Page 42 of Haunted Nights & Savage Sins
“It was business.” I shrug and busy myself scrolling through my phone, looking at the same emails I’d just gone through.
“Business?” She scoffs and finally turns her gaze on me. “How can you call what happened in that room business?”
“What would you call it?” I slide my phone into my pocket, fully ready to have this fight with her.
“I’d call it savagery.” She blurts out.
“Savagery. Sorry to disappoint you, princess, but what happened to Darren was soft compared to what could’ve happened. Lucky for him, he complied with my requests.”
She squints her eyes at me, leaning forward. “And if he didn’t? If he really didn’t have anything more to show you, what would’ve happened?”
“Exactly what I told him would happen. He’d have a number of bullets in his body, the final right between his eyes.”
“So you’d kill him. Over some papers?”
“I’d kill him just for lying to me.” I snarl.
She shakes her head and looks at me with disgust, such a drastic change from how she was looking at me last night. “You play so hard at being a brute. Monster isn’t a good look on anyone.”
“Playing?” I question before I push myself out of my seat, crouching so I don’t hit my head on the ceiling and getting as close to her face as I can. I place my hands on either side of her, grabbing on to the seat to steady myself and cage her in. “You think I’m playing at being a nightmare. Demons cower when I come their way. This is no game. This is who I am.”
Her voice is quieter. She’s scared and she should be.
“No, it’s not. You’re not a monster.”
I’m so close now I can smell the minty toothpaste she used this morning to brush her teeth. Our eyes are locked on each other.
I realize she’s referencing how I was last night, the same night she claims she can’t remember, the same one where nothing of importance came to pass.
“Oh, and how would you know that? As far as you remember, this is how I’ve always been. Right?” She doesn’t answer and my anger crescendos. I grab hold of her hair, brutally yanking the strands until her head is tilted up. “Right?” I shout down into her face.
If I thought I’d somehow tamed the wildcat that is Brenna, in that very second she let me know I was wrong.
She pulls her hand back as best she can and she smacks me hard across the face. The blow shocks me and I stumble backward in the small space. I don’t have time to breathe; she launches herself at me, joining me on the floor of the custom-made truck.
My head bangs against the siding; properly stored glasses and water bottles clink.
“Mr. O’Sullivan, is everything okay back there? Should we pull over?” A voice pops through the intercom.
“It’s fine!” I shout back as Brenna screeches and tries to smack me again. I grab hold of her hand and wrench it behind her back.
“You bastard! Evil bastard!”
“Husband. The word you’re looking for, princess, is husband.” I smirk down at her and it only enrages her more.
One hand I have pinned behind her back, the other is in between the two of us, so she hurts me the only way she can. She drops her face to my chest and bites my pec hard.
“Fuck! You dumb cunt!” I roar and push her off, harder than I should’ve. Her back rams against the edge of the chair. I know she’s going to be hurting later.
Still, she doesn’t slow. She launches herself back, her hands swinging wildly.
I stay on my back and reach up to catch her hands before she can make contact with my face again. This time, when I have a grip on her, I turn us over so I’m on top of her and I can use my entire body to keep her pinned down.
“You never learn, do you? You can’t fight your way out of this. This is your life now. This is how it’s going to be. Get over it.” I shout down at her, nearly desperate now for her to let go of this.
“I won’t. I’ll never get over it. It’s not fair. I don’t want this. I don’t want to want this.” She lets slip and I blink a few times, trying to process what she’s just said.
“You’re not a monster.” She whispers and her limbs go slack. “You were supposed to be a brutish devil, but you’re not.” There’s no more fire in her eyes, just confusion and concern.
