Page 131 of Ruin

His eyes, which are fixed on mine, slowly blink once. “I love you,” he rasps out. “So fucking much, it hurts.”

I kiss his scarred brow, then his cheek, and finally his mouth. “It hurts to love you, too, Zeus. But it also heals me. Loving you is everything.”

“Fuck,” he groans. His fingers plunge into my hair, and his mouth takes mine in a deep kiss. “I just wish you could see my feelings for you, Dove. See how fucking deep they run.”

“So, take me inside your apartment, and show me,” I whisper into his mouth.

And he does exactly that.

Zeus takes me into his apartment, and he spends the rest of the night showing me with his body just how deep his feelings for me really do go.

Gigi, Zeus, and I are having a lazy Saturday afternoon at his apartment.

I took Gigi shopping this morning. It’d been a while since we had our girlie time together. And then we grabbed three takeout burritos for lunch and brought them with us to eat at Zeus’s place.

We’re all fed up with burritos, and now, we’re sitting on the sofa together, watching Tangled for what is quite possibly the thousandth time.

Gigi is sprawled all over Zeus like a blanket. He looks so content, sitting there with her. They both do.

It makes my heart swell. I could sit and watch them all day long like this.

Zeus catches me staring. I don’t look away. It’s so much easier that I don’t have to hide my feelings from him or myself anymore.

The corner of his lips lifts into that stunning smile. I smile, too.

He parts his lips, wetting them with his tongue.

My sex clenches.

Down, girl. We’re rated PG at the moment.

His eyes flicker down to Gigi, whose eyes are glued to the TV screen. Then, he looks back to me.

I love you, he mouths.

My smile widens so big, I’m sure my face is about to crack.

I’m just about to mouth the same words back when there’s a knock at his door.

Both our eyes turn in that direction.

“You expecting anyone?” I ask him.

He shakes his head. He goes to move, but I tell him to stay put.

“I’ll get it,” I say, so he doesn’t have to disturb Gigi.

I push up to my feet and pad barefoot to his door.

I check the peephole, and when I see who it is, a bad feeling drops into my stomach.

I unlock the door and pull it open. “Rich, Emilio,” I greet them.

Emilio is also an officer at the station, and they’re both in uniform, which means they’re on the job. My bad feeling sinks lower.

“Everything okay?”

“Is Zeus here?” Rich asks me.