Alonzo’s face flashes in my mind, but I push it aside. Tonight was a goodbye, even if he’s not ready to realize or accept it.
31
RORI
I climb into my bed,exhausted and ready to finally slip into much-needed sleep. Hades crawls up with me, lying his head on the pillow next to mine, facing away, and starting to snore almost instantly. I chuckle softly and reach over to give him a small pat on the head. He groans, but doesn’t fully wake.
My brain is still whirling with thoughts and plans, the new information from Simeon making me question so much. He probably thought his act of being helpful overshadowed his cagey answers, but I clocked them immediately.
He doesn’t want me to know anything about that room. He dodged every answer by saying he had no idea it had been changed, but he could ask his men. And yet, those same men were supposed to be working and living with him, not his father.
The fucker is playing both sides, and we all know it. Which means Timur and my father have been apprised of every move. They’ll know before the night is over that I know about that room and the possible significance. So I have to be smart and come up with another plan.
Not to mention, he’s still stuck on the idea of me showing up and agreeing to be his fiancée. Like, he can still pull that bullshit off. I called him on his bluff; if he was planning this, where was my ring to make it seem legitimate? His eyes widened with panic, but he tried to rush and assure me that he would get me one tonight.
Probably with a tracking chip already inside it. Does he think I’m an idiot?
Either way, I have to make new plans, and I need sleep before I start again. I need to find out what Simeon is hiding, and I need to do it without Ilya or Zakhar finding out. The two of them are far better than this moron, but I don’t trust them not to cause a scene with how worked up they are.
I close my eyes, exhausted, but I put my hand under my pillow, carefully gripping the handle of my gun, ready to pull it at a moment’s notice. I don’t miss this part of my life.
Sleep takes me deeper than I expect because the next thing I know, Hades is letting out a snarl of warning. I react instantly, rolling and my gun up and ready to fire. I kept the light from the bathroom on so no one can use the dark against me, and it’s the only reason I don’t shoot Alonzo in the face as he slips quietly into my room.
He pauses, glances at the gun, and continues moving toward me like he doesn’t fear for his life. I’m not sure if I should admire that or shoot him anyway just to prove a point.
“Get the hell out of my room, Alonzo,” I order, tucking the gun back under my pillow. Exhaustion still pulls at me, and when I quickly glance at the clock on the nightstand, I see it’s been only a couple hours. Not enough to make me feel rested. I need at least another hour and a half.
Something tells me I’m not going to get it. Damn him.
“Move over, Rori,” he orders, already stripping out of his clothes.
I knew I should have said something in the woods. It’s my own damn fault—and well, his too, since all those orgasms drained any rational thought from my brain—but I need to rectify that right now.
“Alonzo, whatever you’re thinking, you need to turn around and walk the hell out. The sex earlier was nothing more than a goodbye at the most. It changes nothing between us.”
“It changes everything, and as much as you deny it, you wanted me as much as I wanted you. It’s a step toward fixing what’s broken.”
I let out a frustrated sound, sit up, and reach over to turn on the bedside light. Damn it, I guess no more sleep for me tonight. Hades lets out a pained groan, getting off the bed to lie on the floor in the dark. Alonzo still doesn’t stop pulling off his clothes until he’s clad in only his boxers, kicking it all out of the way, and reaching for the covers.
I slam a hand down on them and narrow my eyes. “Alonzo, there is nothing to fix and I am too fucking tired to argue with you about it anymore. So you need to fucking listen to me now and get it through that thick skull of yours. You and I are nothing. We will not be whatever fantasy you have cooked up in your giant head. The sex is great, but that’s all it is. There will be no connections, no fixing whatever you think needs to be, and there definitely won’t be you climbing in this bed to sleep with me.”
He completely ignores me, and I let out a sharp squawk when he swiftly yanks the covers back and slides in, his hip shoving me over. He grabs my hands before I can wrap them around his neck and rolls on top of me, pinning me to the bed.
I’m blaming my exhaustion for my slow reflexes, and nothing to do with my traitorous body enjoying him pressing against it. Especially now when he uses his hips and thighs to pin my legs to keep me from kneeing him in the side or balls.
Damn him.
His eyes are direct on mine, piercing and unyielding. A small bubble of something ripples through my chest, and I’m determined not to name it. “You think I don’t know that you were trying to push me away earlier?” His voice is low, but not angry. More understanding. Why is that so much worse?
“Then what the fuck are you doing in here?” Son of a bitch, maybe it’s him that orgasmed his brain out. Or he just has a death wish. I’m not sure which is worse.
If he were angry or taunting me like normal, I might have a fighting chance of getting him the hell out of here. I can work with that. Not this.
“I’m refusing to let you push me away. No, be quiet and listen to me instead of spouting all that bullshit.”
I bare my teeth at him. Bullshit? I struggle, but he simply increases his dead weight over me, stilling my actions. Bastard! I glare furiously up at him, and I see his lips twitch slightly before he firms them out again.
“I love you, Aurora O’Brien.”
