Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 49989 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49989 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 250(@200wpm)___ 200(@250wpm)___ 167(@300wpm)
He set his plate on the dresser and crossed his arms. “What is it?”
She swallowed hard, sitting on the side of his bed. Those puppy dog eyes stared up at him, pure innocence and raw sex appeal mixed together. “I want to talk. I need to talk.”
“About what?”
Did she want to break up with him? Was he in fucking high school now?
“I don’t know. A lot of things. Everything. About what happens next. Why Boss sent more reinforcements. And about last night.”
Fuck.
“That’s a lot of topics. You ask your questions because I need to eat.” He grabbed his plate and ate standing up.
She picked at her food. “Were we supposed to share a room? I mean, are we together or was last night a one-time thing? I’m not good at this, and I’m not sure where we stand.”
“You’re acting like you’re insecure about our relationship,” he said.
“Yes, that’s exactly how I’m feeling. Do we even have a relationship?”
“I don’t know, Cleo. You tell me. You’ve been giving me the cold shoulder, but you looked happy a few minutes ago.”
“What? Are you talking about Boss’s men? I don’t care about them, Priest. You’re the man I slept with last night and the one I’ve been falling for the past few weeks.”
“Falling for?”
He shouldn’t be in this deep. Cleo was messing with his head and his heart. It was dangerous for a man like him. Why was his heart racing like he was a schoolboy?
“Just tell me the truth. Do you want to be with me or not?”
He put his food aside and walked over to the bed, taking her hands so she had to stand up. “Cleo, I told you I consider you mine. That’s not a line. Not a game. How do you feel?”
“We’ve barely talked since last night.”
“Well, this isn’t exactly how I wanted things to go down. I’ve been humiliated in front of you because of Boss, and now he’s sent backup because he thinks I’m incapable of taking care of you. Do you believe that’s true?”
She shook her head. “Everything you did was for me, I know that. You put me first, so why would I judge you? I’ve never felt safer than I do when I’m with you, Priest.”
“They said there’s more to you than I know.”
She ran her palm up his chest and his entire body reacted. “Honestly, I think your boss found my birth parents or something. He left a phone in my room to call him, but I’m not interested. People don’t understand that sometimes the past needs to stay where it is.”
****
Cleo had daddy issues, she knew that. She’d always been messed up when it came to relationships because of her traumatic childhood. But she wanted what she had with Priest to be real, not a dream, not another lie.
He was so hard and stoic, making it hard to read him. Was it awkwardness after being intimate for the first time, regret, or was she just another number to him? The man was built like an Adonis, so she didn’t even feel like she was in his league, making it easier to feel insecure about his intentions.
“What phone?” he asked.
She wanted to discuss them, the future, and when they’d get intimate again. He wanted to talk about that dumb phone?
“It was in my dresser drawer. The note said if I called he’d give me answers.”
“Did the note address you by name?”
“Um, I don’t know. I can’t remember.”
He pulled away, his softening demeanor returning to the armor plating. “Show me.”
There was no point arguing with him. They’d lived together long enough that she was starting to know him and his behaviors. Right now, he was focused and completely one-sighted.
Cleo led the way to her room, and he closed the door behind him. She pointed to the dresser, then sat down on the bed.
Priest rummaged through all the top drawers until he had the phone and note. “This had to be for me.”
“You?”
“Boss owes me answers. He’s given me an unsearchable name, but there has to be more details.”
“A name? What name?”
Was this about her past or the men trying to kill her?
He leaned against the dresser, staring at the phone, then her. “I told you about my past. The only thing fueling me all these years was the chance for revenge. To kill the man responsible for giving the order to kill my family and everyone I cared about.”
“And Boss knows who it is?”
He nodded. “He’s already given me a name, but I need more.”
Cleo wanted to be enough for him. She wanted to heal him, to make him love her enough that he wouldn’t need revenge anymore.
“Then call.”
He took a breath and then turned his back to her, dialing the phone.
She listened to him talking and immediately knew the phone was intended for him. Boss probably expected them to share a room. The conversation grew heated at times, Priest shouting and swearing, even punching his fist against the wall. Then he’d be silent, listening to whatever Boss was telling him.