CHAPTER 10
DIANGELO
Present
“What didI say about not taking a step outside without me?” I demand, holding Terina much like I had the night before—one hand over her mouth, and the other holding her tight against my body.
She’s totally helpless, not that her vulnerability seems to bother her. It hasn’t been twenty-four goddamn hours, and she’s already undermining me. I had a feeling something like this would happen. It was the reason I was over at her place, preparing to have cameras installed. Not even I had expected her to be so reckless so soon, but I won’t make that mistake again.
When she realizes who has her, she calms, her body relaxing against mine. Our eyes meet in the small mirror, and I remove my hand from her mouth.
“I didn’t step foot outside,” she says as though genuinely shocked.
“What do you think this is?” I raise my arms to my sides with exasperation.
Terina turns to face me, her eyes still wide. “We’re still in the building.”
“Semantics, Rina. You left the safety of your apartment, and you see how easy it was to get to you? Don’t pretend you didn’t know this was dangerous.”
Her expressive lips dip with a frown as her eyes soften. “You’re right. I think I’m a little in denial, but I never meant to intentionally defy you. I just don’t want anyone to be in danger.”
Her forested stare peers up at me earnestly, and fuck if it doesn’t tame my anger.
I reach for her, cupping the back of her neck and coaxing her closer. Her lips part at my touch, and she breathes me deep into her lungs. For a fraction of a second, I envision the feel of my lips colliding with hers, my tongue tasting hers…
It’s the most idiotic thing I’ve thought in years. I don’t know what the hell’s come over me.
I shake off the ridiculous fantasy and sentence myself to an extra thirty minutes on the treadmill in the morning.
I must remember my purpose.
Yet … there’s value in knowledge. Fucking her is off the table, but understanding Terina might help me keep her safe. If I can anticipate her thoughts, it’s one less variable to worry about.
My thumb absently strokes her throat from top to bottom and back.
“You feel responsible for your husband’s death.” She didn’t say it in so many words, but I can put two and two together. She feels helpless against threats and worries that if something happens, it’ll be her fault. I’d be willing to bet those beliefs are an offshoot of the past.
“Let’s just say that I know if someone is determined to hurt another person, there’s no stopping that.”
“You think it’s fate when someone dies?” I ask, an unintended chill frosting my words.
“I think life and death decisions aren’t always up to us.”
I lean in closer, my hand tightening around her throat, and whisper, “If I kill you now, would that be fate?”
Her eyes light with a mix of fear and something else.
Something wistful and chaotic.
Something I never imagined I’d see.
Excitement.
I only meant to make a point, but it seems I’ve uncovered something else entirely. Something that speaks to a darkness inside her and has woken a feral beast inside me. He claws his way from the radioactive sewage deep in my mind and blindly sniffs the air for prey.
The last thing I need is for the animalistic side of me to take interest in my best friend’s little sister, yet the temptation of corrupting Terina has me teetering on the verge of losing control.
I wrench my hand away so fast my momentum pulls me backward a step, though my eyes never leave hers.
