Rock Me Faster (Licks of Leather #4) - Jenna Jacob Page 0,46

be that boy for five fucking minutes…so I could experience what the love of a parent actually felt like.”

“I can’t believe you knew…knew all this time and never—”

“Oh, I knew. It gutted me. Thankfully, my young heart was a lot stronger than dear old Dad’s when he came home early and caught you in bed with—”

“Don’t say another word,” Sylvia screamed. “What do you want? An apology? Fine. I’m sor—”

“No,” I interrupted before the meaningless word could spill from her lips. “I don’t want a fucking thing from you. You’re dead to me, Sylvia. As dead as that piece of shit you called a husband resting in a hole at the cemetery down the street.”

“I am not dead! I am your mother.”

“No. You are a heartless whore who has no power over me, my life, or my happiness because you don’t exist anymore. You’re the one who’s…invisible now.”

A sob—real or manufactured, it didn’t matter—tore from Sylvia’s throat as I turned and charged into the foyer.

Tears streamed down Harmony’s face. Pain, sorrow, and pride glimmered in her gorgeous blue eyes.

I didn’t give two shits if it shredded my control or not; I cinched her tiny waist, twirled her inside the elevator she’d been holding open, and pressed the button for the lobby. Then I drew her into my arms, meshing her warm, sinful body to mine. Harmony wrapped her arms around my waist and hugged me back. I pressed a kiss of thanks to the top of her head as the doors slid shut.

Each floor we descended, I could feel the scars marring the heart of the unloved, unwanted boy who’d grown up in a toxic, dysfunctional cesspool begin peeling off and blowing away. I’d finally slayed the dragon and was free… Well, almost.

Pushing down the guilt trying to work its way from the inky depths of denial, I cupped Harmony’s nape and began massaging her soft skin.

“Shhh. Don’t cry, princess. She’s not worth it.”

Harmony lifted her head, and I couldn’t keep from swiping her tears away with the pad of my thumb. “I’m not crying over her. I’m crying for you.”

An emotion I’d vowed to never let inside my soul again, wrapped a fist around my heart and squeezed.

Chapter Ten

Harmony

And for myself.

Crying because I’d foolishly let myself believe that under all these strong muscles hugging me so gloriously tight, Ross was a good but totally misunderstood man. After hearing the vile things Sylvia had said about him, I wanted to push him off me until I found out if his bucket list, sleeping with Angie, and torturing women, were true.

“Don’t cry for me, princess. I’m not worth your tears.”

The man Sylvia described might not be worth them, but the little boy she’d neglected and abandoned definitely was.

“Every child deserves parents who love, cherish, and nurture them.”

“In a perfect world, yes. Regardless of what Sylvia thinks, I didn’t turn out too bad, did I?”

Afraid to lie and provoke Karma more than I already had, I eased from his chest, leaned back, and locked my stare on his dark eyes—the true windows of the soul. Ross didn’t yet comprehend the ramifications of disturbing the tranquility of the universe, but I did…knew them well.

“Are all those things she said about you true?”

Ross jerked his arms off my body and turned to face the elevator doors, blocking me out completely.

The rich veal and buttery potatoes threatened to purge from my stomach.

“I’ve never claimed to be a fucking choirboy, princess.” Ross shot me a hard stare over his shoulder. “If you don’t want to get hurt, you’ll stay away from me.”

Gathering the threads of shock, horror, and disbelief unraveling within, I tamped them down deep so the clarity marching through my brain had room to expand. Like puzzle pieces snapping together, I finally realized why I continually struggled to read this man. Why I’d only been able to catch a few coveted glimpses of the protective knight who’d come to my rescue. Or the special bond of love and friendship he and Bernie shared.

My abilities weren’t being blocked by the emotions churning off the masses in this huge city. I couldn’t breach Ross’s walls because he’d learned—at a very early age, no doubt—how to build and reinforce his barriers in order to survive. I couldn’t allow him to shut me out any longer. Not because I needed Quinn’s money but because Ross needed my help far more.

He was crazy if he thought I’d put distance between us. I hadn’t backed down from his nasty excuse