“Where are we going?”she asked.
“My place.”
“Your place?Then we’re going in the wrong direction.”
“Not to the condo.”
“But I thought the condo was your home.”
“I have a house in Beverly Hills.”He knew how this next part was going to sound, but he never sugar-coated things.“The condo is where I take women for sex.”
A flash of hurt was followed by incredulity.“Well, that explains why there wasn’t any food.”
Then she turned her back as she stared out the window.“You should take me home.”
He didn’t like her turning away from him.“Don’t feel insulted.”
She let out a soft snort and shot him a withering glare.“It’s hard not to, when you’ve been told you’re a basic fuck.”
He blew out his breath.“You’re not.”
“I was,” she argued back.
How could he explain?“I don’t trust people.”
“That’s obvious.”She turned her back once more.
“But for some God-damn reason, I want to trust you.”
Her whole body tensed, but she didn’t stay anything.Nor did she turn back around.
“That’s why, for you, I’m bringing you into my sanctuary.This is the first time I’m allowing someone behind my walls.”And he despised how vulnerable that left him.
“Why?Why me?”
“I...”How did he explain?“Do you have any family?”
“My dad’s dead,” she said.“Mom remarried and is off living her own life.”
“You’re alone.”
She nodded.“Ever since I was eighteen.As soon as I could legally live on my own, she was gone.”
“Do you talk to her?”
“No.She walked away.Why would I talk to her?”
“See?That’s why,” he said.“Right there.The people you’re supposed to trust, you can’t.The people who aresupposedto love you, don’t.”
She finally turned around so he could see her beautiful face.“And if you can’t trust them, you can’t trust anyone,” she whispered.
“Yep.My old man was white, but my mom was Hispanic.He left, and she got hooked.Neither gave a shit, so I ended up running with gangs in East LA.I’m sure you can put the pieces together of what I was like.And in that life, you can’t turn your back, so when I eventually got away from being abarrioI knew I couldn’t trust anyone.”
“Including women,” she concluded.
“Especially women.But the moment I saw you, I knew you were different.I saw it in your eyes.”
“You don’t have to flatter me.”
