Daddy Alpha I’m In Heat (Lily and Connor) novel Chapter 37

~Lily~

Bella just flipped her curls over her shoulder like she was auditioning for a shampoo commercial and not casually confessing to sex crimes in front of her father.

“Bitch! Stop acting like a fucking saint” Bella started, all breezy and dramatic, like we were two girls sipping iced lattes and not standing on a yacht with her father listening to every single syllable.

“Do you know sex tourism is literally a thing. I saw a whole documentary about it. So if I happen to meet a few Spanish men while we are here, it will be cultural. Like studying abroad. For the soul.”

I almost swallowed my own tongue. “Studying abroad?” I hissed because my dignity was trying to jump off this boat and swim back to America.

“Bella. Shut the fuck up!”

She just grinned wider, like the concept of shame did not exist in her vocabulary. “You are jealous,” she sang, twirling her phone around her fingers while my soul withered right next to her.

“I have plans. Big plans. Me, my man, some Spanish girls, maybe a guy with a really hot accent who will tell me I am beautiful in Spanish while feeding me grapes or whatever they do here. It is going to be so romantic.”

I nearly choked on my own spit. “Romantic?” I squeaked, pointing at her with both hands because one was not enough to hold all this judgment.

“Bella, you cannot say romantic and threesome in the same breath. Your dad is here! Are you insane? Actually insane? Oh my God, I feel like I need a priest. A real one. With holy water and maybe a Bible big enough to hit you with.”

She waved me off like my moral crisis was a mosquito buzzing in her ear. “Daddy does not care,” she said casually, like that was supposed to be comforting instead of soul–crushing. “He is so chill.

Look at him. He is barely even listening to us.”

And because I have no survival instincts, I looked.

I turned my head and there he was.

Connor.

Leaning against the railing like the devil himself had booked a Mediterranean cruise. Hands in his pockets. Face carved out of stone. Watching me.

Not Bella.

Me.

“See?” Bella chirped, completely oblivious while my soul tried to exit my body. “He looks so relaxed. He is probably thinking about some beautiful mystery woman while I plan my cultural awakening. Like father, like daughter.”

My entire brain short–circuited so hard I almost blacked out.

“Yes,” I said weakly, my voice cracking like I was lying under oath. “So romantic. Definitely thinking about… women. Romance. Normal things. Not murder. Not crime. Not public humiliation. Just… you know. Fatherly thoughts. Totally fine.”

Bella was already scrolling through her phone again, mumbling about Spanish nightclubs while my entire dignity burned alive around me. Meanwhile Connor had not moved once. Not even a twitch.

But his eyes…

His eyes stayed on me like Spain already belonged to him. Like I belonged to him.

And my knees? Oh, they were shaking.

Full–on trembling because my whole body had officially given up on pretending I was not two seconds from disaster.

Bella finally shoved her phone into her purse like she had solved world peace and was now free to move on with her life. She smacked me on the arm like we were about to run a relay race instead of survive this yacht of doom.

“Okay, bestie,” she said brightly, already flipping her hair like she was in a commercial again, “catch you later.

And if things go how I want tonight, we are making a video.”

A video.

She actually leaned in close like this was some top–secret national security briefing instead of her announcing illegal activities in front of her father.

“A whole video,” she hissed right in my ear, eyes sparkling like she was about to win an award for this. “Full production. And if you want…” She smirked, like the evil witch she is. “I will send it to you.”

I froze. My brain actually quit. It just clocked out and left my body standing there like an unpaid intern because what did she just say?

“Go to hell, bitch!” I yelled so loud half the dock turned to stare. I did not even care. “Straight to hell! Express route! No return trip! Go! Immediately!”

Bella only laughed. Laughed. Like a whole villain getting the last word in a movie. She threw me a wink like she had not just detonated my entire existence in front of her father and then started strutting off the deck toward Spain like she was auditioning for Fast and Furious: International Hotel Edition.

“Love you too!” she sang over her shoulder like she was not the devil in designer sunglasses.

And that was when it hit me.

She was gone.

Bella was gone.

And Connor… was still here.

Standing there. Watching.

Oh my God.

“So,” Connor finally said, “what were you and Bella discussing about? Hmm?”

Oh my God.

Oh my actual God. That means he didn’t hear? I

“She… ehmm… we… ehmm…” My voice broke in the middle like it was trying to warn me to shut up, but did I? No. Because my mouth hates me. “It was nothing! Like, totally nothing. Girl stuff.

