I’m a man people would consider pitch black and heartless for the lifestyle I was born into. But when she touches me with her caring hands, her words, parts of her soul that I know damn well she’s never shown anyone else, I fall deeper. And in return, I’ve opened her up to the weakest parts of myself that she holds like it’s her responsibility to take some of the pain away.
I should be the villain in her story. But as she scoots closer to me and brushes those addicting lips over mine, one thing is clear. Even black can’t exist without a symphony of colors, and Kate Breanne Hannaford is one of mine.
THIRTY-EIGHT | PRESTON
These fuzzy fucking feelings pulling at my chest feel foreign in a good way. In a way that makes me want to pick Kate up and carry her back to the seclusion of my room, where I can keep us tucked away in this bubble we’ve created tonight.
There’s a fear deep down that if I expose her to this life, I could lose her as easily as Mom and Tayla. But suffering through a day without her if I let her go sounds just as painful.
The dominant beast inside may want to force her to stay now that I’ve acknowledged my fascination with her is more than that, but she needs to want to stay. After seeing her in that dress tonight with a smile that melts my world, I want her to keep it, even if I’m not the one she shows it to.
Kate deserves everything she wants in life.
Even if it destroys me, I can find a way to live without her, though it may take my whole damn life to pull myself out of love with her. But at least she’d be content. Thriving out there somewhere in the world because I helped her get a piece of herself back in the same way she helped me.
She clasps her hand in mine, threading our fingers, shooting me with a worried smile. “Are you okay?”
I lift our conjoined hands, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles. “I will be, darling. I’ve got you now.”
Kate stops, and I drop her hand, my eyes bouncing between hers as she turns to face me. With the way she’s motionless in front of the Ferris wheel that’s behind me, the pink and purple hues bathe her skin. She’s glowing. Breathtaking. Looking like the color in my dark world.
I had the guards leave most of the lights on for us so I could show her a fragment of my soul I keep tucked away behind walls she’s managed to collapse. Replay the worst night of my life, knowing she can’t make a sound decision without having all my pieces at her feet.
They should be turning them off soon, so I take my time memorizing the pink glow casting over her exposed skin in that pink dress she chose because she knew how fucking beautiful she’d look in it. How crazy it would drive me.
Damn, does she look like a dream.
My dream.
Those beautiful lips part, like she wants to say something, but then she swallows. A grin replaces it. “Thank you…for everything tonight. The dress, my collar, the dinner. This,” she breathes. “It’s too much.”
I raise my arm, letting my palm cup her neck. “You deserve nothing less, Kate. I hope you know that.”
The name she let slip on the Ferris wheel is eating a hole in my goddamn brain like a worm in an apple, but I pull her into me, not wasting another minute to claim her lips with mine. Her arms weave around my neck, her fingers threading into my hair. Her mouth parts, letting my tongue entangle with hers in a way that has blood flooding to my groin. Another reason I want to get her back to the estate is to see this dress on my floor.That’s all I’ve thought about since she walked down the front steps. Doesn’t matter if she’s walking around in leggings and no makeup, scrubs, or a dress with a slit so high it tests my sanity, she’s stunning.
Her body is flush against me, her touch searing through my suit to soak into my flesh.
I pull back, admiring her swollen lips, my mind briefly flashing with images of what I did to them at dinner. “Ready to go home?”
Home.
The estate hasn’t felt like that in a long time, and damn does it feel good to say that.
“Yes.” Kate may be in heels, but she still lifts to her toes to press a kiss to my cheek, her lips arching up into a smile against my skin, like she enjoys hearing that too. “But since we’re here, can I go get some things from my locker and get my last paycheck?”
I groan, my chest pulling tight at the thought. But there’s a place I need to visit first anyway, and it’s better if she isn’t there. “Fine, but make it quick and meet me in the interrogation room in the tunnels. I know you know how to get down there now.”
She smirks, making my own mouth tilt. “That I do, Captain. And from what I remember, you said you’d reward me. You think I’d miss that?”
I should toss her over my shoulder right now and make good on my promise, but I don’t. Instead, I slap her ass playfully, watching as she takes off in the direction of the mine ride, and I head off in the other direction to the next closest secret entrance to the tunnels.
It's midnight. The amusement park is nearly vacant, except for the few security guards on duty. So, I don’t pass a soul as I enter one of the restrooms, use my master key, and walk into the cleaning closet, opening the secret doorway to the tunnels.My entire way to the tech room to see Brody, Kate’s ex’s name digs deeper until I’m bursting through the door with my fists clenched at my sides.
The anger is radiating off me in waves. They are big enough to knock Brody off his chair with the way he scrambles to attention when I enter the room. He quickly scurries to get his legs off the desk and puts them back on the floor where they belong.
He releases a sharp breath, his hands flying to his chest. “Fuck, you scared me!”
“Alexander Brighton,” my deadly tone echoes through the room, not wasting any time. “I need you to look that up now.”
