Ruthless King

“You seem to keep forgetting who is in charge here. It’s not you. Get into bed, while I keep packing. You’re coming to stay with me for the foreseeable future. Unless you’d rather leave everything here. I can buy you all new things.”

Was she dreaming?

She had to be dreaming. There was no way this was happening, right?

This sort of thing didn’t happen in real life. Then again, most people didn’t have a Regent Malone in their lives.

They might wish they did.

But, sheesh, he was a handful.

“You’re not buying me new things. And you’re not taking me anywhere. Now, I think you should leave.”

Jilly braced herself, ready to run if she needed to.

Regent isn’t your father. He isn’t going to get angry.

But all he did was shake his head and point at the bed. “Sit down and stop disobeying me.”

Her mouth dropped open. “Disobeying you?”

“Disobeying me,” he repeated firmly. “I told you no showering. You showered. No getting out of bed without me. You did. I told you several times to sit down before you pass out. Oh, and also, I asked you if anything was wrong. You said there wasn’t. You lied to me, didn’t you, baby?”

Uh-oh.

How did he know? What did he know?

“You’re up to three, now.”

“Three what?” she asked.

“Spankings.”

Dear Lord. There he went with the spankings again. And what did he mean she was up to three?

“How can I be up to three?”

That probably wasn’t the question to ask.

“I’m pretty sure that friends don’t spank friends. And that’s what we are, right? Friends?”

“We are not friends.”

Ouch. They weren’t even friends anymore? What were they? Acquaintances?

Tears filled her eyes, sliding down her cheeks as she sniffled.

“What is it? Are you in pain? What hurts?” he demanded, picking her up and carrying her back to bed.

“My heart,” she wailed.

Yes, she was a dramatic mess. But she couldn’t help it. All she’d ever done was look up to this man and want to be near him, but he kept rejecting her.

A girl could only take so much. Especially when she wasn’t well.

“What is it? Your heart? I’m calling an ambulance. I knew you needed to be in the hospital.”

“It’s not my heart,” she said, sniffling. She grabbed the bed covers and pulled them over her head. “It’s you.”