Page 21 of Don't Hate Me
“Nah, I know I’m doing what I should with my life. That club is everything to me, the women in it like family. It’s not just a club that sells sex, it’s a safe zone for these women to come and earn their money knowing they’re protected. It’s a community that looks out for each other. That’s why when your brother came in trying to take over it, I fought him over it so much.”
“You two are explosive together,” he grumbles like he doesn’t like the idea of us in the same room.
I shrug, knowing we are in more ways than one. “He just gets under my skin.”
His eyes meet mine as if he’s searching for something. “Romeo has a way of doing that to people. But you like him anyway.”
I sigh heavily, not sure if I want to admit it to Orlando, but I miss him like crazy. I miss all three of them. More than I ever thought I would. What I wouldn’t give to go head-to-head withRomeo right now then fuck like we hate each other. It would be hot as hell and everything I need.
He moves his hand so it’s cupping my cheek softly. “You can tell me. I won’t tell him, I promise.” He grins.
I can’t help but laugh. “What is this, high school?”
His eyes scan my face, lingering on each feature longer than they should. “You can tell me anything, Sloane, I will keep your secrets,” he says a little more seriously.
I gaze back at him, feeling the crazy pull I have to him again. “Why do you want to know so badly?”
His eyes lock with mine, a possessive glint in their depths, and I know he wants me. But he holds himself back. Keeps a distance, even though I know he doesn’t want to. His rules implied as much. He wants to own me in every way.
I reach into his hair, my fingers running through the soft strands because I just need to touch him. I know this is getting me into dangerous territory, but I can’t help myself. “Your brother is so different from you. He’s so forward, demands you give him what he wants, and throws a tantrum if he doesn’t get it.”
His brow rises, unimpressed, and I feel like I might have just insulted him. “I go after what I want as well, Sloane.” The desire in his voice is damn obvious and does something to my insides.
I study his face for the longest time, both of us lost in our own thoughts. He’s so damn beautiful like this under the moonlight. Erratic energy swirls between us like crazy, but I already know he won’t make a move on me. This will be just like yesterday. “You want me, but you hold back,” I whisper, the words slipping out before I can stop them.
“I’m helping you stay alive.”
I nod. “Penitence for your sins,” I agree with him, remembering what he told me earlier.
He rolls his lips, his eyes dropping down to mine hungrily. And I know it doesn’t matter what he says, he wants so much more. “Exactly.”
“Except you have to constantly fight the urge to make me yours. Watching me with all of them, it must have driven you crazy. I was supposed to be yours, I should have married you all those years ago. Instead, you nearly died, and I got away.” Fuck, I know it’s dangerous, but I can’t stop the words from tumbling out of my mouth. I should stop, I know I should, but I want to push him. I want to know what he really wants with me. What he is capable of.
A wave of darkness washes over him; his face contorts, his eyes flashing, and his normally pleasant expression twists into a mask of fury. “Youaremine. Right now I own you, and I have no intention of letting you go. Ever,” he growls, and I know I have gone too far.
I move back from him, needing space, because the way he’s looking at me all possessively is kind of scary. “You don’t own me in the way you want,” I throw back at him, pushing him, because fuck him. Right now, he’s all talk, and I want to see the truth.
He cracks his neck, his dark gaze intensifying. “You’re playing a dangerous game, treasure,” he warns me.
I suck in a breath, my lips twisting up at the sides. “I know. Maybe that’s what I want.”
His fingers slip from mine, and he stands, staring down at me like he doesn’t know what to do with me.
“You want to know what your brother means to me?” I ask when I know he’s about to walk away from me, not ready for this conversation to end. He doesn’t get to walk away from me, not now, not when I feel like I’m getting somewhere.
He glares back at me, and I know he’s desperate to know how I really feel about Romeo.
“I fell for him hard, and every day you keep us apart, I miss him more. Not just him, but Onyx and Reef as well. I feel like I’m missing part of myself without them. It makes me feel fucking crazy. But that’s what you want, isn’t it? Because you want me to yourself.” My chest heaves with frustration. With loss from not being able to see or talk to the boys. Clumsily I get to my feet, balancing on my good leg. “I have never experienced this pain in my chest before, this hollowness that just won’t go away. I didn’t even know what was really going on between us. I thought it was just an infatuation, me just wanting to fuck away my problems, but now I know it was so much more, and I can’t even tell them because I’m locked up here with you.” The words tumble out, and I can’t stop them, each truer than the last. I have real feelings for all of them, and it’s scary as fuck, but I can’t deny it.
“It’s for the best, treasure,” he seethes through clenched teeth, giving me one last assessing look, his eyes lingering on my face before dropping his head in defeat and walking away like the weight of the world is sitting on his shoulders.
My hands ball into fists. He doesn’t get to walk away from me. “I get it, what you’re trying to do. You think if I’m isolated out here, Syd won’t get to me,” I call after him, and he turns back. “Makes sense. But I need to see the boys. Can’t you let them come out here?”
For what feels like an eternity, his eyes bore into mine. He looks wounded that I even asked to see them again. Like I’m the one hurting him, not the other way round. “Follow me,” he grumbles.
Slowly, I hobble along behind him. He waits for me on the stairs, helping me up each one. Even when he’s annoyed with me, he still has to help me. That says something about his character, doesn’t it? At this point, I’m not sure if I’m just looking for any excuse not to hate him, but every little thing he does makes me see him differently. In a better light.
Instead of taking us into the house as I expected, he opens the door to the lighthouse tower with a creak. A creepy shiver slithers down my spine, the smell of dust lingering in the air. “I thought I wasn’t allowed in here,” I sass, just because I can.