Page 65 of Lethal Attraction

The silence stretches between us as if he’s picking his words carefully.

“I’m just saying that you’re carrying this around like it’s a death sentence.” His eyes search mine. “And maybe it is bad. Maybe it’s awful. Maybe I’ll be shocked.” My stomach twists painfully at the truth. His fingers slip from my face, but only so he can grab my hand. “But I’d rather figure out the truth than watch you torture yourself. However, you have to do it. Show me the real you. Please.”

A shaky breath leaves me. The plea in his voice is what finally breaks me. Not because he’s demanding anything from me. Not because he’s trying to pry. Because he’s asking. Because somehow, after everything, he’s still standing here.

Still choosing me.

“Okay…” I whisper, the sound cementing this proposition in stone. I’m so weak for him that if he wants to see that side of me, I can’t tell him no. No matter how badly it could damage us in the process.

Something inside me finally cracks.

Not loudly or dramatically, like a crumbling building. Just enough for the weight I’ve been carrying to shift.

And for the first time in a very long time, I find myself wondering what would happen if I stopped fighting so hard to keep everyone out. What would happen if I showed Reed just how crazy and possessive I feel about him. And if he doesn’t buckle under the pressure…

“I don’t have much for sleepwear, but I do have plenty of t-shirts if you would like to take your pick?” Reed asks from the open doorway of his bedroom as he gives me a crooked smile.

I tuck my delusions into the back of my mind, painting on a pretty grin as I trail after him. I get one foot past the threshold before he grabs my cheeks and forces me to look at him.

“And I expect you to still be in my bed when I get up, okay?” He’s stern and downright filthy with that controlling aura.

I save this mental image for my spank bank before nodding. “Mhm.”

“Good girl,” he kisses my hairline sweetly before I tuck my head and follow him to his dresser.

Chapter seventeen

Reed

I’ve never been so damn comfortable in my whole life. Thalia fits perfectly against me, her lithe body curling into mine like we’re two puzzle pieces. Thankfully, we both sleep like the dead—one spot, not a single bit of movement through the night. Just warmth and something so deeply connecting that I know I’ll never be able to replicate it outside of these walls.

Not with another person.

Not with anything or anyone who isn’t her.

Sure, she may have her secrets, and they’re probably something shocking if I had to guess with her reluctance and expressions last night. But I wasn’t lying when I said I wanted all of her.

It doesn’t matter how she comes—a criminal record that could make the hardest offenders blush, a yard full of stolen property, or fuck it, even a cult at her goddamned beck and call. Whatever the case is, she’s only made me that much more intrigued to find out who she really is…

And I know Taryn is already itching to find out the same thing. This is like her true-crime shows come to life.

I turn over, my eyes shooting open when I fall flat on my stomach. The morning light is peeking in through the curtains, illuminating my very empty bed.

“Fuck,” I curse as I throw the covers off. As soon as my feet hit the floor, I’m padding in the direction of the kitchen, only to stop when I see Thalia standing at the stove of my apartment.

She looks absolutely radiant with the morning light casting over her dark hair. My white band t-shirt reaches just past her ass and swallows her frame, but I can still make out her adorable centipede tattoo that wraps around her upper thigh.

I lean against the doorframe, soaking her in as I cross my arms over my bare chest. The smell of eggs and bacon touch my nose as she uses a spatula to flip the food while her other hand holds her phone in front of her and someone I’ve never heard before breaks through the speaker.

“And where the fuck were you? Why didn’t you neutralize the threat in one spot?” This newcomer asks with a harsh bite that makes me jump into defense mode.

I push off the doorframe, ready to intervene when Thalia responds back.

“And where the fuck were you?” She mocks with a ridiculous tone that has me stifling a laugh. “I was getting shitfaced at a bar with my boyfriend, Rowan.”

Hearing her call me her boyfriend makes my chest constrict. Warmth spreads before I realize what else she said.

Rowan?