Page 51 of Dismantle & Prevail
She shakes her head and smirks before straightening and turning her attention back to her computer. “Careful there, Ace. You are starting to sound obsessed with little ol’ me.”
“I am and I don’t give a fuck who knows it. I’m just waiting for you to kick my ass to the curb, or realize you are just as obsessed with me as I am with you.”
“Hmm. Cocky and obsessed. A wonderful combination.”
“Only for you, Hellhound.”
She pays me no attention as her fingers fly against her keyboard.
This girl is going to make me drag her out of here at this rate.
In a flash, I step behind her, my hand moving to shut the laptop, but I freeze when I see her screen.
Immediately her body tenses and she moves to close her laptop, but I stop her with a hand on her wrist.
“What are you doing, Taylor?” I ask, trying to hide the anger and fear rising in my chest.
Her green eyes stare up at me as she says, “I’m not one to lie. It’s exactly what it looks like.”
My teeth grind and I turn her to face me, causing her to crank her head back to look at me. My hand reaches out, and to my surprise, she places her hand into mine. “Butterfly. I appreciate it, but you don’t need to do this.”
“Why the hell not?” Taylor rips her hand out of mine and spins back around, immediately clicking through multiple screens on her computer.
“Do you not see this, Ace? Do you not see how close I am to finding a piece of this giant puzzle?”
“I do, but you need to stop.”
Taylor's face morphs into anger, and I can’t help but glance at the computer.
Multiple windows are up, all displaying different angles of the house that was my unwanted home for months. Next to it, news articles of the fire that we set shortly after we left, and some type of legal preceding that I cannot decipher.
Fear laces around my heart and my nightmares of Taylor being taken from me by the masked devil flash in my head.
She is already too close to this and if she digs too far and it somehow triggers a reaction from the masked man and their crew, I can only imagine he will come out of hiding and make good on his promise.
Spinning her chair back around, I crouch down and stare up at her, my hands resting on herbutterfly coveredlegs. “Butterfly, please. Whoever is behind this isn’t one to mess with. I am not one to run away when someone threatens everything I love, but until we know for sure who this is, we need to play it safe.”
Her shoulders fall slightly and she sighs. “I know, but we cannot be too cautious until we know. And I’m so close. I can feel it.”
“And I appreciate that. You know how I feel about your skills. We wouldn’t be here without you, but this is different. He threatened you and it would fucking kill me if something happened to you because of me.”
Her eyes soften, and she leans forward, taking me by surprise. “You know, if you spent half the time getting that head of yours screwed on straight instead of worrying about me, you’d be a lot happier.”
My hand inches slightly higher up her leg and Taylor’s breath hitches. “You know, if you spent half the time just accepting the fact that you’re mine, instead of getting lost in your head, you’d be a lot happier.”
A laugh escapes her, and she pushes me away. “Go on, Prez. Aren’t you supposed to be hosting game night?”
Standing, I reach around her and close her laptop.
“Hey! You can’t just come in here and demand I stop working just because you said so. Last time I checked, I don’t have to listen to your old ass.”
Defiance shines bright on her face as she crosses her arms over her chest.
This damn girl is going to be hell on wheels, but a fucking adventure.
Taylor turns to open her computer, but I stop her. My hands go to her waist and I toss her over my shoulder.
“What the hell, Aries! What happened to I’m in control here and I can make my own decisions?”
