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"Gunner, you have to tell us what your secret is," Pipe says with a laugh.
"What secret?"
"You've got her eating out of your hand," Crack adds.
My heart stops. They're talking about me.
"Anytime I had to turn a girl, it was a constant battle, but you've got this girl acting like a den mother."
Xander isn't turning me. We care about each other. I'm not like the other girls.
"I have my methods."
What? Did Xander really just say that? Why didn't he tell them? Why did he say that like he actually is turning me?
I'm not a whore. He didn't rape me or force drugs down my throat.
It’s a way of forcing an addiction. Drugs, alcohol, sex, parties. Once an addiction is formed, it’s used to control the girl. If she acts up or tries to run away, she’s punished by taking away the thing she’s addicted to.
Tears threaten to spill down my face when it suddenly hits me. Hehasbeen turning me and I just had no idea it was happening. The addiction isn't drugs or parties. It's him and this connection between us.
He's been playing me just like Dell did, and I'm enough of a fool for it to work.
I'm standing where the only face I can see is Browning's ugly mug and he smirks at me triumphantly. My pain is his victory.
Goddamn it. I won't cry. I have to be strong. Now that I know the truth, it won't work. I can protect my heart, reinforce the walls around my heart. Xander may have knocked them down, but I can push him out and rebuild. I can't let men like Browning and Xander win.
I steel my spine and morph it to titanium when I hear the next thing.
"What? I thought Laura was your girl?" Nala asks, completely clueless.
"Nope. What was it you said in my office when you asked for her?" Browning pulls his gaze away from me and my entire body tenses when I hear the next words out of Xander’s mouth.
"She's a rental–a test drive. It's nice having a warm body in my bed every night, though. I could get used to that."
That fucking bastard! He's talking about me like I'm an object, but I'm not. I'm a goddamn human being and I deserve more respect than this. He hasn't had to lift a damn finger in this apartment since I came here and now he's saying this shit about me? Well, fuck him.
I walk over to the kitchen after a minute of schooling my expression and grab myself a can of beer. I've never liked the taste of beer, but after what I've heard from Xander's dirty lips, I need something to take the edge off so I don't punch him.
"Rough night?"
Browning steps into the kitchen and I scowl at him. "Did you enjoy that?"
"I don't have the faintest idea what you're talking about. I just saw you drinking like you have a gun to your head." He's messing with me and we both know it.
I gulp down the rest of my beer before moving onto the next one. The worst thing about beer is that there's so little alcohol in it, it will take way more than two to make me feel any type of way.
"Sure, you don't, just like you don't get off on seeing me suffer."
Suddenly, his eyes widen and he laughs and…it's real, not something done to scare me. He laughs with true amusement and it's unnerving.
Why is he laughing?
"Apologies. I haven't laughed like that in a while." He steps closer and takes one of my curls between his fingers, staring into my eyes with….eyes like Xander’s. Those honey hazel eyes. Their Browning's eyes. With him this close, I see Xander on his face. Behind all the wrinkles and scars, I see the resemblance.
His hair, eyes, the shape of his jaw, it's all things Xander inherited. He looks more like Browning than I thought.
"Did you really think he'd fall for you?" he asks, his voice low. "You're just a sweet college girl, Laura. You're smart enough to know you and him…its only fucking. Don't be so sensitive. You'll need a harder exterior to survive this life. Don't even think of falling in love. It will make you weak and I like you strong. You stay strong and you'll make him strong." He trails his finger along my jaw and it's almost seductive, or I'd think that if I didn't see the determination in his eyes.
