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CHAPTER14
Elena
Kane’s words rattle around my brain as I lean back against the sofa and allow myself to doze. I’m exhausted. My body feels spent and my head is throbbing. Are we doomed to live in this constant cycle of violence?
As much as I thrive on it, I don’t appreciate being used as target practice. The attempts on my life need to stop.
“Elena.” Kane’s soft voice has my eyes popping open.
“Why are you waking me up?” I demand, sounding whiny. “Note for future: don’t wake me when I’m napping.”
“You can’t sleep. You might have a head injury.” I grumble but sit up a little on the sofa because his point is a good one. “I brought water and a cloth to clean you up.” I glance at the bowl on the table before giving him my attention. He’s cleaned himself. The blood that was smeared down his face is gone, and he has a clean shirt on that’s rolled up to his elbows, revealing thick, muscular arms. Fuck, he’s good looking.
Why are the crazy ones always so pretty? I wonder what the man could do with those strong as fuck arms—
“Are you alright?”
“Hmm?” I drag my gaze to meet his.
“You’re staring at my arm.”
Busted. “I’m finding it hard to… um…focus when you’re standing there. Looking like that.”
He glances down at himself, confusion marring his face. “Like what?”
“Hot.” I give him a smile as I admit it to him.
His brows draw together.
“You think I’m hot?”
“Anyone with eyes would think that, Kane. You and your brothers are blessed with good looks.”
His mouth flattens out. “You think my brothers are good looking?”
I open then close my mouth. Oh boy. “I just meant you have good genes. I’m not lusting after Lucas or Zeke.”
This seems to soothe him a little. “Good, because I don’t want to have to kill my own brothers.”
Is he… serious?
I can’t tell. His face is so impassive, no emotion sliding onto it. “Kane.”
He cracks a smile and relief floods me. He was joking… I hope.
I smack his arm. “You had me going then.”
“My brothers and my sister are all that matter to me.” He turns to the bowl of water and dunks a cloth in it. “And now you.”
For some reason that hits me in the chest like a wrecking ball. I can count on one hand the people who care about me. I was always seen by my father as a tool to further his empire. My stepmother Margaret never stepped into the role of parent. She only cared about bringing my father happiness. She has never been cruel to me or my siblings, but she doesn’t go out of her way to love us either.
“Kane…”
His eyes find mine. “Does that surprise you?”
“We hardly know each other.”
He wrings the cloth out and then wipes the material down my face. I stare at him as he works. He’s a beautiful man, but his burden weighs heavily on him. I can see how it pushes against his shoulders as he tries to carry the world on his back.
