Page 212 of Rosetti Family New York
Her gaze is fixed on mine, unblinking, daring me to look away.
Something cracks in me. How the hell does she manage to do that? Break me open when I think I'm stone. I stay silent, knowing I should let it be the last word. Let her win this round.
"You're a coward," she says, each word cold and precise.
It stings more than I think it will. I step back again, making sure the distance is real.
"Call me what you want. It doesn't change the facts."
"The facts," she says, with a bite of sarcasm.
She crosses her arms, so calm it makes my blood boil.
"Yeah. The facts."
I want to shake her. Want to pull her close and never let go.
"We're not a good idea," I say.
"Maybe I like bad ideas."
I can't believe it. The way she just says it. Like we aren't talking about the difference between life and death. Between heaven and hell. It pisses me off, but more than that, it makes me want her even more. Damn her. Damn the way she gets under my skin.
"You don't know what you're saying."
"You know what your problem is?" she says, cocking her head to one side.
I wait, anger and lust running wild in my veins.
"You think you're doing me a favor, pushing me away. You're not."
It drives me nuts, the way she turns everything I say into something else. The way she doesn't even flinch. I am so used to people backing down, running off. Sloane stands her ground, and it is the hottest fucking thing I've ever seen.
I feel myself wavering, wanting to give in, to take what she's offering. But Alisa's face flashes in my mind again, the way she looked at me like I was something broken, something to be afraid of. I can't bear to see that look on Sloane's face. I'd ratherpush her away now than watch her leave later, when I've let myself believe she might stay.
"Get the hell out of my face, Carter," I hiss. "I don't need a preppy princess with a save-the-world complex sticking her nose in my business. All you do is get yourself in trouble like a damn kitten in a house fire, and I don't need a fucking kitten. Stay in my house until the heat is off you, but stay out of my personal space."
Her green eyes burn with fury. "Asshole."
I sweep a mock bow. "Now you get it."
As she turns to leave, something cold and hollow settles in my chest. I tell myself it's relief, that I've done the right thing. That I've saved us both from something that would only end in disaster.
But as the door slams behind her, I know it's a lie. I'm not protecting her from me, I'm protecting myself from her. From the way she makes me feel human again. From the terrifying possibility that she might see all of me and not run away.
Just like Alisa did.
19
Sloane
My room is as empty as I feel. It's freezing in here. Winter seeps in through every wall, making everything remind me of him. How he went from fire to ice, from kissing me like I was his last meal to acting like I'm poison. Why does he have to be so infuriating? One second, I think he gets me, the next, I want to scream. And the worst part is, he makes me doubt myself. Am I just a princess in his eyes, too soft for his world? I hate him for making me want him.
I replay the whole scene in my head, every word of his rejection cutting deeper on the rerun. "It’s not what you want," he said, as if I don't know my own mind. As if the honesty of my confession—about Bear, about everything—means nothing compared to his brooding self-hatred. He opened the door just enough for me to see inside, then slammed it in my face.
I should be angry. I am angry. But underneath that is something worse. Hurt. The kind that feels like a crack spreading through glass. I flop back on the bed and stare at the ceiling, trying to ignore how his taste still lingers on my lips. Maybe he's right. Maybe this is a mistake. Maybe I amjust looking for a distraction from the grief, from the chaos of Maddy's murder.
But it doesn't feel like that. It feels real. Too real. And that's what terrifies me.
