She's Too Young by Jessa Kane

You’re mine now and I’m never letting go.”
    Relief is almost non-existent, because I’ve said too much. Veda is stiff against me, low sobs tripping into the air between us. And then all at once, she turns into a wildcat, batting at my head and shoulders, shoving me away.
    I welcome the sting. I have no choice but to set her down before she hurts herself and when she deflates against the wall, sorrow owning her expression, I have a brief moment wishing I’d jumped from the building that night, rather than cause her this pain.
    While I fasten my pants without removing my attention from Veda—in case she disappears—she curls into herself and I get the feeling she’s looking for something with which to cover herself, but there’s nothing, so I unbutton my shirt as fast as I can and throw it around her shoulders, hiding her nakedness.
    “What did you mean?” She asks eventually, swiping at her nose with the sleeve of my shirt. “Signed on the dotted line?”
    Now that the time has come to explain, my head is on fire. I’ve done something unspeakable, haven’t I? And excused it with my obsession. The action that brought her into my life is the very thing that’s going to drive her away. She’s already got most of the situation untangled. I can see the accusation of betrayal in her eyes. There’s no way to avoid the reaping, so I throw myself into the hurricane and pray it spits me out somewhere she’s still reachable.
    “When I want something, I take it, Veda. I don’t know any other way. Only for the first time, I needed. I needed you so badly. So I found a way to make you mine.” I brace my hands on the wall, caging her in, and the symbolism isn’t lost on Veda. Oh no. Resentment lives in her expression. Toward me. “I canceled out your father’s debts and gave him that high-paying promotion—”
    “In exchange for me.”
    “Yes,” I grind out. “I’m your legal guardian until you turn eighteen. The promotion…it’s contingent upon you remaining with me until then.”
    Her laughter is bitter—so unlike her—but the sound is layered over hurt. “ God . You and my father are both bigger bastards than I thought.”
    Stabbing pain. “Even if he’d said no, angel, I would have found a way.” I have no idea why I’m defending the other man. Maybe because I want to spare her as much anguish as possible, even if it makes me look worse. “I’m not even sure I had a pulse before you spun in circles on my roof. I bought you so I could live. ”
    She hits me right in the soul with a venomous look. “I’m not staying with you. I’d rather die.”
    Panic is like a knife cutting down the length of my spine. Already I can feel the bleak, gray world closing in around me. “The contract is signed, Veda. I won’t let your father out of his end.”
    “What about my end?” Tears swim in her eyes. “You can’t just buy and sell people. I should still get a say in my life, even though I’m not eighteen yet.”
    I grab her arms and lean down to speak at her mouth. “I would go out of my fucking mind without you, angel. I barely lasted the five days I spent waiting for you to move into my home.” Honesty has thickened my voice until it’s unrecognizable as mine. “Life was prison before that day—you’re the only one with a key. You’re my jailer as much as I’m yours.”
    Her eyes are blank, without emotion, so I can’t tell if I’m getting through. But I suspect even if I did, her next words prove it wouldn’t matter. “I don’t feel anything for you but hate.”
    My arms fall to my sides as if they weigh a ton each, the sound of crashing waves churning in my ears. “You don’t mean that,” I manage around the strangling sensation in my throat. “I only want to give you everything. Anything you could ever want, I need to make it happen, or I consider my life a failure.”
    She shakes her head, disturbing her blonde hair, looking more gorgeous than anyone has the right to be. “If