“You’re lying. What is it?”
There’s a long pause. He hasn’t severed the link, though. I still feel him inside my head. I feel his resistance, too. Something’s happened and he doesn’t want me to know.
“Cross. Don’t make me come over there,”I warn.
“What are you gonna do? Spank me?”
His husky taunt makes my thighs clench together. Asshole. He knew exactly what would happen if he said that. As in, I’m beyond turned on now.
“Stop trying to distract me with dirty talk.”
“Just…don’t be mad, keen?”
“I will never promise to not be mad.”
I can practically feel him grinning.“I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want to worry you. But, ah, well, you know…I’ve spent the last week shackled in the stockade.”
I blink in shock, as his words sink in.
“I’m sorry—what?”
He repeats himself. Reluctantly.“I was in a cell. Courtesy of my brothers.”
“You werein a cell?”I don’t even care that I’m shouting in his head.“Theyshackledyou? What in the hellfuck, Cross!”
“See? This is why I didn’t want to tell you. I knew you’d react like that.”
Anger continues to ripple through me. Cross and I have been in constant contact since I got to the Dagger, and he didn’t feel the need to tell me he was talking to me from a cell? How am I supposed to be keen with that? What the hell else has he been keeping from me while I’ve been giving him banal updates about my day?
“You lied to me,”I say flatly.
“I didn’t lie. I just left out some details.”
I clench my fists, pressing them against my thighs.“Don’t pull that omission shit on me, Wolf. We promised we’d never lie to each other.”
“Fuck.”I can hear the remorse now.“You’re right. I’m sorry. I should’ve told you.”
“Was it because of me?”
Guilt rips a hole in my chest when he says,“Yes. Roe’s been trying to convince Travis that I helped you escape, so they detained me in the hope that I’d own up to it.”
“I’m going to kill them,”I growl.
His soft chuckle tickles my ear.“It wasn’t that bad. I promise. They just strung me up from the ceiling and sent Roe in a few times a day to knock me around and annoy me.”
“Great. I’ll kill Roe first.”
“Don’t waste your energy on him. On either of them. Travis was just trying to teach me a lesson.”
“What lesson?”
“I think he wanted me to acknowledge I’m not invincible and that even the almighty Cross can make mistakes.”
“And did you acknowledge that?”I ask in amusement.
“Fuck no.”
“Of course not, because the almighty Cross doesn’t make mistakes.”
