The Dark Prince (The Dark Prince Trilogy #1) (12 page)

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“What’s wrong?” Chase asked, as he took his time to drive back to his house. He had to know what made Summer upset. What is because she didn’t expect what would happen, or was it something that Valerie had said? Chase knew that Valerie tended to be a little headstrong, and never took her words to heart.

Summer shook her head. She didn’t know how to say what was wrong. She was scared. Scared of her father. Scared of what would happen next. And scared that Chase could be hurt. She was overwhelmed with being so cared for; for having Chase want her when Valerie made it clear that Chase never cared about anyone outside of family.

But most of all, she didn’t know how to get her mind wrapped around the fact that she was worried about Chase in the ten minutes she had been in that room with Valerie.

Her words hadn’t fazed her to much, as Summer had heard much, much worse.

Chapter 11

Chase made a quick stop at McDonald's drive-thru, ordering two ice cream cones and a small order of fries. One vanilla, one chocolate. Who didn’t like ice cream? And he could never help but dip his French fries into the cold cream. He thought maybe it would help smooth over whatever Summer’s sadness was about. He was sure that Valerie wouldn’t have said anything to cause these tears, but of course, he wasn’t going to put it past his sister-in-law. It was common for that woman to do whatever she felt like, punishments be damned.

Valerie was used to having her way, which is why she was attracted to Trent, as he gave her everything she wanted, but also discipline like she craved. It also didn’t help that her father pretty much demanded her to marry Trent a few years ago. It was to keep her family safe against threats, as her father was known to gamble against men who would take whatever they felt like.

Trent had known for a fact that Saul Rodrigo owed the Meads a large amount of money. Along with a number of other people. And to make sure that Valerie was not the one that had to pay that price, Trent accepted the marriage proposal.

Chase didn’t think it was a good idea for his cousin to marry that woman, and he made sure to tell him that, but Trent wanted to help, and Valerie’s beauty was appealing to him. She always had prided herself on her looks alone. She had to be perfect.

Chase’s mind kept replaying everything, wondering what could have made Summer upset, and yet nothing rang a bell. Maybe it was her emotions still leveling out? Or maybe it was just a girl thing. It wasn’t often that he took notice of girls when their emotions got in the way. But he was worried about his wife. He always would be, too.

“Which one?” Chase asked as he prepared to pull away from the drive through. Summer shrugged. She never had ice cream, so it didn’t matter to her.

“I like chocolate best,” Chase mused, trying to drag an answer out of her as her tears slowly dried. “Do you want the vanilla?” Summer shrugged again. She was sure her voice wouldn’t work right now anyway.

Chase ended up handing Summer the vanilla ice cream cone, touching her fingers with his as he did so. They both felt the small shock from the small touch. He then placed the small bag of fries in the cup holder between them, hoping she’d help herself.

“I am sorry for whatever happened that made you upset,” Chase said again, his voice quiet. He couldn’t stop apologizing. He didn’t know what to say to ease her fears. “My cousin who works for FBI took those two men into custody.”

He took a few licks of his ice cream, watching Summer out of the corner of his eye. She slowly licked her own, enjoying the taste of the ice cream. She didn’t want to act like an animal and make a mess, but it was starting to melt, even with the AC turned on. It was a good thing it was a pretty small serving, as she wasn’t sure she’d be able to eat it all as it was.

Chase knew that Meads was only stating that he knew Chase had married. But now that the news of who is wife was out, Chase was prepared for just about anything.

“Tomorrow, we will be going to dinner at my parents’ house. They would like to officially meet you,” Chase stated once his ice cream was gone and Summer’s was just about gone. “You don’t have to worry about anything there. Just act like yourself.”

That was a problem. Summer didn’t know who she was. She had never tested boundaries, never behaved out of what was deemed appropriate. She had learned from early on to behave a certain way at all times, in and away from the eyes of everyone. It had been engraved into her head for years on end.

“My parents may ask a few questions regarding us having children. My dad wants me to have an heir, but right now, I do not want one in any way. It’s too soon for both of us, plus it would put you and any child in danger from the men that want me dead,” Chase went on. “So you can ignore all talk about kids for now.

“I also want you to have time to figure out who you are as a person on your own. Having a child right away won’t help you there,” he went on. “I want you to explore hobbies to see what you want to do with your life.”

The little bit of time she did have to herself that wasn’t filled with chores or sleeping, she had enjoyed to read anything she could get her hands on. Instead of answering, she nodded once more, turning to look out the side window. She already met Kayla, but she was a little on edge at that time, considering she had barely known Chase.

She still didn’t know him. And Summer wasn’t sure she wanted to. Would it matter in the end?

“Sunday, I have a few meetings, but you can stay home with Clare and look over the programs for a GED. I really would like you get whichever program you want chosen soon. Also, I’m sure you don’t know how to drive, so I would like to start lessons soon. There may be times I will need you to drive for me,” Chase said, just trying to let her know what would be going on for the next few days to weeks.

There had been times when he happened to get shot at while leaving a meeting and had to call one of his security members to help drive him home, to a hide-out, or even to get stitched up. He would like Summer to know how to drive for many reasons, though. But with him taking her out more often, it would be best if she knew how. Even with the protection detail following them both around, he’d rather be safe than sorry.

Although Summer knew how, simply because she had to drive her druggy handler around at the age of fifteen, she didn’t really want to drive, fearing that she’d crash and be in huge trouble. She knew that Chase’s cars cost more than her own life. But she would if she had to. Summer would do just about anything, just because that’s how her life worked. Obey, or be punished harshly. And she knew how brutal any punishment was.

