiting to happen because we come from different worlds? There is no solid proof for this to work-”

“Proof?” Tobias cuts me off. His face is no longer calm, but his eyes are darkened with fury.” You need proof, Hannah?”

I stare at him, face wet with tears. Tobias’s nostrils are flaring, and he is breathing hard, but so am I. We are both upset, and my emotions are all over the place.

I’m not thinking straight, and when I say nothing, Tobias angrily hangs off his suit where his jackets are.

“Because if you need proof of us being meant for each other, I can show you exactly what need.”

you There is a dark gleam in his eye. I’m not certain whether to be afraid or intrigued, but his tone. pushes me toward being intimidated. We are fighting right now, right?

It only makes sense for me to be wary, right?

My lips part, but before I can respond and ask Tobias what he means, he advances on me. This tall, hulking man wearing only a white shirt with rolled-up sleeves.

Shit I’m not sure what to expect: pain or anger. Fear grips my throat at the same time he reaches me. His hands grip my shoulders, slides further down to my sides, and then I’m hoisted off the ground.

But there is no pain.

Tobias claims my mouth, and shock seeps through me. My heart is drumming in my ears, and I don’t know what is happening. All I know is that I kiss him back, feverishly, desperately, passionately.

My fingers wind up in his brown, almost blonde hair. I don’t know what color it is, but it doesn’t matter. It’s soft and smells nice, and I let his tongue control mine as we enter another room.

Tobias’s clothes come off. Mine drop on the floor too, but I’m barely able to register the change. I’m too busy kissing him back, so invested in him that it comes as a shock when I realize we are sitting on the couch.

I break from his lips. “The couch?”

“You have a problem with that?” He asks in a sultry tone and guides me to turn around while sitting in his lap.

It confuses me. Our position. My naked back is presented to Tobias, who bites my shoulder and nips at the skin. I shudder in response and squirm in his lap. My feet are above the ground, and my thighs rest over his thicker, more muscular ones.

“I’m going to use you tonight,” Tobias whispers. “I’m going to take my selfish pleasure, but you will like it.

Do you know why? Because you love it. You’re a dirty girl who loves getting used.”

I suck in a deep breath, loving the darker tone in his voice. I’m not sure when this changed to be about sex, but… I can’t complain. My sex is swollen, and Tobias’s hard cock is right underneath me.

Tobias kisses my neck from behind and fondles my naked breast. His hands are large but gentle. It’s a nice contrast from his voice which is just pure darkness and seduction.

“I’m going to sink my cock deep inside your wet pussy and lift you up and down until I cum. I will selfishly pump into you, and I won’t stop no matter what you say because I’m proving a point.”

One of his fingers is playing with my clit, and I close my eyes, barely able to find my voice.” What point?”

“The point that you and I are made for each other, Hannah. You make me smile and laugh, and you also have a high tolerance for what I like. In fact, you like being dominated by me, don’t you?”

I’m so wet that I’m close to rubbing against his cock, but I can’t, not yet. I have things I want to say. “I’m afraid of you.”

“Why?” Tobias asks.

“Because of how vulnerable you make me.”

He kisses my neck, inhaling the scent of my hair. “Vulnerable because I’m the only man you have ever loved?”

There is a lump in my throat that I fiercely swallow. “Yes…”

Tobias breathes a laugh, smiling against my skin. “If you think admitting that you love me will get rid of me, you’re wrong. I’m not going anywhere, and I refuse to give you up.’

“We won’t last.”

“What makes you say that?”

“It just… we are too happy.”

His hands turn gentler, and he caresses my breasts. “That vulnerability you’re feeling is the price you pay for love, Hannah. I’ve learned that you can’t win the jackpot without being a player in the game. So when Sarah broke my heart, I thought, ‘No more women. That way, my heart can’t be broken again,’ but I met you. And… I changed my mind.”

I’m close to tears again, but for a whole other reason. “And I was worth the risk?” I ask in a low voice.

“You were,” Tobias responds. “You are the best thing that has ever happened to me.”