Page 60 of Possessive

I rolled my eyes. "Please, I'm no more a princess than you are. We both know why you did what you did."

He swivelled around and propped his elbow on the table. "Why don't you enlighten me? Don't try to paint me as some fucking hero."

"Why not?" I asked. "Is there something wrong with doing a brave thing? Whether or not you thought the SUV was up to smashing headfirst into another two cars, it's above your pay grade." I stopped and crinkled my brow. "You're right. Now I think about it, it was a dumbass move. You could have gotten yourself killed and wrecked a perfectly good car."

He arched an eyebrow at me.

"But you did it because you care," I said slowly. "Because, at the end of the day, this is a family. Reuben is more than a boss to you. Gianni is more than a co-worker. The twins too, I'm guessing." I sipped my tea and watched his expression.

"Could be," he said. "Or I'm a reckless dumbass who gets off on driving fast and smashing shit up."

"Maybe both," I said. "I didn't say you weren't a dumbass that cared."

He grunted. "You're making me out to be something I'm not. Someone had to do something and I did. That's all there was to it. Nothing fucking more and nothing fucking less."

"If you say so," I said lightly.

"I do say so." He turned away again.

"Why is it so difficult to accept that someone appreciates something you did?" I asked.

"Reuben told me you went off by yourself to kill the last of the attackers," Damon said, his voice low. "What did you do? Cut their throat like you did with that woman?"

My pulse sped up, blood thudding through my ears like it had when I walked through the darkness, hunting before I struck.

"Yes, I did. It was the quickest and cleanest thing I could do at the time. The most efficient."

"Why did you do it?" He turned back around to face me. "You could have let them come to you. Reuben or Gianni would have shot them. You didn't have to do a thing."

He was trying to bait me. To make me admit that I did what had to be done. As if somehow that would lessen what he did. I wasn't going to take it.

"I did it because I didn't want anyone else getting hurt," I said. "Because this is my family too."

"Even though you could have been killed," he said. "You don't think that was reckless?"

I didn't think that in the slightest. I knew what I was capable of. Dealing with one attacker who didn't see me coming was almost effortless.

"I wasn't thinking about myself," I said. "The same way you weren't thinking about yourself. We did what we had to do to protect the people we care about. They did the same for us."

He made an indeterminate sound in the back of his throat and picked up his drink to take a gulp. It looked like half of it went down in one swallow.

"You don't think they care about you?" I asked. "Because I can tell you, they do. Gianni will tell you that himself. Reuben is more…reserved. He doesn't trust easily, but he trusts you. Even when you're being a grumpy asshole. Which, as far as I can tell, is most of the time."

He responded with a side eye. "You think I should be more warm and fuzzy like Gianni or the twins? That's not who I am. No more than it is who you are. Not anymore."

He took in my look of surprise. "I met you before. At least, I was present. Reuben went to talk to your father and you came into the room. It was like the fucking sun rose in the middle of the night. But not anymore."

He might as well have taken a needle and stabbed me right in the heart with it. His aim was perfect, the target hit dead on.

"We all change," I murmured. "I had to grow up sometime. Even if Kurt wasn't?—"

"But he was," Damon interrupted. "Do you know why everyone bought the story about you running off to marry some nice guy and living in the suburbs? It wasn't because your father was convincing. It was because we thought it was the truth. Because a girl like you doesn't belong in this world. You should be baking birthday cakes for sweet little babies who grow up never knowing how to use a gun. You should be going to school plays and ballet recitals. Soccer games on Sunday morning and watching Disney movies a hundred times over.

"You shouldn't be sneaking around in the dark and cutting throats, or trying to find some asshole who locked you up in hell and tortured you until you became the shadow instead of the sunshine. I've seen some fucked up stuff in my day, but what he did to you is by far the worst. And to the person who deserves it the least."

For the first time in years, I found tears trickling down my cheeks. He was so wrong and so right at the same time. Everyone had the impression I was sweet and innocent, but it was a façade. It was a role I played so well no one thought to look for me. No one thought anything bad could happen to that sweet girl.

"I'm not the sweet person you think I am," I managed to say.

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