It was odd to have nothing sexual included in the message, but our ‘friendship’ had more depth now.
I settled deeper into the pillows. The diamond collar bruised my neck, throbbing with heat; it wasn’t exactly comfortable to sleep in.
Kite007:I stooped to an all-new low. Remember when I said we’re all products of our upbringing? Well, I keep blaming everything wrong inside me on that. I use it as an excuse, but what if it isn’t good enough anymore?
Oh, my God.
I’d never heard Kite sound so melancholy. My heartbeat increased as my fingers flew over the keyboard.
Needle&Thread:There’s nothing wrong inside you.
I paused before pressing send. If I did this, he would know I suspected. If he read between the lines and didn’t see it as a blasé comment, the truth would be out and the choice of how to proceed would be in his court. Did I want him to have that power?
Gritting my teeth, I pressed send.
Immediately, I got a reply.
Kite007:You don’t know anything about me.
Needle&Thread:We can keep pretending if you’d like, but it’s just another excuse. It sounds like you’re ready to face the truth. So...it’s your call if you want to or not.
Minutes ticked past.
My mind skipped back to the day I’d arrived. The welcome luncheon, the night in the kennels, and the strange degrading encounters with Jethro. How was it the Hawks had everything, yet everyone seemed to be hiding the truth? Jethro was hiding. Kes was hiding. Daniel had disappeared—the little creep—and Cut walked around with an air of mystique.
There was so much beneath the surface that no one dared discuss.
And, if I was honest, they’d transformed me into the same kind of creature. Someone who had evolved from a single dimension and nowlived with so many avenues of personalities.
I was still the quiet, vertigo-stricken girl from London, but I was also the woman wholikedbeing tormented, who thrived on a fight, and who thirsted for sex.
And that stupefied me even more, because I wanted sex withJethro, not Kestrel.
What does that mean?
Jethro had made me come totally and spectacularly in front of witnesses. He’d manipulated me—given me a reward. It was both sick and...sweet.
No, never sweet, Nila.
Yes, sweet.
Beneath the mask, he was so many things, and sweetwasone of them.
Kite007:My call? You’re so sure I’ll be honest?
Needle&Thread:Why wouldn’t you be? You know who I am. I want to know who you are. I’m trustworthy.
Kite007:You’re wrong. I don’t know who you are. Every day I think I do, but then you do something that changes my perception. You’re a complexity.
My heart exploded.
Finally. Confirmation.
Every day you do...
Not say, or text, or imply. Do—as in action—physical.
My hands shook as I replied.
