Page 74 of The Spare

"Do I have a choice?" I whisper, leaning further down to look in his eyes.

"Not really. However, I think forthisI'd like for you to make the decision," he says. I don't know how, but I fall in love with him even harder.Mydecision. It's all I ever needed to hear."Butdon't tell our family that, though," he chuckles.

I stare at him, feeling tears well in my eyes.

"Will you?" he says quietly. "Can we love each other forever, baby? Not just in secret, but in front of the whole world?"

"Yes," I say, closing my eyes briefly. "A million times over, Mason." I hold out my hand and let him put the ring on my finger. I also let him lift me onto the table, spread my legs and eat my pussy as an appetizer.

And by the time he's done, our dinner has gone thoroughly cold.

Chapter twenty-one

Everything is Different

"Good morning, sir," my assistant Taylor greets me as I walk onto my floor at the infamous King Dynasty building.

"Morning, Taylor," I respond, walking briskly past his desk. "It's a great fucking day!"

"Indeed, Mr. King."

I feel absolutely amazing, energized by Melody almost sucking the soul out of my body last night. I smile, because who would have thought she had all that in her? Turning the corner, I'm so busylost in thought replaying last night while heading to my office door when I see it too late. It's cracked.

I stop dead in my tracks and look up at the ceiling on a prayer for peace, feeling that irritation crawl up my spine becausehe'sin there.

Hendrix.

I blow out a deep breath and clench my jaw, trying with everything in me to keep my attitude happy and in check. Pushing through my office door, I walk straight past him where he sits in one of the barrel chairs at my desk, opposite where I sit.

I ignore him, grabbing the remote off my desk, and clicking on the monitors that line the wall opposite my desk.

"Good morning, Mas-"

"What do you want, Hendrix?"I snap, folding my arms and watching the numbers tick across.

"Why do you have to be such a dick, Mason?" Hendrix asks with an irritated look on his face. "I don't understand you sometimes."

"Because,"I snap, lowering my eyes to look down my nose at him. "I literally told all of you not to contact me for awhile, and here we are not even a full forty-eight hours later. Not only have you disregarded my request and blown my phone up with about a hundred texts and phone calls, you're now smack dab in my fucking face,unwanted."

Hendrix's expression morphs into one that's weary and long suffering as he takes a deep breath, and then holds his palms up. "Mase, we're family."

"Are we, though?"I say, cocking my head to the side and eyeing him.

He recoils his head and throws me a hurt look, making me feel like an asshole. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean!"

I clench my jaw and work to get a handle on my feelings towards him. The resentment has got to go away at some point. "I'm sorry I said that. It was wrong of me."

Tense silence becomes almost suffocating before he finally breaks it. "Mason, what do you expect from me?" Hendrix asks softly. "I'm yourbrother.I've only ever tried to protect you the best I know how."

"Uh, maybe to actually listen to what the fuck I want." I lean forward and narrow my eyes at him. "Foronce."

He shakes his head, and I see now he looks a little weary. The skin around his eyes is tight, and he's got a harsh set to his mouth. He needs to groom his beard. "I was doing what I thought was the right thing to do."

"Yeah, well, your 'right thing' broke Melody's heart. And hurtme. It almost cost me everything."

"Come on, Mase. Can you cut me a little slack here? Isobel's upset with me that I've kept your feelings about Melody a secret and so is everyone else for interfering."

"You expect me to feel sorry for you, pendejo?" I scoff, pulling out my chair and sitting in it. "Go on ahead and get that notion out of your head because it's not happening."