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His lips feather across mine. The warmth of his breath and the heat of his body, causing every nerve in my body to spark with desire.
Suddenly, I’m pulled back from the cliff’s edge and Judah steps away from me, leaving me to shiver from the cold breeze that hits us both. His hair is a mess as it falls across his forehead, the dark locks hiding one of his eyes.
“Let’s go,” he tells me and heads back to the car.
I follow along and slip into the passenger seat before pulling the door closed. He doesn’t speak to me. He doesn’t even look at me. The engine purrs to life, and soon, we’re back on the road and heading home.
We’re not far from the house when I finally say softly, “The way you hate me confuses me.”
I sit back and focus on the road ahead instead of on Judah. I’m afraid to look at him because that moment on the edge of the cliff made my feelings for him a lot clearer.
Judah pulls up to the house, the drive home now thankfully behind us as he circles the fountain that sits just outside the front entrance. When he kills the engine, he twists in his seat and looks at me.
“I’ve done many evil things in my life,” he admits. “I’ve killed people who’ve been disloyal, I’ve tortured people who’ve betrayed my family, and I will do so again. But I’ll make something very clear to you right now, I didn’t hate them,” he tells me as he grips my chin and forces me to look at him. “And I don’t hate you, Brielle,” he confesses. “I just don’t trust you.”
“I’m not my father,” I bite out as frustration takes over. “You, Valen, and Kai trusted me with a secret. You’ve told me something I could easily go and blab about, but I haven’t, and I won’t. I’m not here to spy on you. My father forced me to come here, to marry you. I didn’t have a choice.”
“The same way we don’t have a choice,” Judah says, and I realise, no matter how angry I am at him, he’s only doing what he’s been trained to do all his life—protect his family.
I was lucky enough not to grow up in this world, I didn’t get pushed into killing people from a young age. He did. So did Valen and Kai.
“I am sorry,” I whisper as he looks away and stares out the windscreen.
Judah releases his hold on me, and I immediately miss his touch. When we first met, I’d hoped we could get to a place where we could be civil with one another, but I never expected to develop feelings for him. As much as we may argue, I realise I really do like Judah Venier.
“I don’t need you to apologise,” he tells me, and just like that, the guy who was showing emotion is gone, and the cold, calculating mafia Underboss is back. “We need to go. There’s a party in town tonight, and you need to work out with Kai before we go.”
He pushes open his door and leaves me in the car. Even when I don’t follow behind, he doesn’t look back, and I’m once again confused as to what I’m going to do about him. I’m not sure how to get through to him. The gentle affection I show Valen is not going to work on Judah.
Sighing, I make my way to the front entrance of the mansion, and pushing open the door, I head inside. There’s no point in looking for Judah, so instead, I make my way to my bedroom to change into some sweatpants and a T-shirt.
My mind is still on Judah when I finally walk into the gym and find Malachi doing weight training with Valen.
“There she is,” Valen says as he pushes to his feet and rushes towards me.
The man is like my own personal cheerleader. Out of the three of them, he’s made me feel the most at ease. But I know, even though Valen doesn’t look as dangerous as the other two, there’s an underlying menace to him.
I’m about to reply when my phone buzzes, and I pull it from my pocket. Judah’s name is brightly lit on the screen. It’s a message from him.
When I open it, warmth courses through me, causing my cheeks to heat. It’s a photo of him on his bed, one leg crooked at the knee, and his arm outstretched with the phone in one hand. He’s not wearing anything but a pair of dark jeans. The mirror at the end of his bed shows me the reflection of the beautiful, yet dangerous man, half hidden in the shadows.
The text attached to the photo reads,Don’t forget how your body feels against mine.
I don’t reply. Instead, I hide my phone back in my pocket and greet Valen with a hug.
“Who was that?” Valen questions.
“Judah. Reminding me I’m going to some party tonight,” I lie quickly, hoping to forget about the photo, but deep down, as I move to the mat where Kai is waiting, I can’t force it out of my mind.
“Are you ready?” Kai asks as he smiles at me.
“I am. I’ve done some self-defence before, so this shouldn’t be too bad.”
“Let’s go, princess.”
Kai starts by grabbing my arm and tugging me against his rock-hard body. There are dips and peaks of muscle I can’t help but feel when he moves. I’m confident I can handle his next move. But, I don’t expect Valen to suddenly come from behind and grab me. Both of them twist me in their grasp. I’m able to pull away from one, but the other still has hold of me. This is definitely not going to be easy.
I’m out of breath within ten minutes, and I’m ready to fall to the ground and beg for mercy. Kai notices, and he and Valen both step back, allowing me time to catch my breath. As I bend over with my hands on my thighs, Kai watches me with his head tipped to the side.
