Page 38 of Your Masked Haunting

With each passing second, I’m feeling more like myself, less like I’ve been skinned alive. A funny thought passes through my mind, and I can’t help but let it out.

“You know … I’m not usually into blond guys,” I tease him. “But you’ve changed my mind.”

A giant laugh bubbles out of him, my comment clearly catching him off guard. Hearing his amusement and feeling it against my skin have me blushing, knowing that I’m the cause.

Gently, with his help, I sit upright, still straddling his lap, my knees on the floor at his sides. His mask tips up, and his eyes meet mine.

“I’ve changed your mind, huh?”

A soft smile lifts my lips. “So far.”

“Hmm,” he hums. “Just wait. One day, you’re going to agree to marry this blond man.”

Lifting my hand, I boop his nose. “With the mask or without?”

He chuckles. “Your preference.”

The image appears in my mind. Him dressed up in a suit with this purple mask on his face. Me walking toward him. His hands crossed in front of him, tears in the eyes that I can’t see. My brain tries to create his face, knowing what his hair and eyes look like, but all I can conjure is a blurry blob atop a tall, hot body.

But in all honesty, I’d agree to marry him regardless of what his face ends up looking like. Is it wild to say that when I haven’t seen him without the mask or know who he is? Yeah, probably. But I don’t care.

“I think …” I trail off, my gaze falling to my now-fidgeting fingers. My voice is barely audible. “I think you’re the only person who’s ever truly cared about me.”

The words sit between us, hovering in the air, along with my stomach that feels like it’s going to plummet off a cliff.

“Mona.” He breathes my name in deeply, until I invade every cell, powering his next words, ones I don’t expect. “I’m sorry that the people who should’ve shown you love showed you how cruel the world could be. I’m sorry that you had to navigate the last twenty-four years by yourself.”

The tears are back, burning my eyes.

“But you’ll never be alone again.”

His hand releases my fingers and twitches toward his mask, and my heart flutters at the thought of finally seeing his face. But he stops a few inches away from it, returning his hand to my side. It was instinctual, like he wanted to remove all barriers between us, but stopped himself at the last second, as if he’s remembering the reason why he hasn’t shown his face thus far.

“If I had found you sooner⁠—”

“No,” I cut him off. “You’ve done more for me than anyone ever has. And if it wasn’t for my surviving all these years, bringing me here, I might not have ever met you.”

Sliding his hand around the curve of my jaw, he shakes his head. “You have no idea what I would do for you, Mona. You want them to suffer? I’ll find them and make them pay.”

My heart swells, nerves building in my throat. “No. I closed that chapter of my life a long time ago. They don’t want to find me, and I don’t want to find them.”

His energy has shifted, angrier on my behalf. “I hate the idea of anyone treating you poorly. I dare someone to do it now. I’ll have their job, their house. I’ll ruin their fucking lives.”

“Oh, yeah?” I scoff, loving his fantasy world. “So powerful.”

He freezes mid-inhale, and my blood runs cold that I’ve possibly upset him.

Sitting up taller, he closes the distance between our faces until barely an inch remains. “Doubting me?”

I shake my head side to side. “I know you like me and would do everything in your power to keep me safe but⁠—”

“Like getting rid of Bryce because he touched what’s mine?”

“What?” I’m dumbfounded. Why would he say that? Oh my God. “That’s why he hasn’t been to work?”

His shoulders broaden with pride. “Clearly, he was trying to take advantage of his subordinate. That was unprofessional and against the guidelines.”

I narrow my eyes at him, waiting for him to tell me he’s kidding.