My heart drops to the floor, hard and heavy as a bowling ball. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure you don’t.” She cocks her head, regarding me like I’m an unsolved mystery. “You get this strange expression on your face that I can’t quite read. Longing, maybe? Or pain?”
Any playful mockery remaining on my face vanishes. My body stiffens at her missile-like words, my mind flatlining on impact.
I crush the cigarette between my fingers and toss the remnants to the tile.
Trinity quickly sits up, alert to my shift in mood. After studying me, her voice softens. “You need something from him that he’s not giving you, don’t you? His approval, maybe?” I flinch. “You’re a loyal soldier, but that’s not enough for him, is it? You’re constantly striving to prove yourself, and that must eat you alive.”
Trinity pauses like she’s had an epiphany. Meanwhile, considering my nonexistent tolerance for vulnerability, the blistering heat of exposure obliterates my insides.
I’d rather dodge actual missiles than sit through this shit.
Which means she’s right about me.
And my ego can’t handle that.
Anger curls through me like the smoke from my cigarette.
Or maybe that’s just shame.
She shakes her head a little and hooks my gaze with hers. “You meant it when you said you’d be dead if you failed your mission. Didn’t you?”
The words impale me straight through the chest. How much more of this must I suffer through?
Unfortunately for me, she’s not done.
“If given the chance, you think Declan might actually kill you.”
Every bit of oxygen in the room disappears.
Two beats of silence follow before I leap up from the armchair, the legs screeching across the floor. I charge at Trinity and, bracing my hands on her armrests, pour my weight over her body and press in.
She pushes her back into the cushion but can’t escape. I hover over her, so close that one deep breath would allow me to claim those lips for the third time today.
“You think you’ve got it all figured out, don’t you?” I hardly recognize the dark rasp of my voice. “All your privilege, money, education…” With one coarse hand, I snatch her chin between my fingers, forcing her head up until it’s parallel with mine. “Well, guess what? You don’t know jack shit about anything. Certainly not about the real world. You don’t even knowyourself.”
I drop my hand, reveling in the proximity of our mouths.
Hers, clamped shut and defiant. Mine, rigid and smiling.
“Do you really think you understand anything about anything?” My gaze zeroes in on her lush lips. “You don’t even know why you kissed me back.”
Her jaw gapes open, and her hands clench the arms of the chair.
Got you, Trinity.
I win this round.
Knowing that isn’t as satisfying as it should be.
But a win is a win.
I straighten up. She sags into the chair, breathing rapidly. Good. After all that, she should be rattled. I maneuver around her chair, closing the distance between myself and the bathroom door.
“I’m getting a shower.” Glancing over my shoulder, I glimpse her flushed face as she spins around to glare. “Touch a single window or door, and I’ll show you what it means to be my prisoner.”
Chapter 16
