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“He doesn’t think that way,” he said. “I didn’t mean it to sound like I believed you were owned by him. It’s just the way he thinks, surely you must know that by now.”
“So you’re not the monster he claims you are, then?”
He shook his head. “No, Paisley, he’s the monster you should fear.”
A sense of dread shot down my back and into the pit of my stomach. I’d known Zane was a bad man, he was involved in a fair bit of corruption in the city but he kept his nose clean and most of everyone loved him.
But I saw another side to him.
I saw the real man.
I’d looked into his eyes as he had his hand around my throat and he squeezed until I struggled to breathe.
I’d seen the real darkness in him.
“What do you want to know about him?” I asked him.
He was looking into my eyes, and I could see the searching. He was wondering if he could trust me or not.
“I know everything,” I admitted. “I know enough to pull his entire world down if I was motivated enough.”
Chapter Five
Halen
Herwordsexcitedmein a way I didn’t know possible. She hated Zane, no she didn’t hate him, she hated who he was. I saw the darkness in her, I saw how she was playing the game like a pro and knew immediately that it wasn't from just any kind of upbringing.
Something had happened to her.
That was why she was so good with her self defense techniques and why she looked for an out everywhere she went.
“You’re not just an innocent girl from the city, are you?” I found myself asking. There was something about this woman sitting in front of me. She reached across and pulled a chicken wing up from one of the platters. As she ate it, I watched her with intensity.
Why was she making me feel so different? Most people I didn’t give a flying toss about but this woman…she did things to me.
Things that weren’t natural.
“What makes you ask that?” she replied, stabbing a piece of potato with her fork and eating it as she kept her eyes on me.
“There’s something about you that has all of my senses on high alert. You know self defense–”
“A lot of women do.”
“You strategize on the best way to escape a situation.”
“A lot of women should know how to do that.”
“Cut the crap,” I said quickly. “What happened to you?”
She put her fork down and sipped at her water. “Do you have anything stronger than this?”
I nodded and headed over to the bar and made her a drink. She accepted it gratefully and sipped at the liquid. Her face didn’t scrunch up and make an expression telling me it was too strong. This girl could handle her liquor.
That impressed me more than how goddamn gorgeous she looked in a black dress.
I waited for her to be ready to tell me why she was so strong, stronger than a woman her age needed to be.
Already, my brain was telling me I knew the answer, and it was going to make me angry but I had to give her the space to tell me. I bet Zane never even fucking asked.
