“Thank you,” I whispered, our lips were almost touching. I wanted this so badly.
“We should get you back to your room.” Ashton’s breath fanning against my lips only just overrode the disappointment coursing through me.
Back to my room?That meant more time with Alex and less time with sexy men who actually liked me.
“It’s not that late,” I protested.
“No, but I have another show tomorrow. These two need to work, too.” He gestured vaguely towards his friends.
I didn’t look away from his eyes, though, I didn’t want to miss the emotions lingering there. Admiration, desire, and something else I couldn’t name shone through.
No way was I going to be able to lock this man in my box. Not in a million years. Now, I just had to work out how to stop that from happening while Alex watched over me like a hawk.
I needed a plan.
“All right, but I hope you’ll let me see you again soon,” I said without meaning to. I did want to see him again, but I didn’t want it to be sooner than I had a way to keep him safe.
“You could come to the show tomorrow?”
“I’d love to.” I gave him a slow smile. I knew I shouldn’t, but I wanted to see him perform again. To see him get so lost in his art again.
I should be worried that I was the one getting lost in him.
I wasn’t.
Chapter Eleven
“We need to talk,” Alex stated.
“Oh, you’re talking aloud to me today?” I asked, not looking up from the orange I was peeling. If he wanted to interrupt my breakfast, then good luck to him. I wasn’t going to play ball.
“I can hardly talk aloud when your targets are in the room.”
I froze at his words.Targets.It’s such a cold word. Such a god like word.It was almost like they saw us humans as play things. Like we were just on Earth for their own perverse enjoyment.
What was I on about, it beinglikethat? I knew it was that. I’d met Zeus. I’d been a part of his twisted, fucked up games. I knew they only created us on a whim. They were just that way out. Made working for them more than a little difficult.
“Don’t use that word,” I hissed.
“What? Targets? What’s wrong with it?”
“They’re not targets. They’re people.”
“You’re being ridiculous, Dora. If you look at them like people, then you’re never going to be able to go through with what you need to.”
I hated him. I hated every stupid word coming out of his mouth. How could he be so cruel? So flippant with lives.
“That’s where you and I differ,” I said, dropping my orange and scraping my chair back.
I stormed past him to the bathroom, slamming the door shut before locking it tightly. No way was he getting in here, too. I didn’t want to face what he was saying. Nor the slight truth lingering in the back of my mind.
I slid down the door. The comforting sturdiness was all I needed between myself and Alex. I sighed. I came here for a reason. Earth, not the bathroom. Though I supposed I did come here for a reason too. A highly understandable one at that.
“You didn’t think you’d be rid of me that easily, did you?”
An involuntary scream escaped from me. My blood began to pump, and the hairs on the back of my neck prickled. Until I realized it was just Alex perched against the side of the bath.
I clutched a hand to my chest and made a conscious effort to slow my breathing. “How did you get in here?”
