Page 29 of Dark Prince

“Certainly is.” He retorts.

I look at the intersection and see that the light has turned yellow, but there are no cars to be seen because we’re in the middle of nowhere, still.

“What if someone comes?” I ask, looking back at him.

“What is life without some fun little deer?”

“Boring.” My heart starts beating frantically in my chest as I watch his face, studying if he’s serious.

“Are you bored yet?”

“Never.” I slide my hand into his and we just stare at each other as we fly through the intersection, going well above the speed limit, running the red light.

I take a deep breath as we clear the intersection, and say, “Black.” with a sigh. “My favorite color is black. Like a midnight sky on a new moon. I like being able to see into the soul of the universe on a clear night.”

He slows the car back down to a normal speed and we continue the drive in silence. I’m not really sure what just happened, but it was exhilarating as hell.

I keep peeking over at the gas gauge, hoping he needs to stop soon, since we’re in Kansas City now, and I can totally find my own way home if I need to. But no, it’s got a half a tank, what kind of mileage does this motherfucker get? Maybe I should look into getting a new car after all, my little putt-putt Honda Civic from the turn of the century just doesn’t run like it used to, once upon a time. Granted, I could totally afford a new car, but damn, my Civy girl has gone through some tough shit with me.

“Who’s your father?” Axel asks out of fucking nowhere, I thought we weren’t asking questions.

“Why?” I ask, feeling nervous as fuck right now, because my father isn’t someone I ever talk about, for good reason.

“Thought maybe we should invite him to the wedding.” He says with the straightest of straight faces.

“I think the fuck not.” I scoff, “He is not in my life.”

“Is he dead?”

“Not that I know of.” I shrug, because the last I knew, he was behind bars, where he belongs. Although, I suppose I kind of do too. Like father like daughter I guess. Except I didn’t kill little girls after kidnapping them for weeks, doing god knows what. I tried to not look too much into it. I changed my last name when I was old enough, not leaving any trace to keep me connected to that sick mother fucker.

“Mom said she knows who he is, so I’m trying to see if it’s going to be something I need to protect you from.” I freeze, my heart jumping in my throat.

“She.” I can’t even, “She didn’t tell you?”

“No.” He grips the steerwheel. “So you’ll have to tell me.”

I stare down at my fingers as I rub my hands together. Debating if I want to divulge this part of my life to him, he’s basically a stranger and he didn’t even want to tell me what his favorite color was. So instead I deflect. “What was prison like for you?” When he doesn’t say anything, I chance a look at him, seeing that his jaw is clenched. “So you want me to spill my secrets but you’re not willing to tell me yours.”

“It’s not like that.” He says through gritted teeth.

“It’s exactly like that. So, when you’re up to telling me about prison, I’ll tell you about my father.” I fold my arms over my chest, lean back in the seat, and stare out through the side window, not wanting to even see him in my peripherals.

I’m not sure why he thinks I’d be okay with all this one sided bullshit, I really need to get out of here. Hell I’m half tempted to just pop the fucking door and yeet myself out onto the highway. Just skirt-skirt right through traffic. This would be a perfect time to use that yeet button gif, if I had a phone. Or you know, was messaging someone instead of talking to myself in my head, like the fucking batshit crazy person I am right now. I feel like Axel has taken my equilibrium and shaken it, I don’t know how to find my static state anymore.

When he flicks the blinker on, I get hopeful, we’re getting off the highway. Sitting up in my seat, I look around to see that we’re too close to their house and if I dipped now, he’d be able to call in reinforcements. Stupid, fucking alphahole dickwadded, control freak dipshit. I hate him so hard right now.

“I’d like to go to my house Axel, this is no longer a request. I will make your life very fucking hard, and I may go fuck your sister and brother just to piss you off so you’ll let me leave.” He slams the breaks on, jolting me forward as the seatbelt tries to decapitate me. “Fucking hell!” I shout at him. He’s got me by the throat so fast I don’t even have time to blink. “Or not.” I rasp out.

“I would hate to have to kill my own family, but if you let any of them touch you, I will kill them.” I start coughing when he lets go of my throat, touching my already sore neck, I frown.

“You’d kill your own family over me? That makes zero fucking sense Axel.”

“You haven’t been paying attention.” He presses two fingers to my temple.

The cars on the exit ramp start honking but he doesn't seem to care, he's still got his fingers on my temples and staring at me as if I'm supposed to magically connect to him mentally, read his thoughts and whatnot. “Axel.” I blink twice and clear my throat, because I'm not really sure what else to do. He's got me in a chokehold. Even though I want to run, I also really want to jump on his lap and ride him until the sun goes down. What a fucking predicament I've found myself in.

He moves his finger and the vehicle starts to move. I'm at a loss for words right now because the way he was looking at me made me feel like it was just us in the world. Axel turns the SUV around and in the middle of the street, knocking me against the door.

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