“No.”
“I said please.”
“And I said no,” I snarl. “I’ll fucking stand where I want.”
Elena tips her head backward, her eyes burning with barely contained annoyance. “I want to hate you.”
“You have free will.”
Tears fill her eyes, but she blinks them away rapidly. I know she’ll fight as much as she can not to shed a single tear in front of me.
I respect her bravery.
I respect it even more when she shoves my chest. “I hate you.”
And yet, she doesn’t take a step back in repulsion.
“Why do you want to keep me trapped?” she continues. “Does it amuse you? Do you feel excited when I’m drowning in misery? Because I am. I’mdrowning.”
I cock my head to the side, my gaze hardening with every second. “You’re not drowning, and even if you were, I wouldn’t let you. But let’s switch things up a bit, shall we? I’ll be asking the questions and you’ll fucking answer me. Are we clear? Yes? Good. Now, what I want to know is, what the fuck was that? Why’d you do it?”
“Why?”
“Yes, Elena.Why?”
The sadness returns to her eyes, more intense than before, and there’s something else brewing underneath her gaze—conflict.
She hesitates.
Then her eyes dart across my face, searching for a mercy I rarely possess, before she finally blurts it out. “Because you’re suffocating me! You confuse me! You infuriate me! I’m not sure I understand myself when I’m around you. It drives me crazy. Correction:youdrive me crazy. You know you’re the dominant force that subdues everything else around him, and...it terrifies me because I’m caught right at the center of it.” The defiance drains from her posture, leaving something raw and painfully unprotected. “And that’s not the worst part.” She looks down and quietly admits, “I need to be far away from you.”
I know it’ll irritate her, but I press further. “Why?”
“Oh my God.Enough with the whys.Don’t you see?Youtook me away from the life I’ve always known. I was kidnapped, for Christ’s sake! I should be disgusted by you and all you represent. But I’m not. I try hard to be, but it’s not working.” Her voice falters. “I’m afraid. I’m so afraid that I might…” She gulps, then murmurs, “I might actually fall for a monster like you.”
My jaw tightens.
A surge of anger flashes through me at the label she carelessly gives me. But right beneath it, a profound intrigue takes root.
Her honesty cuts straight through the carefully constructed layer of ignorance and teasing games we’ve been playing for days. She had an opportunity to plead for her life; instead, she exposed her soul.
Her sudden admission is a like an avalanche shaking the foundation of my world.
I thought I was entirely alone in this twisted obsession. I thought I was the only one burning.
But she’s confirmed that she feels it, too.
Deep beneath my ribs, a ridiculous, unwelcome warmth blooms. My heart is doing a little happy dance, fluttering with the pathetic energy of a love-struck teenager.
And I absolutely, thoroughly hate it.
I’m not supposed to feel this soft, almost humiliating rush of joy because a girl admitted she was falling for me.
I try to crush the feeling, but the fierce, juvenile warmth in my chest only grows hotter.
***
Later in the day, I’m supposed to be reviewing warehouse distributions, but my eyes keep drifting across the room.
