Own Me (The Wolf Hotel, #5)

by K.A. Tucker

“Was that loud enough for you?” I tease. He grins. “Yes, much better. Thank you.” “Well, I understood the assignment, Mr. Wolf.”

“What would a twenty-nine-year-old, smoking hot, sexy, confident woman want with a fifteen-year-old boy? There’s no way you looked like this”—I wave a hand at his chiseled body—“at that age.” “I was a lot scrawnier,” he admits. “But I had my charm. And she was a good teacher.” A secretive smile touches his lips, as if he’s reminiscing. “She’s sick.” Wait until the media gets hold of this. Another scandal involving Henry, one where he was more prey than predator. It won’t matter to them. A juicy story about the Wolf family is a juicy story, nonetheless.

Wow....

“Did Dyson say if she was married?” Audrey would be about forty-six now. Is she still smoking hot by Henry’s standards? He folds the newspaper and sets it on the seat beside him. “No, she’s never been married from what he could see.” “Because her boyfriends still have a curfew.” “Abbi …” “Best behavior! I swear.” I hold up my hands in surrender.

“Children terrify me.” He says it softly, like a confession. “Which children?” “All of them.” My stomach clenches. Is this where he tells me that he’s changed his mind, that he doesn’t want them anymore? No. I stop myself from heading down that path and instead ask, “What’s so scary about them?” He pauses. “The way they can change your life in a heartbeat. One minute they don’t exist and then they do, and everything suddenly feels different.”

I still shake my head at all the ways I’ve been under my mother’s thumb. Aunt May is right—the sooner she learns that the days of having a say in how I live my life are over, the better for everyone involved.

I break away from him, my breathing ragged. “So, did she call you Dad or Daddy?” I say the latter in a sultry tone. I squeal as Henry tosses me onto the couch, before climbing on top of me, pinning my arms above my head. “What did I say would happen if you started up with that again?” He pitches forward to drag his tongue along my bottom lip. Violet pokes her head out of her room. “Oh God, is this going to be like Aspen all over again?”