Page 32 of Property of Lucian

The Black Wedding

Haylee

I chewed my bottom lip, unsure what I could ask and not ask. I didn’t want to cross the line, and I knew there was a line because this was Lucian—there was always lines and rules. Hell, he had rules for everything.

“Guards are down, Haylee.” His velvet, raspy, deep voice hit me hard, and I looked up. Could he see how nervous I am about asking him honest questions and expecting real answers? I was debating on just seducing him and fucking him, wrapping this night up.

That I could do, that was easy. That was sex. This . . . I couldn’t handle this. I inhaled sharply.

“Just ask whatever you want, baby girl.” He reached out, brushing my hair to the side. “Just ask, I can’t answer if you don’t ask.”

“Do you have regrets?” I bit the word out and put my hand up. “Let me finish.” I took a steady breath. “When I say regrets, do you regret giving into the need, giving into the monster?”

He frowned.

“The monster that backs you when you put the gun to a man’s temple. Do you regret giving into the monster?”

His expression dropped. God, he had to know I had my own monster that drove my every motion. He had to know that I fought with myself—that the demon, that monster, lived in me.

He titled his head. “You know more about this life than you should.” He leant back on the couch, running his hand down his face. “Can I ask you a question?”

I nodded my head.

“Do you regret fulfilling the debt?”

I swallowed sharply and couldn’t honestly answer that question. “No and yes.” I gave the weakest answer possible. “We all pay for our sins some way, and it seems I am paying for my crimes with my freedom.”

And that snapped his wondering stare, his expression hardening. “You think marrying me is payback for killing people?”

God, he took that the wrong way.

He moved to the edge of the couch. “When I ask you to come on a trip with me, I want you to honestly answer me with a yes or no to this question. Do you think that marrying me is repaying for your sins?” He rose a hand. “Not now. When I ask for you to go on that trip.”

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