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His eyes don’t leave mine as he tucks my hair behind both of my ears before palming my cheeks ever-so gently. “You are sospecial, Reyna Marquez. You don’t know just how much you mean to me.”
Tears fill my eyes at his declaration as I feel his every word in the farthest reaches of my soul.
“And I will do everything—every-fucking-thing—within my power tonotmess this up.” Regret darkens his usually light features. “I should never have touched you. It’s as simple as that.”
He exhales a heavy breath, the sincerity in his eyes almost my undoing.
“I’msorry.”
I nod mutely, afraid to answer; otherwise, I plead with him to reconsider.
And so, I do the only thing Icando.
“I absolutely agree. And I’ll move past crushing on you, pretty boy. All you have to do is be a little less like yourself. Perhaps you could try to model yourself on the one and only Chad Freemont.”
I shoot him a wink, praying that a return to our regularly scheduled humor will dispel the tension. “Do that, and I won’t be able to stand the damn sight of you.”
His eyes flicker with a stirring of mirth as his lips twitch.
“Sounds like a plan, Rey. I’ll get to work on my assholisms. Might even swing by Freemont to get pointers.”
“It would take years of practice to become as polished as that self-entitled asshole.”
I shudder as I push the memory of being trapped in that elevator with him firmly out of my head. “He’s rotten to the goddamn core.”
Alex opens his mouth to speak but stops himself, his forehead creasing in thought.
“What’s the matter?”
His eyes are fixed intently on mine. “He said you were a screamer.”
I blink rapidly, my mouth going dry as I try to swallow the nausea that bubbles in my stomach. “What?”
But Alex’s eyes shift away from me as he continues, as though speaking to himself. “But how could he know that if you’d never orgasmed before…”
He trails off, his gaze returning to mine. “Why would he—”
“Because…” I cut him off, my head dropping before I can find it in myself to continue. “He cornered me one night in the office. I was working late, and he wanted to go for dinner. I saidno, and he…well, he didn’t like that very much.”
Alex steps closer, pinching my chin between his thumb and index finger to lift my face to his. His eyes are as kind as ever as his stare penetrates me.
“Did he hurt you, Rey?”
I shake my head. “N-no. I kicked him in t-t-the nuts before…b-before…”
As I trail off, unsure of how to finish that sentence, Alex pulls me in against his chest, and all memory of that horrible event is utterly purged by the feeling of all-encompassing safety that surrounds me when I’m in this man’s embrace.
“Thank you for telling me, Sunshine.” He plants a lingering kiss atop my head. “No one will hurt youeveragain. Not so long as there’s breath in my body.”
Long minutes pass, and neither of us speaks a word until the elevator chimes.
“Shit, they’re here!”
CHAPTER18
ALEX
“I don’t want Italian.”
