TOBY
“And you pretty much have this entire building to yourself?” Jodie asks as I pull into the outside car park for our building and she stares out of the window, her eyes running up the height of it.
“Yeah. We have the top two floors.”
“You are aware of how utterly insane this is, right? You should all be at home with your parents.”
“We’re not normal kids,” I say by way of an explanation.
“You don’t say,” she mutters, half in amusement, half in shock.
I drive toward the building, the roller door to the secure underground garage opening as I get closer.
Jodie continues to gawp, but that’s nothing compared to the way her eyes widen at the sight of the cars all parked down here.
“This is storage for other people’s cars, right?”
“Sure, you can believe that if you want.”
“Just how fucking rich are you all?”
“I don’t have a figure for you, but trust me when I tell you that if you were to stick around, you’d never have to worry about a penny ever again in your life.” I don’t want it to sound arrogant or entitled, it’s just the truth.
Jonas might have done everything he could to try to strip me and Mum of everything we should have been entitled to should his untimely demise occur, but thanks to Damien and some seriously impressive work by Charon, the man I thought was my grandfather, it’s looking likely that Mum will get everything she deserves.
Quite honestly, I could live the rest of my life without a penny more of his money. I’m more than capable of earning my own. Hell, I’ve been doing as such for years in the hope that one day we might have been able to break free. It was wishful thinking I guess, but at least if things hadn’t gone the way they did and Mum didn’t have Galen to fall back on, I’d have had enough to keep us going for a while.
“Wow,” she breathes. “This is like a whole other world.”
Pulling into my space, I don’t hang around for fear of someone else appearing and trying to steal my girl off me. I have plans, and none of them involve hanging out with my friends and allowing them to get to know her, to dig too deep and ruin everything before it’s come to fruition.
Climbing from the car, my eyes lock on the doorway that leads down to our secret basement. I can’t help wondering just how much Jonas must be regretting his life choices right now.
It really is a shame that it’s going to get worse before it gets better.
Eager to explore, Jodie is already out of the car by the time I get around to the passenger side, her eyes darting from car to car while mine linger on her.
The black wrap dress she’s wearing hugs her curves in the most mouth-watering way. The deep V at the front shows off the perfect amount of skin, teasing me with what I know is hiding beneath, and the skirt kisses the tops of her knees. It’s demure but stunning.
“I can’t get enough of you,” I tell her honestly, stepping up to her, taking her hand in one of mine and the container in the other.
“The feeling is entirely mutual,” she purrs, running her free hand up my chest, causing a shudder of desire to head straight for my cock.
She grips the back of my neck and stretches up to brush her lips against mine, but right at the last minute, I take a step back and tug her along with me.
“If you let me kiss you right now, we’ll never make it up to my flat before you’re naked and impaled on my cock,” I say over my shoulder, moving faster through the garage.
“And they say romance is dead,” she deadpans.
In less than a minute, the lift doors are closing behind us and I’ve got her backed up against the wall, my forearm planted on either side of her head as I stare down into her eyes.
My chest heaves almost as fast as hers does, our breaths mingling as we fight the magnetic pull between us.
“Toby,” she whispers, dragging her bottom lip through her teeth and tempting me like the demon she is.
“I shouldn’t be doing this, Jodie,” I tell her honestly, my heart aching in my chest. “You’re too good for this life, for me.”
Silence falls around us as she absorbs my words.