Page 30 of Twisted Desire

“Because I’ve seen that look before. I’vewornthat look before.”

“What look is that?” I ask.

“That of a young woman very much in love.”

I struggle to keep from gagging. “No offense, Mrs. Marshall, but what the fuck?”

She laughs. “Aurora looked like that for weeks before she brought Tristan around.”

I have to bite my tongue to keep from insulting her daughter. What can I say? It’s a reflex.

“Tristan and Aurora are good for each other or whatever.” I look away. “They clearly have something good going on. They’ve stuck together through hell and back.”

“You’re right,” she says in a soft voice. “Skylar, it’s perfectly okay to want that for yourself.”

I frown, images of Nikolai flickering through my thoughts. It’s fine until those flashes are replaced by ones of Sebastian.

“What’s that look?” Selena asks.

I swallow hard and glance back at the screen in my hand. “Nothing, I just—I don’t know. Relationships are messy.”Relationships are messy? What the hell is this, an after-school special?

“Is there someone in your life you’d consider having a relationship with?”

“Depends on what you mean by relationship,” I remark in a slightly sarcastic tone. “I guess there’s a guy. We’ve fooled around, and it’s fun. We work well together professionally, but I can’t see it being more.”

“Why not?” she pushes.

“Love isn’t for me,” I say, “at least not like that.” Even still, Nikolai invades my thoughts. His taking care of me after Max died and Tristan left, his making me laugh and want to kill him in the same conversation. He keeps things interesting. He’s fucking amazing in bed, and he looks at me like... like I’m worthy of being cherished.

Because he doesn’t know what happened to you before you met him.

My stomach drops, and the food I ate earlier threatens to make a reappearance.

“You’ve had a bad relationship,” she muses with a somber look. “Most of us have, honey. But don’t let the fear of history repeating itself stop you from allowing yourself to be loved.” She smiles. “Aurora was torn between the fear she felt over loving Tristan and wanting to know what it would be like if she admitted what she felt. Once she was able to fight through the fear, she was happy.”

The comparison to Aurora is slightly irking. More so is knowing this human woman is right.

Son of a bitch.

I fucking love him.

I’m in love with Nikolai Sterling.

My eyes burn and my heart is in my throat. I’m not sure if I’m going to burst into laughter or tears.

My head is spinning as I stare at the ceiling. I’ve been in the same spot for over an hour, trying to talk myself out of what I’m about to do. I’ve had the phone number on my screen a dozen times now.

Fuck it. I press the call button and wait.

Tristan’s protective detail answers almost immediately. “Skylar.”

“Where is he?” I ask.

He pauses. “Teaching a class.”

“Whereis he teaching a class?” I push.

“I’m not supposed to—”

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