“Best friend things. Private conversations about boring… boring… things. Like nail polish. Period cramps. You know, uterus discussions. Tampons. Just real feminine mysteries you would never understand. Absolutely nothing you would want to hear about, Very boring. You would have hated it. In fact, I hated it. I was asleep. Yes, I was literally asleep while she was talking. That is how boring it was.”

Connor tilted his head slightly. Just a little. Like a wolf right before it lunges. “Hmm,” he said softly. That was it. Just hmm.

Oh, I was dead.

“It was boring!” I yelped because silence makes me panic even worse. “Like the most boring thing you could imagine. The dictionary is more exciting. Watching grass grow? Thrilling compared to what she said. Paint drying?

“A blockbuster movie next to this conversation. She said some words, I nodded, but my brain deleted them in real time because they were so boring. Honestly, I do not even remember a single thing she said. Probably about… shopping? Shoes? Yes. Shoes. Sandals, maybe. Totally normal.”

His eyebrow lifted.

I wanted to throw myself overboard.

“We definitely did not, I blurted out way too fast, “talk about public things.”

He stilled. “Public things?”

“Did I say public?” I laughed, except it came out high–pitched and unhinged, like a dying hyena. “I meant Publix. The grocery store. We were talking about milk. And bread. And vegetables. Very wholesome. Very Christian. No public activities. None. Zero. I would never be involved in anything public, obviously. What kind of girl do you think I am? Not that kind of girl. A good girl. A very good girl. Like a nun. The Virgin Mary has nothing on me. People pray to me for forgiveness.”

He just looked at me.

Not moving. Not blinking.

Just standing there while my entire mouth went feral on its own, listing things I had no business listing.

“Anyway,” I rambled, because apparently I hate myself, “like I said, boring conversation. Very forgettable. Nobody should repeat it ever. Especially not to you. Especially not near you. Especially not in the same country as you, actually. I will call Bella right now and tell her to burn it from history.

She will. She will set it on fire. With matches. Poof. Gone.”

Still nothing from him.

That was worse than yelling. Worse than threats. That was I know you are lying through your pretty little teeth and I will deal with you later energy.

Connor finally moved, just a small step forward, but it was enough to send a cold shiver racing through my entire body because there was something in his eyes that said he had been letting me talk myself in circles this whole time on purpose.

“You,” he closed the distance between us, “are so bad at lying.”

My mouth fell open. “I am not..I wasn’t even lying, Connor, I was just explaining, I was..”

He cut me off without even raising his voice. He did not need to. “I heard every fucking thing.”

I froze so hard my entire brain actually stopped producing thoughts for a good five seconds.

It was like my whole nervous system hit the emergency brakes all at once because he said it with certainty, like there was no point in denying anything because he had already read me down to the bone.

“And guess what?” he continued, leaning in just enough that I felt his breath near my ear.

“I saw you rubbing your thighs while she talked. Sitting there like your pussy was getting wet while Bella babbled about her little adventures. Do you think I did not notice? You were squirming, baby.

You were touched on.

My whole body caught fire so fast I actually forgot how to breathe for a second. My mouth moved before my brain could stop it.

“I wasn’t..it was not..I mean my thighs..I was stretching! Yes. Stretching. My leg cramped. It was a muscle spasm. Very normal. Very boring. Zero touching happened. Nothing to see here. In fact, my thighs were asleep. Entirely numb. Dead thighs. Not even functioning. I have no thighs at all.”

His mouth curved slowly, darkly, like he was watching me fall apart just to enjoy the view. “Sure you were.”

That was all he said.

And it ruined me.

Because he did not believe me for one second and we both knew it.

“I would touch your pussy right now to check,” he murmured, “but people are passing.”

I stopped breathing. I literally forgot how to be alive because he said it like he was discussing the weather while my entire soul was about to leap out of my body and dive straight into the ocean.

“But,” he continued, eyes locked on mine so steady my chest felt tight, “you will get your punishment later for lying through your pretty little teeth.”

My whole body went hot all at once, like he had just flipped some internal switch I did not even know existed, because he said it so calm, so sure, like the punishment was already carved into stone somewhere and I had no way out.

“Now,” he said smoothly, straightening up like he had not just dismantled my sanity in front of strangers, “about our dinner.”

I could barely get words out because my voice had turned against me. “Dinner?”

“Yes, pumpkin,” he murmured, that tiny dangerous smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth, “go put on the dress.”

“Connor,” I started, already feeling like my entire existence was hanging by a thread, “I..”

“Now. Do not make me repeat myself!” he said simply, and the way his voice dropped on that single word made my whole stomach twist because there was no room left for arguing.