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Looking up at him, my lips parted, and I spoke softly, “All my life, I’ve been alone. All I want is someone who knows me and accepts me.” My stare fell as another tear escaped the corner of my eye. As much as I was trying to get Neo to lay off his threats, to get him to lower his guard, it was true at the same time.
I didn’t know if it’d work. If Neo was an unfeeling psychopath, then he wouldn’t give a shit. But if he had some feelings inside of him, beyond the rage and fury toward the Montgomerys, I bet he wanted the same thing, too.
Though my eyes were now on my lap, I saw Neo step forward. He lifted his free hand and brought it to my face, wiping at the wetness along my cheek. “This… wasn’t how I thought this would go,” he whispered. The switchblade was closer than ever now, within reach, and yet I still wasn’t confident I could get it out of his hand and turn it on him fast enough.
No. I had to be sure, which meant I had to keep this going.
“You’re not who I thought you were,” he told me, his hand still cupping my cheek. It was like he looked at me differently now that he knew I wasn’t all-in on the Montgomery name or the money, now that he knew I’d tried to report Gareth and his crimes.
I gave him a soft smile. “Ditto.” I let out a long breath, turning my face slightly in towards his hand and leaning against it, as if breathing him in. “I wish I could see you take Gareth and Alistair down. It’d be a day I’d never forget.”
Neo stood there for a while, and though my eyes were closed, I could feel his stare on me. I knew right then I had him, that his mind was turning with new possibilities. How could he, after hearing all I’d said, not want to change the plan?
And then something in him snapped. The hand on my face fell to my neck and squeezed, and before I knew it, he’d leaned over me on the couch, one knee on the couch, the other foot still on the floor. He pressed the switchblade against my cheek, right below my eye, and he growled out, “How do I know this isn’t some trick?”
I didn’t fight him. Mostly because my arms still weighed ten tons each, but I was able to gasp and say, “I guess you don’t. But, if you wanted… I’d help you. I’ll help you take Gareth and Alistair down.”
Neo hissed out, “I don’t need help.”
“No,” I agreed. “You don’t.” It was impossible to overlook the tightness around my neck, but I was more focused on the switchblade, on how its sharp edge rested against my skin, ready to cut deep. “But I would. I’d help you. We could take them down together, watch the Montgomerys burn. Make the whole country turn on them. We’d take the sheriff down, too.” I swallowed, and the action made him loosen his hold on my neck a little, though he didn’t let go completely.
“You’d help me, even after knowing your friend and her family had to be sacrificed?”
“Sometimes you have to make hard choices for the greater good.” It was something I’d heard before, but I never really comprehended its true meaning. I always used to think it was something bad people said when they tried to justify their horrible actions, but now… I was starting to understand.
I inhaled sharply, mostly because I was steeling myself for what I was about to do, and I managed to lift my left arm and guide my hand to his face. He leaned over me on the couch, that knife still against my cheek, just beneath my eye, so I had to move slowly. Though my arm felt like it had turned to steel, I was able to lift it just enough. My fingers touched his cheek, drawing down along his jawline, catching the low stubble there. He let out a rough breath, and I hoped that meant I had him.
Seducing someone wasn’t a skill I had. Never thought I’d have to. Then again, I never thought I’d be caught in a life-or-death scenario, but here I was.
“We could do it together,” I whispered, feeling his body leaning down more, his face nearing mine. “I could spy on them both, help you frame them. I could help you make the case air-tight. Believe me, Neo, I want nothing more than to see Gareth Montgomery go up in flames for the things he’s done.”
There was a bit of truth to that statement. There was a time, not so long ago, when I’d wanted nothing more than Gareth to get his just deserts. I’d wanted to hurt him, kill him, even, so pretending like I still harbored those feelings wasn’t so difficult.
The hand on my neck moved, curling around to the back of my head, and Neo’s nose brushed against mine. “Maybe,” he breathed out, “it wouldn’t be so bad to have you by my side.” He moved the switchblade away from my cheek the very same moment his mouth came down on mine.
He kissed me hard, desperately, his mouth leading the assault, and I gave him every bit of hunger that he showed me. I had to keep going, had to keep reeling him in, until he was so focused on me and my body that he let go of the switchblade. I didn’t know how far I’d have to take him, but now wasn’t the time to be squeamish about going too far.
If I didn’t go too far, I think he’d make good on his promise that I wouldn’t leave this house alive.
Before I knew it, he was moving me so that I was laying down on the sofa. His mouth never left mine, not even as his body came down on me. Neo pinned me down, and I hated the fact that he was the school’s star quarterback. It might not be football season anymore, but he was still just as hefty and bulky as I was certain he’d been during it. It only served to make things harder for me, of course.
If he was skinny, wiry, then I’d have an easier time doing what I had to do. But since he was so big, so muscular… I had to make him think I was into him. I had to. I really had no other choice.
Gareth was telling the truth this whole time. I’d doubted him, wanted to believe he was lying, but he wasn’t. I hated how stung I felt by it all.
Neo had to take charge, at least for now. Kissing him, feeling his body above mine; it all helped to pump my body full of adrenaline, and with each passing second, I felt more and more in control of my extremities. Still, I acted slower and sluggish, not wanting him to see through the guise.
His midsection pressed down on me, and a hardening cock prodded me. It didn’t take much to rev this one up, apparently. He moaned into the kiss, grinding that erection against me, the hand without the switchblade cupping my face.
My hands sluggishly reached for his pants, and I panted into the kiss, practically begging him, “Fuck me. Please, Neo, I need to feel you inside me.” I had no idea if he’d like hearing that, but with my past experience, I was betting on the affirmative.
“Are you on anything?” Neo asked, and that told me he believed me, that he wanted me by his side, that he thought I’d help him take Gareth, Alistair, and Rick down. It told me he was thinking of the future, not wanting to get me pregnant. “I don’t have anything here.”
“I’m on birth control,” I whispered.
That was all he needed to hear. He pulled off of me enough so he could work on my pants after tearing off my flats. As he undid them and pulled them down, he didn’t let go of the switchblade; I did my best not to stare at it, to keep my true motives to myself. He had to get off me to fully get my pants and the panties underneath off my legs, and he tossed them to the floor. It was right then that he closed the switchblade and stuffed it into his front pocket.
I had to get to that pocket, but I had to get to it without being obvious. I just didn’t know how, yet.
