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“You must have terrible parents to allow you to believe that.”
I laughed. “You’ll be the judge of that. What I can tell you is that my father loves my mother deeply and she adores him.” I wasn’t certain why I was bothering telling her, but it felt right. “They’re still sweethearts. As far as what they taught their children, my father ensured that his three sons and his only daughter could handle almost anything.” That didn’t mean my father hadn’t been a brutal taskmaster, but there had been love and laughter in my family.
Including during one of the darkest times in our family’s lives.
“That’s beautiful. If only I’d been closer with my parents.” The sadness in her voice was evident and she looked out the passenger window. “At least I had my baby sister. She was my best friend, my dad refusing to allow me to live like a normal kid.” She sighed. “Why am I telling you that? You don’t care.”
“I do care, Raven.” Perhaps that was the problem. I cared too much.
“I wish I could believe you.”
There was a wall between us that I’d built, one that I was uncertain of how to remove. There was also a part of me that believed she’d have been better off if it wasn’t. Sighing, I realized my grip on the steering wheel was tighter than normal. She did that to me, unnerving the fuck out of me. I laughed inwardly, wondering if she had any clue the kind of effect she’d had in such a short period of time. I was almost forty-two years old and I’d been dead for so long, I had no clue how to live like a normal man.
“And my life? Will I be allowed to have a job or friends?” she asked after a few minutes of silence had passed. “Or will you keep me in a glass container, fearful I’ll spill my guts to the world?”
Now she was purposely goading me. “You’ll be allowed to have a life of your own. Within parameters of course. You will play the part of my companion as I will yours. You’ll want for nothing. You’ll be a treasured member of my family.” With the car idling in front of her dorm, I slowly turned my head. She was truly the most beautiful creature I’d ever laid my eyes on. I was instantly aroused, the longing to have her all to myself intensifying.
Raven sensed it, her cheeks flushing. As she touched the side of her face, I could tell she was processing how she felt about me. There were more emotions in those few seconds than I’d had for a full decade.
“A new world. A new family. Sisters. Brothers. In turn my family lives.” The spark in her eyes was ferocious, the little lioness sharpening her claws. Tonight, I would claim her. “Nothing I want.”
“Correct, princess, but it doesn’t matter if you want it or not. I will have the papers drawn up for you to sign. I keep my promises.”
She unfastened her seatbelt, turning her head slowly. “I will never be your princess. A word of advice. Be careful what you ask for, Arman. I just might become your greatest nightmare. You have no idea what I’m capable of.”
“Duly noted. Allow me to offer you a piece of advice as well. Some aspects of your life are sequestered in shadows, the dark realms meant you utilize for protection, but there are dangers lurking in them, creatures who are hell bent on taking control. There are times you need to learn to trust even those considered your enemy. They could be the only ones capable of keeping you alive.”
The moment of tension between us was more palpable than ever before, her glare full of intense emotion as well as questions that she refused to ask. It was at that moment I realized she had no idea about her father or his past. Ripping away the veil Thomas had tightly woven around his family might help her understand my motives, but the truth would also destroy what was left of her innocence. Her goodness.
And God help me, but I didn’t want to be the man responsible for doing so. But there was no other choice.
Not just because of her father.
As she eased from the vehicle, I sucked in my breath, grabbing and sliding the weapon into my jacket. Little did she know she already had become my princess and my nightmare.
The lovely girl with hair the color of the darkest chocolate, eyes the shade of the greenest ocean waters had become my greatest weakness.
And not just because of my enemies. She’d managed to crack a portion of my armor, unearthing the man I’d once been so long before. Now what the hell was I going to do?
* * *
“You keep looking in the rearview mirror,” Raven said quietly.
“That’s because I’m making certain we’re not being followed.” I’d taken the back roads, now close enough to New Orleans I knew better than to let my guard down.
She twisted in her seat, her chest rising and falling as she did.
“Just relax, princess. The car has some special features.”
“Let me guess. It’s bulletproof.”
Chuckling, I threw her a glance. “Something like that.”
When she settled back against the leather, she locked her eyes on the weapon positioned between my legs. “You always carry a gun with you everywhere you go?”
“It’s the nature of the business, sweetheart.”
“I hate your world already.”
