Page 64 of Pretty Threats

“You can be mean. The way you talk to even me sometimes is mean.”

“But you know I’m not. Not towards you. If you need something, or even just want it, I make sure you get it. Who do you think bought you the snow-globe music box?”

Her jaw drops. “It was a promotion. I won that in a giveaway.”

“Yeah, sure,” I say sarcastically. “You wanted it, but you were angry at me, so I sent you a fake form, made up a fake announcement and gave it to you. The only authentic thing about your winning a contest was the time it took me to make it look that way.”

“Killian… why?” Her voice is nothing but a whisper.

“Because,” I say with a shrug. “Because.” With a sharp shake of my head, I stare her down. “And then there’s sex, Raine. You really wanna waste time being jealous of other women I’ve been with? They would fall at my feet in gratitude if I ever treated them the way I treat you. I don’t just let you come when I’m fucking you. I make you come. Very different from the way I am with anyone else.”

“You don’t want them to have an orgasm?”

“I don’t care either way. Which means they don’t.”

“No?”

A small smile emerges. “Ask your female friends how often they get off while being fucked.”

“When I feel good, doesn’t it help you orgasm? If not, why were you always so determined to be in my room at night?”

Someone passes, and I wait until they’re out of earshot to answer.

“I can get off anytime I want. I just like it better with you.”

“Oh,” she whispers. “I can’t always get there on my own. If I’m not in the right headspace, I end up giving up because it’s taking too long. Is that normal for a girl?”

“Must be, since you are.”

“Sometimes, I wonder if I am still normal. We’ve spent so much time alone together. I think it’s affected me.”

Wouldn’t that be lucky? I think as we lock eyes for several moments. Our connection is as strong as it ever was. As though we were never apart.

“Killian?”

“Yes, Raine?”

She beckons for me to lean down, and I do. Then in a fierce, champagne-soaked whisper in my ear, she says, “I love that fucking music box.”

26

KILLIAN

This fucking night out is the best I’ve ever had. It’s the kind of time we should’ve had a year ago at the St. Seb’s homecoming. I was gonna take her to a hotel room and fuck her after the dance. And I would’ve owned her from then on.

Fucking Peter and his fucking colleague. Her dad was always trying to put obstacles in my way. I thought about killing him for it, but Raine would’ve guessed I’d done it, and there would’ve been no coming back from that. Her hatred would’ve been permanent and ironclad.

I had to wait, playing the long game as the bosses would say. And it worked. I’ve got her now. And Peter’s not around to interfere.

Raine murmurs, “I’ll get my purse, so we can go.”

I nod, my gaze following her as she walks away.

So damned innocent. Raine’s deluded about the snow globe being a romantic gift. Sure, I like when she’s happy. That’s her natural personality. But improving her mood wasn’t the driving force for me. She was trying to freeze me out of her life and my countermove was to systematically prevent it.

Because she didn’t know I was behind the gift, she put it in the center of her dresser, replacing the cheap souvenir one she’d had for years. Late at night, before she went to bed, I heard the globe’s tinkling music, and it gave me a sense of satisfaction. I’d taken over part of her nightly routine.

Of course, it wasn’t enough. Within days, I started going in in the middle of the night. I’d flip the new globe the same way I’d done with the old one, letting the iridescent plastic snowflakes fall before I walked over to her bed.

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