Shit.
“Cavanaugh,” Quin’s tone shudders my bones. He glances down at me, surveying for damage. “Are you okay?” I give him ameek nod, and then he snaps his cold gaze to Damon. “How can we help you?”
I inwardly wince. Quin’s not helping the situation. His tone, his body language; it screams superiority. Victory.
“We?” Damon's upper lip curls in a derisive sneer as he falls right into Quinton’s trap. Fucking men. "There's a'we'now?"
A shiver runs down my spine. I can’t allow this confrontation to turn violent. Not here. Not now.
Stepping forward, I address Damon with as much authority as I conjure. “Maybe we should talk.” I briefly glance at Quin, signaling for him to stand down. “Alone.”
“I’ll be here,” Quin says, refusing to unlock from Damon’s stony glare. “In case you need help.”
I cast Quin a weak smile as Damon clenches his fist, but he doesn’t utter another word as I drag him to a scarcely lit empty corridor.
As soon as we’re out of sight, Damon slams me against the cold wall. He arches over me, one hand planted above my head, his face mere inches away from mine. My pulse quickens as his signature scent infiltrates my senses, and his power drains my own.
“Talk, Miss Jones,” he rasps, his balmy breath blowing against my cheek.
“You’re angry,” I whisper, unable to maintain eye contact. “I understand but?—”
“Angry?” His hoarse tone scratches at my fickle heart. “Oh, I am notangry, Miss Jones. Anger doesn’t even begin to explain how I feel.” He cups my chin between his thumb and fingers, forcing me to look at him, to see what I’ve done, to see how I’ve made him feel. “You left, Emery.” He can no longer control the emotion in his voice. “You left withhim.”
I swallow, guilt rushing through my veins. But only for a moment. Only until I remember, until the temporary fog fades just long enough for me to recall my reasons. I push him off me.
“And you lied to me.”
“Lied?”
"Yes, you fucking lied.” My voice quivers with anger and betrayal, my heart racing, my chest tightening with each passing second. The words tumble out, tainted with pent-up frustration and hurt. “You've been lying to me the whole time."
Damon looks around us as if searching for an escape exit. "What are you?—"
"I asked you, Damon," I continue, my voice shaking even more. "I asked if you had any fucking secrets, and you said no. You said?—"
"What are you talking about?"
“VenCore.”
The truth hangs between us like an atomic bomb, and Damon's face pales.
"Emery—"
His hesitation irks me to the very core, and I take a step closer to him, my tone dropping to a low, cutting whisper. "How stupid do you think I am, Damon? Did you honestly think I wouldn't find out? Did you honestly think you could hide something so big from me? Not only as...whatever we are to each other but as your CFO?”
The walls seems to close in on us, the air growing thicker and thicker. Damon's gaze remains locked on mine, his anger fading into desperation. He reaches out to touch me, but then hesitates.
"I was afraid," he finally admits, his voice softer, laced with regret. "I was scared if you found out what I did… The type of person I was… I’d lose you.”
In the back of my mind, a whisper reminds me that I wouldn’t be alive if he didn’t cause that accident. But I push itback. I silence it. In reality, I’m a hypocrite. I’m lying to him right now. He doesn’t know the whole truth. He doesn’t know that he saved my life by taking another. I’m just as corrupt as he is, bound by secrets and darkness.
It’s all too complicated, too complex. In no universe would we ever work. Our past will always dictate our present. We’d always carry our history with us. And it’s a burden that’s far too heavy to carry into the future, whatever that future was meant to be.
I’ve been silent for too long. Big mistake. He sees it. He sees the crack in my shield. And like a tornado, he pummels through it.
“As forwhat we are, Miss Jones?”
His bravado returns, interpreting my introspection for hesitation. He glides his tongue across his bottom lip, his obsidian eyes damn near burning my skin as his gaze dances across my body. I’m naked before him. Not in flesh but in soul.
