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“Why would you help me?”
Eli’s eyes dulled slightly. “What?”
It was time to lay everything out on the table. Eli Blanchi was giving me whiplash with all this back and forth. “First, you hate me. Hell, you basically threatened me.”
His lips were turned in a frown. “That’s bullshit. I’ve never threatened you.” Immediately, he was on the defensive. The mask that he wore slipped back into place, and I released a heavy exhale, knowing this was likely going to turn into an argument.
Oh well, I thought.
Maybe other girls had the luxury of swooning over a nice gesture, but I knew better. Things like this, from men like Eli, always came with a price. My own brother, Angel, had supplied women with lavish gifts and trips, and then, exerted power over them when they were firmly under his control.
“I’m pretty sure you told me I better obey you or else.” I was paraphrasing, but it was the general gist of one of our first interactions. “Just because you decided not to be a dickhead today, doesn’t mean that I’d forgotten that.”
Eli growled. “I thought having a place to paint might be better than you destroying your bedroom. The smell of turpentine is bound to make one of us sick.”
“Bullshit,” I said.
I walked towards Eli. “Why are you helping me?”
He was as still as a statue. “Why does it matter?” he asked. “Is it impossible to believe that I might do something nice for you?”
“Impossible, no. Unlikely, yes.” Eli had done something nice for me. I couldn’t ignore that. When I’d freaked out, he’d taken care of me, and he hadn’t breathed a word of it again. Even Matteo had mentioned it, so had Sophia, but Eli had pretended like it never happened. I appreciated that.
“Are you always so suspicious of others?” he asked, his dark brow raised.
I mirrored his stance. “When they are as hot and cold as you, yes.”
We stared one another down, both of us too stubborn to be the first one to blink. The tension between us crackled. There was something about Eli that made me breathless and exhilarated at the same time. When he looked at me earlier as though he wanted to gobble me whole, I nearly let him.
“Fuck it,” he muttered.
That was my only warning before his large hand reached behind my head and pulled me face first toward him. His lips smashed against mine, warm and soft despite the hardness of his body.
For a moment, I was stunned. Not that I should have been. Eli was cold as ice one minute and burning me up the next.
And I wanted it.
Our tongues dueled together as we took out all of our aggression and aggravation on one another’s bodies.
Despite the coldness that Eli always seemed to surround himself with, he devoured me as though I was the most delectable thing he’d ever tasted. Never before had I been kissed as passionately, and it wasn’t until my head started spinning from lack of oxygen that I pulled away.
Eli and I were both breathing heavily. His lips were red from where we’d kissed, and his eyes, which normally lacked warmth, looked as though they were lit up with fire.
“Do you want the space or not?”
“Yes.”
I didn’t know why I didn’t tell him to fuck off. How dare he kiss me like that, and then have the nerve to ask me about art space. But my mind was hazy, and though I knew it was bad for me, I wanted more of Eli.
“Let’s go back home.”
He didn’t wait to see if I followed as he walked back towards the door of the warehouse. I suspected that he knew I would. Eli was invading my mind, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted him to stop.
CHAPTEREIGHTEEN
Eli had not said anything to me after we parted ways in the house. The kiss that we shared was the most passionate thing that I had ever experienced, which was crazy considering that Eli was one of the coldest people I had ever met.
I needed distance from him, and thankfully, I had been able to sneak out of the house while he was sleeping.
