Page 57 of Nothing to Win
“Gia’s spread her wings.”Brogan’s pride thinned his lips as he put the glass down again.“It’s been incredible watching her blossom.”
“You allow her to go to places like…”
“Crimson?She goes with her friends, yes.I don’t allow her to do anything.Gia is capable of making her own choices.”
“It’s easier that you facilitate them.”
“My joy comes in your pleasure.”
Oh, and that double entendre meant so much to her hormones.The Sears weren’t used to direct.
“It sure does,” she murmured, skimming a hand down his thigh.
They were together, next to each other, no accounting what that did for her brazenness.
“Gianna is not used to places like that.It’s dangerous for her to be—”
“No one cares about me,” she said, startling her father with the interruption.“Roxie is always around.There are celebrities, Breckenridges—”
“You’re socializing with Breckenridges?”
“Are we at war with them too?”she asked.“I didn’t know that.”
“Which Breckenridges?”her mother asked, showing her husband concern.
“She counts Zairn Lomond as a friend,” Brogan said.“And everyone knows Gia and I are together.”
“Zairn Lomond is married.”
Bram snorted.“Think that makes a difference to a guy like him?”
“Tripp has been nothing but respectful,” she said, looking each of her relatives in the eye.“He is who you were worried about, isn’t he?In Crimson there’s a community.It’s one of support, not debauchery.I might not have been confident enough to join the main floor, or even the club’s VIP area.Roxie grants a few select friends,” though “few” was relative, “to the Ruby Room.It’s her private space.It’s perfectly safe.Zairn is very careful with Roxie’s safety.And Brogan…”
“Is very careful with Gia’s,” he answered.“She makes her own choices, and I’m happy to give her whatever she needs.”
And her head made that sexual too.Bad brain.
“She needs protection,” her father said.“She should be looked after—I can’t trust you with my daughter.”
That wouldn’t change a damn thing.
“Trust her,” Brogan said.
“To make good decisions about men?She’s not practiced—”
“She holds her own.”
Her exhaled laugh snuck out on its own but didn’t go unnoticed.
“Daddy, I appreciate that you worry about me, like you worry about Bram.”No, that wasn’t true.She and Bram weren’t close to the same in her father’s eyes.Maybe putting them side by side would shut him up.“I love my life in the city with Brogan.I love where we live, where we play…” Okay, she meant Crimson, but Brogan’s horny humor was rubbing off on her.“My life is good and I’m happy.”
“Isn’t that what every parent wishes for their child?”
Happy.Brogan’s question slid by whatever came next.She was happy.That wasn’t a lie.She’d known it before but now she was saying it out loud.The way she felt about her life and her position, the only thing missing was…
Conversation progressed; Brogan and her father debated the finer points of a competitor’s latest deal.Thankfully.She needed the distraction while that sunk in.Happy at home, with Brogan.At play, with Brogan.Her world was wider and that was all because of him.
EIGHTEEN
