Total pages in book: 107
Estimated words: 100086 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100086 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 500(@200wpm)___ 400(@250wpm)___ 334(@300wpm)
Corvus clears his throat and shuts the window behind him.
I lean against the wall and wordlessly invite him to take the only chair at the counter. I don’t usually host anyone beyond the countless guys I fucked on the mattress in the other corner of the room. Now I wish I’d invested in a bed frame, but it’s too late for that.
Corvus rubs his shoulders, because of course it’s way too cold here. I could barely sleep even after putting on most of the clothes I own. This is his cue to run before he says another thing he regrets, because after seeing my filthy studio, he’s surely thinking of a way out.
“Dalton,” he says, stepping toward me, blue eyes wide, as if he’s worried I might disappear on him if he blinks. “I made a mistake. I wish I could tell you I don’t know what came over me, but that would be a lie.”
I roll my eyes. “Yeah, you believed some ass wipe instead of me, that’s what came over you.”
Just remembering the moment Corvus confronted me out of nowhere and pressed a knife to my throat makes something in my chest constrict, but if I can break someone’s neck, I can also be frank with the man I still want so badly, regardless of how much he hurt me.
The blue eyes I love looking into over morning coffee are so dim now, but Corvus is determined to keep the flame going and reaches out for my hand. “It was plausible… I… panicked and acted without thinking things through, and then it was too late.”
I slap his hand away, breath catching in my throat. “It was plausible? That I betrayed you? That I’m lying to you? Sit the fuck down and say what you need to say, because now I’m just getting pissed off.”
He follows my command, and the rickety chair I found in the street a year back creaks in warning. But it does that every time I sit in it too, so I opt to pretend Corvus didn’t immediately stiffen, prepared to roll to the floor.
“It was plausible to me. I’ve been hiding all my life, Dalton, and there’s always people trying to use secrets against you,” he says, squeezing both his hands into fists.
Okay, I’ll entertain it, but I can’t force myself to look into his eyes.
“So why are you here?”
Corvus shoots up and grabs my arms, squeezing them with unexpected force. “Because I need you in my life! Because… you make everything better. I—” His face scrunches as he looks away from me, holding on even when I push at his chest.
“You what?” I ask, annoyed how soft my voice comes out. I don’t have the heart to push him away. Something’s going on with him, and my protective feelings are kicking in. I hate myself for always giving people too many chances, but can’t do anything about it being in my nature.
Corvus breathes through his lips, face turned away as he chews on his answer, stiff as if the cold in my apartment is making him freeze. Words to urge him are at the tip of my tongue when he speaks, voice tight and breathy. “I’m scared that I’ll let someone manipulate me again. You’re so perfect. People don’t just fit together like we do. It seems too good to be true.”
I take a quick glance at my apartment, shocked by that compliment. Perfect? Hardly. He’s the one with the tailored suits, the money, sharp cheekbones and an ass to die for. I swallow, trying to process what he’s saying. “What do you mean ‘manipulate you again’?”
He exhales, dropping his chin to his collarbone, as if he wishes I hadn’t asked that question. But now that it hangs over us, he has no choice but to answer. There’s no defiance in him, nor pride. He’s just a man with a dark secret he’s about to reveal to a person who needs to hear it.
“I was a rebellious teenager. I thought I was smarter than everyone else around me and walked straight into a trap. There was this man at a concert I snuck out to see. He flirted with me, gave me the butterflies, made me imagine a future where we’re together, and I believed it, like idiot teenagers do. But it was just a trap. He and his buddies worked for the enemy. They captured me, used me to lure my father, and… he died saving me,” Corvus whispers, lifting his gaze to mine.
I swallow, processing all of that. I can see him struggling, yet he said it all so matter-of-factly. I know how important his father was to him. As much as I hate what he did to me last night, I have such a soft spot for him, still. I take half a step closer and pull him into a hug, just because he needs it, and it’s my life’s purpose to give him everything he requires.