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“I’m not,” she snapped. She dropped her apple onto the counter to try and push me away. “Back off, Zan.”
“Why?” I tossed back, tightening my hold on her waist. “Is it harder to hide your emotions when I’m touching you?”
Her jaw clenched, and she went entirely still when I leaned closer, letting my lips brush her cheek. I didn’t miss how her breath hitched, and I pressed her against the counter.
“Try to deny how much I affect you,” I whispered in her ear. “I have no issue proving you wrong.”
“You have no idea how I feel about you,” she hissed, her cheeks flushing slightly. Her eyes darted behind me to the twins. “We’re not talking about this right now.”
“I have no reason to hide how I feel about you. I don’t keep secrets from them.”
“Only from me, then,” she replied, bitterness in her voice.
I heard footsteps before the door opened. Kali’s eyes cut behind me, no doubt watching Pax and Viggo leave. I heard them moving down the stairs, but I didn’t bother to look. Reaching up, I caught her chin in my grasp and tilted her face up. My fingers tightened when she tried jerking away, making sure to keep my eyes on hers.
“Show me I have a reason to trust you,” I said, keeping my voice steady. “Prove to me that if I tell you everything, then you won’t use it to kill me. Or to kill my family.”
She pressed her lips together, her glare scathing as she stayed silent.
“I know it’s not your choice to stay here.” My words had rage sweeping across her face. “I can’t change that.”
“Can’t or won’t?” she spat out.
“Both,” I answered honestly. She was already so pissed about everything that I wasn’t going to tiptoe around her anymore. “You’re here to stay. You want to live like this? Wrapped up in bitterness and hating everything? Go ahead. I can’t stop you.”
“Then let me go so I can go back to the bedroom,” she gritted out.
Her relief was short lived when I let go of her jaw. I kept her pinned against the counter, snagging her wrists when she slammed them against my chest to shove me away.
“God, you are so infuriating,” she forced out. “You’re an?—”
“Asshole,” I finished the sentence for her. “I know that. You know that. You’ve been aware of it since the moment we met. You knew it when you kissed me.” She opened her mouth to argue, but I kept speaking. “You still saved my life that night in Impulse when the Clovers were going to kill me. Slept with me. Kept my secret about my black blood. You did all of that while knowing who I am. And what I am.”
“Maybe I thought you’d change,” she muttered bitterly.
I chuckled, keeping her wrists tight in my hold. “Oh, Kali. The things I’ve done for you…no one except my brothers has seen the side of me that you have. And if we’re being completely honest, you are just as infuriating. You drive me crazy.”
“Yet here I am,” she stated. “Still alive.”
“I never said it was a bad thing, did I?” I arched an eyebrow. “Clearly, I must enjoy you driving me crazy, since I want you here.”
“And how can I trust that?” she asked, an edge of desperation in her voice. “After meeting your father?—”
“That wasn’t supposed to happen,” I cut in sharply. “I never wanted him to see you.”
“Well, he did,” she mumbled. “Now what?”
“Now I want you to get used to living here. To embrace it,” I told her, managing to keep my voice level and refusing to reveal how fucking much I wanted her to do just that. To stop fighting it. “Accept that you’re here for good. Enjoy it. I’ll give you whatever you want. You want to see the world? I’ll take you fucking anywhere. Tell me what you want, Kali.”
Shock filled her eyes as we stared at each other in silence. My stomach dipped, knowing there was only one thing she wanted. And I had no damn idea if I’d be able to give it to her.
“Promise me that you won’t do what Amaros wants,” she whispered hoarsely. “That I will never carry a child. Promise me that, Zan. And I’ll try to adjust to living here.”
“No more fighting me at every turn?” I questioned, only half believing that she’d be able to do it. “Or ignoring me.”
Her eyes grew stormy. “I’m not just going to submit to you.”
“That’s not what I asked.” I finally released her wrists but didn’t move away. “I want you to stop acting like you hate me—when we both know that’s not true.”
