Only His | (Book 1) 18+

four

EMARA
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I kept my stare out of the window, nervously picking at my nails while Kade silently drove. I could tell he was concentrating on driving and the last thing I wanted to do was distract him with my nerves.

My hands began to shake and I straightened out my white dress, playing with the hems that ended just a few inches above my knees. I was trying to calm my erratic breathing pattern and I haven't even gotten to the house yet.

There was nothing more that I wanted to do than jump out of the moving vehicle I was in. I never had a moment when I was so stressed out but the mere thought of having to see Tristan's parents made my entire body freeze up.

The couple were never fond of me and their golden boy together. When I first started dating Tristan, I always kept to myself and was secretive about my life — in most cases, I still am —, not coming from a wealthy family like Tristan did.

And if Mr. and Mrs. Black couldn't get any fortune out of me then I was useless; I wasn't good enough for Tristan, in their eyes.

Tristan cared about what his parents thought, as much as he told me he didn't. I could see it in his eyes how upset he got whenever they would talk about how he deserved better. He worked so much to prove that he was still the amazing son they raised even though that meant sacrificing time between the two of us.

"Calm down," Kade said and I jumped, looking at him. I could see him staring at me through the corner of his eyes and I sighed, shrugging my shoulders.

"I can't," I mumbled back, staring out of the window again. "It's so difficult even thinking about them because I know how horrible they can be."

Kade silently nodded, thrumming a beat against the steering wheel.

"If it makes you feel any better, my father despises me for just running off after I realized how Tristan was still getting all of the credit, even after I had practically made the company," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "As you can tell, this is going to be a pretty shitty night."

I chuckled just as we drove to a giant iron gate. Two men stood on either side and one of them walked up to the car. All he had to do was glance at Kade, then me, and then he walked back and pressed the code in.

Once the gate was open, Kade drove in. My eyes immediately landed on a giant three-story Victorian-style mansion with bricks in the shade of grey, and giant windows on every floor. Standing in front of the large double-doors at the front were two large white pillars that were stands for the balcony on the second floor. Bright green grass and sprinklers watered every square-inch of the large lawn and lanterns showed us the way as we travelled down the large driveway, eventually circling the gravel circle. Just as I unbuckled my seatbelt, Kade turned the car off, unbuckling his own seatbelt.

"I'm sorry that you have to experience this nightmare of a dinner without Tristan," Kade said sincerely, causing me to sigh and look through the mirror to fix up my red lips.

"I'm just tired, Kade," I muttered, not breaking eye contact with myself as I stopped, fixing any stray hair from my eyebrows. "Tristan needs to get his shit together before I get mine and move out."

Kade chuckled, getting out of the car. I opened mine just as he got around the car and took his hand. He helped me out of the car and looped his arm around mine; walking towards the large steps of the front porch.