I frown. The words ring familiar, but I don’t recall where I’d heard them before. “You never told me that.”
As soon as I say it, I recall the lips that uttered them. With final clarity, I remember the night I heard them. My hands drift to my stomach.Romeo.
“Yes, I did,Foxy. I still insist you’d be the worst possession. Nobody can own thunder. I don’t want to own you. I want to stand by you.”
Liam is Romeo? That can’t be?
Moments of our time together flash through my mind. The injured hand. The eyes I found so familiar. The voice. The way he walks.
Jesus. I was so blind. “I didn’t know.”
“At first, I thought you pretended not to, but later, I figured you had no idea.”
I don’t even know what I feel right now. Relief? Another betrayal? A bit of both?
“Why didn’t you say something?”
His jaw tightens. He flexes his fingers. For once, he doesn’t smirk. “I wasn’t ready to admit my failure.”
“Failure?”
He draws in air as if it costs him something. “You keep telling me how much you hate that I make you lose control. Here is the irony, Little Thunder. I followed you to that club with intent.”
The air whooshes out of me, my chest tightening. “You followed me?”
He’s been playing me even before I knew he existed? There is no break for me when it comes to him.
He nods. “I wanted leverage. But somewhere between your fidgeting and your obvious discomfort in that ridiculous dress and sinful heels, I lost clarity. I lost control.”
He steps closer. Not invading my space—just close enough that I can feel the truth vibrating from him.
His warmth and scent envelop me, and I almost whimper at the sensory overload.
“You felt out of place. Too innocent for a roombuilt on hunger.” His mouth curves. Not amused, just remembering the moment. “And then you turned around and sassed me the second I offered to buy you a drink.” He chuckles, but there is no jest in it.
“I forgot why I was there,” he adds, his gaze keeping me a prisoner.
My pulse stutters. My mouth goes dry. My heart is racing as if there were a medal to win.
He takes another step, his body now touching mine. I blink at him, my words forming and dying without reaching the air between us.
I’ve been fighting to keep my independence while I surrendered to his game. But I didn’t know about his true intentions.
I ignore the impulse to walk out, because I can’t help but trust that something between us has been real.
“The revenge didn’t matter. The plan didn’t matter.” His voice drops. “It didn’t control me.”
With his finger, he traces a line down my cheek with tender care, like I’m a precious object he was afraid to break.
I’m about to break. His touch grounds me. Relief I don’t want to accept. Comfort I welcome.
“You, Little Thunder, freed me from it for a moment that night.”
We stare at each other, our breaths coming in shallow bursts.
“You’re Romeo.” Not sure why I choose to say that. It’s like my tired mind needs to absorb the information one bit at a time.
He gives me a sad smile. “When it comes to you, Thunder… to our short but eventful history, I would like to change a lot. I came here to get closer to you. The minute I met you, you became dangerous to everything I thought kept me alive. But I don’t regret a moment of it. On the contrary.”
