Page 151 of Unorthodox
My chest tightens with those words and I fucking hate that I feel a crack in it. In the armor I’ve resurrected since I was a child and I needed it to survive for me and Oliver both. I hate that I’m thinking maybe there’s another way.
I hate that I don’t want to do this anymore. I hate that I almost wish it was her that betrayed me, because it would make this so much easier.
But I know it wasn’t her.
She hasn’t had any contact with anyone outside of these walls. I have no excuse to send her off into a life of fucking misery anymore, not where her own character is concerned.
But there’s nothing to be done.
If I don’t give her up, they’ll come for her anyway.
Evora was a message of just that.
And if that had beenOliver’shead, I’d have probably killed her myself for costing him his life.
No. I can’t keep her. She has to go.
“You want another drink?” I ask her, whispering the words against her skin, trying to push thoughts of her future from my mind.Of her past.
She presses back against me, bringing us even closer. “Sure.” The word is lazy on her tongue, and it makes me smile.
It’ll be easy to get her drunk.
And drunk people tell more truths. She didn’t betray me, but maybe she knows who did.
I put my hand on her thigh as I lean toward the table, one arm reaching across her for the glass. She laughs at the awkward way I’m moving with her in my lap, and she picks up where I left off, pouring the rum into the cup in my hand.
She fills it to the top, some of it sloshing over the side, dripping onto the marble table.
Cupping it in both hands, moving mine aside, she leans back with me, cradling the drink to her chest. Then she turns to look up at me through her lashes. “Want some?”
“You first.”
She smirks at me, brings the glass to her lips and winces as she swallows.
“You can do better than that, love.”
She rolls her eyes, and I dig my fingers into her side, yanking her closer. Her eyes meet mine with that movement, then she takes another gulp, her brow furrowed. Surprising me, though, she drinks more, and by the time she’s done, nearly gagging as she holds the cup toward me, it’s half empty.
If she’s not careful, she’ll black out before I even get to have her again.
I take the glass in my fingers, reluctantly letting go of her with one hand. I finish the drink, relishing in the way it burns all the way down. Before I can do it, she plucks the glass from me and sets it on the table, a little heavy handed.
Then she turns in my lap to face me, wrapping her arms around my neck.
“Can I tell you a secret?” she asks me quietly.
I just wait, gripping her by the waist, my hands under her shirt.
“I think you’re beautiful.”
“Can I tell you a secret?” I ask her, leaning down close, pressing my brow to hers.
She bites her lip, but doesn’t say anything, just like I didn’t.
“Iambeautiful.”
She blinks at me, her mouth dropping open. Then she laughs, closing her eyes as she does and tightening her hold around my neck. Her chest brushes against mine, and my fingers dig deeper into her soft skin.