“Your ID should be in the mail in the next few days,” Chase went on. “And also a bank card for you to use when you see something you want. Clare’s too.”

By the time they got home, storm clouds were rolling in and Chase parked in the garage. The wind had picked up and Summer could tell that this storm would be strong. She wasn’t a fan of storms, so she hoped that the house held out most of the sounds, or she was kept busy enough to not dwell on it.

Chase waited for Summer to enter the house first before he followed, shutting the garage and the mud room doors. They found Clare sitting at the table, looking through the papers Chase had printed off the day before for online schools. Summer made a dash up to the room she had first slept in, hoping to be left alone for a while. She wasn’t a people type of person, and being stuck in a car for an hour, plus a room with Valerie, was more than enough for one day.

If Summer were able to, she’d hide away from the entire world, never to be seen again. Her thoughts hadn’t calmed, and she didn’t know how to handle these feelings. She had only known Chase for a few days, but yet, he treated her so nicely. Even his family that had met her for the most part.

Taking a few deep breaths, she decided to go ahead and look over the GED courses as the wind picked up outside. There didn’t seem to be much else to do at this time, as the spare room was completely cleaned, thanks to Chase.

That is where Chase found her an hour later, surrounded by papers with notes written all over them as Summer sat on the bed she had slept in that first night. It seemed to be so long ago, when it had been just a few days. Rain now pelted against the closed windows. Summer was glad that there wasn’t thunder and lighting, knowing that alone would put her in a panic with everything else going on.

Summer glanced up at Chase before turning her attention back to the papers, looking over them once again. She had a list of pros and cons on each, plus a list of what she liked best out of each program. Her writing was sloppy, but she tended to be a planner when it came to big decisions like this. This would set her up for college, if she was still able to do some classes later on.

There were only six options, but it was more than enough. None of them, of course, contained prices or tuition fees, so that wouldn’t be allowed to affect her decision. She knew that Chase had money, but he didn’t need to spend it on her. She knew she’d have to pay it back somehow in the end.

“Any luck?” Chase asked, standing next to the bed with his hands in his pockets. He kept his form as nonthreatening as possible, knowing she was under more than enough stress and worry as it was. He glanced at the papers one more time before looking at Summer. He saw that her emotions were leveled out, though her eyes were red from crying. She did look more content now.

He would give her the whole world if it made her happy, but knew that she didn’t want much, if anything at all. She’d be content with just a bed to sleep in and food in her stomach. Nothing else mattered to her. But he was on a mission to change that.

She shook her head. She really didn’t know which one would be best. She set two aside with the word ‘No’ at the top, then underneath her reasons why she didn’t choose them. One had started already, and the other program looked to bland for her. She was smart, at least when it came to books. The subjects that would be covered were something she felt like she knew already.

“You are very . . . organized in your thoughts,” Chase said, picking up one of the discarded programs. He had expected her to have lists for such a thing, but was happy to see her thinking this through well.

He was pleased to see that the cheapest of them all was not one she wanted. He didn’t think it would be something that spoke to her in the first place, but wanted to give her options. He was also pleased with how detailed everything was lined out. She really was meant to be his, as they thought in similar ways.

“You don’t have to decide right now. Take a break for dinner and sleep on it,” Chase said. He’d let her have as much time as she needed. If by chance she missed the deadline, he’d use his money to get her in either way.

On cue, her stomach growled. She hadn’t eaten much that day, mostly because so much had happened, and she didn’t want to eat without Chase saying it was okay. Summer had been in trouble too many times when permission wasn’t granted.

Summer pushed herself up off the bed, letting Chase hold her hand as they went towards the kitchen. She was unsure why, when she knew for a fact that Chase wouldn’t force her to do so, but the bright smile on his face was worth it. She didn’t want to like his hand holding hers, but she did. It made her feel . . . . accepted here.

In the kitchen, Clare sat the pan of pasta with peas and hamburger, in the middle of the table as Chase helped Summer to sit, holding her chair and pushing it in for her. She blushed, giving him a shy smile, in which he happily returned. Chase would take anything that she gave him.

Summer wasn’t sure what had happened between the two while she looked over the programs upstairs, but Clare was laughing at Chase as they passed jabs back and forth. She felt left out, but in reality, she knew it was her own fault. She didn’t want to like it here, but she was. Everything was so easy, so . . . nice and freeing. She envied Clare at being able to jump into things like she had without fear of punishment.

Of course, Summer knew that was part of her age and not being as abused as Summer had been. It was easy to see that everything was looking up for the girl. Clare had a huge smile on her face, acting as if this was normal. Normal to be sold to a mafia man. Normal to be given everything after not having anything for years. Summer knew it wasn’t normal.

She didn’t’ feel like she fit into this household.

She was Chase’s wife, he was sure to want her again. He was a man after all. So when she went to bed that night she curled up on her side in his bed, facing the wall, waiting for him to come to bed . Just because he said one thing didn’t mean he’d follow through with it.

Every time the wind caused the heavy rain to pound against the windows, Summer shook, fighting off her panic the best way she could. She couldn’t help but hide under the covers, shivering in fear.

~oOo~

The next morning, Chase woke up with a heavy weight on his chest and hair tickling his nose. He wasn’t sure, but it felt like some of said hair ended up in his mouth. He finally opened his eyes, seeing brown hair covering most of his face and chest. Summer’s head lay on his chest as she slept sideways, one arm tucked underneath her, the other laying across his chest. She was still fast asleep. At least this close up, he got to see the red that was hidden by the lack of sunlight indoors.