Page 74 of Savage Torment

“It’s nothing for you to worry about,” I state, and she sighs as though she was expecting that answer.

“I don’t know if you’ve learned this yet or not, but I’m going to worry regardless.”

For the first time since I was last in her presence, a small smile curls the corner of my lip. “You are braver than you think.”

“And you’re even more of an asshole than you give yourself credit for,” she retorts, amusement in her eyes, and it makes my smile grow.

“I love it when you’re feisty.”

“Really? I thought you loved giving me the cold shoulder and being an ass in front of everyone?” she snaps, the pointed look on her face making me pause. The humor is gone. The hurt that remains from our last encounter remains.

“I’m trying to make sure no one knows,” I grumble, offering an explanation that I would never usually give to anyone else.

“Knows what?” she pushes, and I shake my head.

“That we’re bound.”

She rubs her lips together, the hurt in her eyes morphing into something else. Sadness, maybe? Her mouth opens and closes four times before she huffs.

“Are you embarrassed by me?” she blurts, and I gape at her in surprise.

She has to be joking, right?

Surely. But… the look in her eyes.

Fuck.

“Is that a joke?” I ask, wanting to hear it from her lips before I start putting feelings into the mix that don’t exist, and she scoffs.

“Does it look like one?”

Double fuck. That confirms my assumption.

Wiping a hand down my face, I try to find the right words to explain what I’m juggling while still keeping some distance between us.

“You’re my bound, my devoted, and that puts a target onbothof our heads.”

Her brows furrow as she winds her arms around her middle again. I can’t decide whether she’s doing it to comfort herself in my presence because I’m being an ass, or because she’s trying her best to keep a barrier between us. Either way, I don’t like it.

“I’m a Florentine. I’m naïve to a lot of this stuff, so I’m going to need you to break it down a little more than that for me,” she explains, and I nod, my lips pursing as I think.

“You’re my weakness. Anyone and everyone will try to use you against me. That could be accomplished in any number of ways, but the most direct approach usually involves hurting you.”

“That… sounds like an issue,” she states with a gulp, trying to downplay the facts, but I’m sure she can see it written all over my face.

“You would be correct.” I want to say so much more. I want to explain to her the lengths people will go to, but she’s not ready to hear the truth.

“But,” she says, standing taller as she looks deep into my eyes. “You also said I’m braver than I think. So, is it because you don’t think I can handle it?”

Well fuck. That’s not at all what I was expecting her to say.

“Do you want to handle it?” I ask, the words leaving my lips before I can truly consider them and the vulnerability they show.

A blush creeps along her cheeks as she shrugs, avoiding my gaze once again. “I don’t know what I want.”

“I’m sure the wolves have been convincing you of exactly what they want,” I state. It’s another burst of honesty that I should be keeping to myself, but she shakes her head at me, easing the tightness of her arms around her middle as she points a finger at me.

“You would be wrong there.”

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