He scowled then chuckled. “You asshole. Fine, make it quick.”
Quick, fast… everything was in haste.
I nodded my thanks and proceeded into the house.
It was so quiet. In the house my footsteps echoed.
I found her in the sitting room.
She jumped and it seemed like she was expecting Armand.
When she saw it was me her face lit up and she flew over to me, straight into my arms.
God help me, I weakened at the feel of her. I weakened and became a shadow of the man I was supposed to be the second I touched her.
When she backed away the effect was like heat leaving my body.
“Please, God no… is this goodbye?” She shook her head and gazed at me, eyes fixed on mine begging me to say no.
It wasn’t goodbye in the sense of me leaving. Realistically though this should be me taking that stand to cut off this connection between us.
“No.” I heard myself say. “I’m just looking in on you.”
The relief in her face was evident. “I’m okay for seeing you, but Xander… I hate this.” She winced.
“I know… Frankie said Armand upset you. What did he do?” I didn’t know why I was asking. It wasn’t like me doing anything would help. It wouldn’t help one bit. It would just make things worse.
She looked down at the ground then back to me with tears in her eyes. “It’s best I don’t say.”
I reached out and touched her cheek. “Tell me.”
“He wants me to sleep with him. I can’t.”
The anger that coursed through my blood was something I never quite expected. Anger was the only emotion I could feel on hearing something like that. It was the only response.
What was I really supposed to do here? Keep watching?
I was well aware that I wasn’t supposed to be in this scenario. However, there had to be some element of right and wrong here that couldn’t be ignored.
How was it right for me to stand by and watch her go through this?
And with the way I felt about her…
Which was what?
There was a reason why I kept coming back, why I couldn’t leave well enough alone, why she was the first person I thought of protecting.
Why I felt like this now.
Like she was mine.
It was her who reached up to touch my cheek now.
“You can’t do anything. You mustn’t.” A little smile pulled at the corners of her beautiful mouth. “Xander…it means a lot that you came tonight. Looking in on me.”
The little touch made my skin tingle. The only response next was to kiss her.
I bent low and pressed my lips to hers.
