I take in the classic brick Tudor-style home. Its turrets and arches bring to mind medieval castles. I’d expect nothing less of the auspicious senator.
Fuck, might as well get this over with.
I let out a heavy sigh as I take the few steps up to the stairway to the huge double doors.
The senator himself greets me at the door with a wide smile. I have a polite greeting of my own ready on my lips, but it dies in my throat when my eyes flick behind him and spot a mane of familiar gorgeous red locks tumbling around thin shoulders.
My entire body tenses. I know those curls. I watched them curl around my fingers enough last night that I’d know them anywhere.
The girl looks up, and those green eyes that I dreamt of all night widen in panicked recognition when they meet mine.
My heart leaps in my chest and then plummets.
It’s Holly.
MyHolly.
I already know what’s going on the moment I see her.
She’s the senator’s daughter.
Fuck me.
Three
Holly
Istare into Rocky's shocked eyes with horror. He stares back at me with a stony expression on his face.
My cheeks burn. He's probably upset to find out who I really am, and this is why I don't tell people who I am.
Because they're afraid of my father.
It's common knowledge that the senator keeps his daughter on a tight rein.
“There's my prizefighter!” my father opens his arms wide in a gesture of welcome to Rocky.
My cheeks burn even brighter when I hear the way my father addresses him like he's a horse that just won him money in a race. Of course, I'm sure that's probably all he is to my father. My father doesn't regard people he considers beneath him as people. Theyarelivestock in his eyes, a means to an end.
Panic flares in my chest when Rocky’s eyes stay pinned on me.
My father finally notices where Rocky's eyes are and flicks his over to me with a frown.
Oh God, my dadcannotfind out that I know Rocky because then he'll find out about how I went to that pub downtown, and he'll be furious. It doesn't matter that I'm twenty-one, and I can legally do what I want. As long as I'm the senator's daughter, I don’t have that freedom.
The only reason my father doesn't keep me constantly under his thumb anymore is because I’ve proved myself trustworthy enough to fly under the radar, so he doesn't keep security on me as much as he used to.
“Holly, why don't you go tell your mother our company has arrived?” Dad phrases the command like a question, but I know it’s not really a question. It’s an order.
My eyes flick over to Rocky. He's looking at me again, his jaw hard. He shoots a scathing glare at my father—which I'm thankful Dad doesn't see.
My heart does a little flip in my chest. Rocky obviously doesn't like my dad speaking to me that way, but I'm praying that Rocky doesn't say anything to Dad and let on that we know each other.
My fathercannotknow. He'll nip what this thing between Rocky and me is in the bud before it ever begins.
If Rocky even wants anything to do with me anymore. Judging by the look on his face when he walked in and saw me standing here, he might be thinking twice about getting involved with me now that he knows who I am.
Heaviness weighs down my stomach as I go to find my mother and tell her Dad wants us in the dining room.