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He doesn’t say anything for a long moment.
Although my heart calms slightly, everything is on edge. “I didn’t drug you, Declan.”
He nods, although his eyes search mine and then he glances around the room as if he’s looking for something before running a hand over his face.
In the back of my head a voice screams,Say something, and I don’t know if it’s yelling at me or if the command is meant for him. Another moment passes in silence and the passage of time creates more space between us.
“I’m going home. Good night, Braelynn.” Remorse coats his farewell.
“Wait,” I call out in a breath, dropping the pillow and blanket. “Don’t go.”
“I have to.”
“Please, kiss me first.” I bite my tongue before the explanation can get out. I don’t feel right. It feels off again. I don’t want us to go back to the tension that was there. “Just kiss me good night?”
A beat passes my uncertain heart before he stalks toward me, both of his hands around my face and he kisses me with a possessiveness and a need that stuns me. His lips press against mine, his tongue parts the seam and he devours me, brutally taking until my back is pressed against the wall.
When he breaks the kiss, I have to catch my breath.
“Good night, Braelynn.”
Declan turns on his heel, and I can hear him leaving the house. I move to follow but the door closes. A car starts up outside, and by the time I reach the door, it’s gone.
Declan Cross is a brutal storm, unforgiving and reckless. That’s all I can think as I sit on the stoop, wishing I had the pillow still so I could hold on to something.
To anything other than the dark tales of a man who never had a chance to live a life other than this hell he was born into.
DECLAN
Ihaven’t been able to sleep easily for as long as I can remember.
Sleep evades me. Day in and day out, exhaustion wears me down and begs for me to rest. Yet when I lay, my mind keeps me up,replaying every moment of my life that led to where my family is now. I can admit that two years of taking on this business relatively on my own has made me paranoid. I’ve been screwed over by more people than I can trust. In fact, the only person other than my brothers who I trust implicitly is Seth. And I barely see any of them anymore.
So staring down at the results from the blood work, I don’t believe it.
Braelynn didn’t drug me. I simply fell asleep, in a strange place, without any protection whatsoever.
It’s as reckless as it is unbelievable.
Knock,knock,knock.
It’s a bit too early to be Braelynn, although perhaps she’s as eager to see me as I am her. Checking the cameras, I’m surprised by my disappointment that she didn’t come in early.
“Come in,” I call out as I click out of the results the doctor sent me, and over to the profile for Travis Marks.
The gray profile photo of a man with a smirk stares back at me. He’s a man who needs to die. What happened is his fault, I’m certain of it. His existence is problematic.
“Boss.” Nate greets me at the same time that Jase says, “We need to talk.”
The two of them beside one another is an intimidating sight. Nate’s scar on his chin adds to his severe and rugged countenance. My brother is taller but only by an inch or two, and Nate’s bulk more than makes up for it.
Marcus sent him to me two years ago as a part of our deal. His men. My rules. … so that he could escape. He didn’t tell me why he had to leave, only that something broken long ago needed to be fixed.
“You’re slipping,” Jase comments, a smirk on his lips as he drags the corner chair closer to my desk and Nate takes a seat.
A crease settles between my eyes. “How so?”
“Your door was unlocked last night. I walked right in and you weren’t here.” Jase appears proud of himself, but my dead stare has him thinking better of it.
