And before his past that I thought I could handle becomes too much to bear.
Chapter Fourteen
Colt’s hand clamps around my wrist, stopping me mid-stride. My breath catches as I whirl around, my pulse hammering in my ears.
Before I can protest, he grips both my arms, his hold firm but not forceful. His eyes burn into mine—dark, pleading, desperate.
“Dee, don’t you dare walk away from me,” he says, his voice low and rough, thick with something I can’t quite name.Frustration? Fear? Both?
My throat tightens. I feel the weight of every stare on us, the unspoken questions lingering in the air. My bottom lip trembles, but I bite down, swallowing the urge to let the tears fall.
“What?” I whisper, barely able to hold his gaze. “What do you want me to say, Colt?”
His jaw flexes, and for a moment, he doesn’t answer. Just watches me, his grip tightening ever so slightly.
“I don’t know,” he finally admits. His voice drops, barely above a whisper. “Don’t say anything if you don’t want to. Just… don’t walk away.”
“But wouldn’t it be easier if I did just that? That way, you could have fun with all the girls. I’m sure you miss having your little orgies and wild sex parties. Since I came along, all you have done is go to bed with me in the next room while everyone here is partying. Don’t you miss it? Don’t you wish I weren’t here so you could get it on with everyone? I’m holding you back from who you really are. Who you’re meant to be—”
“Will you shut up, woman? No, I don’t miss it. If I did, I’d still be doing it. I don’t want wild orgies and to party on, Dee. I’m happy… with you. I wantyou, and onlyyou. You’re not holding me back. You brought the real me out of the man whowas nothing but a shell. I had no soul, and I didn’t care about anything. You showed me how to live again, Dee.Youdid that.”
He smiles but keeps talking, “So don’t talk to me about who I really am or who I’m meant to be because the person in front of you right now is who I am. The guy who’s so into you that he makes a scene in the penthouse and has everyone staring at him as he confesses his feelings for you.” I look around at everyone watching us. “That’s who I am, Dee,” he says, hitting his chest with his hands. “Jessi wanted this to happen. She’s a jealous minge, and her sole focus is getting you to leave. But I’m not going to let that happen. Iwon’tlet that happen.” He exhales and looks down, shaking his head like he’s defeated.
I’m stunned in place. My heart is beating uncontrollably fast, knowing everyone’s watching us.
Colt glances up, his eyes meeting mine, waiting for me to say something…anything.
Letting out a long breath, I simply nod. “Okay,” I reply calmly, and he looks at me with his brow raised in question.
“Okay?” he asks, his head jerking back, testing the word on his lips.
“I get Jessi, and I understand her motives. I mean, who wouldn’t want to be with you? You’re amazing, Colt. Your past and I will have disagreements, but I think as long as we stay in the present, I’ll be okay,” I tell him honestly, meaning every word.
He smiles brightly, and when he pulls me to him, I wrap my arms around his waist as he nuzzles into my hair.
“Whoop, whoop! Now you two need to go and have some awesome makeup sex,” Dingo calls out.
“I think right now, I need another beer,” I joke, though not completely.I do need something to take the edge off.
Colt nods in agreement and walks with me over to the refrigerator while everyone, now seemingly done with our show, goes about their partying.
We take our beers and head over to the couch, where Jared and Hux are dividing cocaine into lines on the table. I look up at Colt, who shakes his head and leads me toward the bedroom.
We walk in to Johnny and Anna walking out of the attached ensuite. Poor Anna looks terrible. She’s pale and shaking.
“You all right?” Colt asks, letting go of me and helping Johnny take Anna to the bed.
She waves her hand in the air in some sort of gesture, but I’m unsure what it means.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with her. She’s been puking her guts up. I think maybe it’s food poisoning,” Johnny says, his eyes glassing over full of concern.
“Shit! What did you eat, Anna?” Colt asks.
“I ate the prawns from the buffet. Everyone else ordered food, but I had the buffet. At the time, I thought the prawns weren’t chilled enough. I should’ve listened to myself,” she says, then a sound escapes her mouth as she dry retches.
“I so don’t want to be here right now. That music is killing my head,” she murmurs, and I look across at Colt. He’ll probably hate me for this, but I want Anna to be comfortable.
“Take our room. Both of you can stay in there. There’s an ensuite close to the bed, so you won’t have any issues. Plus, there’s not a giant celebrity party going on in there,” I offer, looking at Colt, who smiles at me.
