Page 136 of Watch Me Burn
The energy between them shifts, crackling to life like a live wire touching water. Maren’s gaze travels down his frame, studying him, over the network of white scars threading along his chest and throat where his shirt collar gaps open. Then over the hands that rest at his sides, empty but coiled, like sleeping weapons waiting for a command.
Her attention lingers on the silver threading through his dark hair. Not the soft silver of age, but the hard-earned kind that comes from walking through fire.
“Well, Mr. Crawford.” The words come out slow, each syllable weighted with challenge. “If you’re so good at security, where were you when Luna needed protecting from your boss?”
A ghost of a smile touches Cade’s lips. “Ms. Rodriguez, you misunderstand the nature of my employment. I protect Mr. Wolfe’s interests. And currently, his primary interest is Dr. Foster and her well-being.”
“Maren.” I divert her attention before she can continue this dangerous line of questioning. “Shadow really needs tending to. I did a rough clean of his wound and gave him some Gabapentin, but it needs a closer look.”
She hesitates, torn between staying to protect me and doing what needs to be done for Shadow and the sanctuary.
“I’ll be fine. This will all be over soon.”
“Fine.” She relents, but it’s obvious she doesn’t want to. She turns to Damien, jabbing a finger at him. “I’m watching you, Wolfe. If you hurt her again, I will gut you like a fish. Billionaire or not.”
Damien doesn’t flinch. “I would expect nothing less.”
Maren holds his gaze before turning to head upstairs. As she passes Cade, she pauses, looking up at him with narrowed eyes. “That goes double for you, Rambo.”
To my surprise, Cade laughs, a low, rumbling sound like distant thunder.
“Noted, Ms. Rodriguez.”
Maren storms up the stairs, and Cade watches her go, his gaze lingering on her retreating form with unmistakable interest. I turn to Damien and find him looking at me as Cade slips out the front door, closing it behind him.
The whole fucked-up situation crashes into me. The blood, the lies, the bodies, and now Maren and Cade. A hysterical laugh bubbles up from my chest.
“Did your right-hand man just check out my best friend?”
Damien frowns. “It would appear so.”
“She’ll eat him alive.” I imagine fierce, chaotic, take-no-prisoners Maren against Cade’s controlled military demeanor.
“I wouldn’t be so sure.” He moves closer. “Are you alright?”
The genuine concern in his voice nearly breaks me. How can he ask that? How can he stand there looking worried about my mental state when he’s the reason I’m questioning everything I thought I knew about myself?
“No. I don’t think I’ll ever be alright again.”
Pain flickers across his face. “I never wanted this for you.”
“Didn’t you?” I challenge. “You wanted me to accept all of you. The monster and the man. Well, congratulations. I’ve seen both now.”
“And?”
His hand brushes mine, the touch so light it could be accidental. But nothing Damien does is ever accidental.
“What do you want me to say?” I keep my voice low even though we’re alone. “That I’m okay with what happened? That I’m not horrified by what I’ve become part of?”
“No. I want you to be honest. With me, if not with them.”
Honest. What does honesty even mean now? Is it honest to admit that despite the horror and moral revulsion churning in my stomach, there’s also a threadof dark satisfaction in knowing Caleb can never hurt me again? Is it honest to acknowledge that when I saw Damien’s violence tonight, part of me recognized it as the same intensity he brings to our passion?
“I don’t know what I feel anymore.” It’s the closest thing to the truth I can offer. “I look at you, and I see two different men. The one who spent months deceiving me and the one who will kill to protect me.”
“They’re the same man. I’ve never been anything other than what I am, Luna. I just showed you different facets at different times.”
“And who are you exactly?”
