Page 78 of Princes of Carnage

“Did you fuck her?” I demand, my mouth suddenly dry.

He narrows his eyes. “I thought you didn’t give a shit.”

“Just answer the fucking question!”

Atlas’s nostrils flare, and that’s all the warning I get before he snaps.

He grips my upper arms, spinning us suddenly so that I’m boxed in between him and my bike. Anger, frustration, and a whole host of other emotions I can’t identify flash over his face, and his eyes seem to burn into mine as he stares down at me.

“No, I didn’t fuck her,” he snarls. “And do you know why?”

I don’t answer. I can’t.

My heart feels like it’s lodged in my throat, making it impossible to say anything. But I give the tiniest shake of my head, and that’s all Atlas needs to keep going.

“I didn’t fuck Zoey because I can’t stop thinking about you!”

His words fall into the space between us, seeming to suck all the oxygen out of the air. He’s not shouting like I was earlier, but he might as well be. The declaration rings in my ears, and I can hear the rush of my own heartbeat as my pulse picks up.

“Because no matter how hard I try to block you out and focus on other shit,” Atlas continues, his voice hoarse, “there you are in my head. The way you laugh. The way you fight. The way you move through the world like you were born to fucking rule it. I should have a thousand things on my mind every day, but instead, I only have one. A woman with teal hair, a vicious right hook, and a smile that could stop my fucking heart.”

I swallow hard, and as if the movement has drawn his focus, Atlas wraps one hand lightly around my throat, using that grip to tilt my chin up.

“You’re infuriating,” he rasps in a low voice. “And I still crave you. I can’t even be in the same house as you without wanting to—”

He breaks off, shaking his head, and a sudden realization strikes me.

“That’s why you left in such a hurry today,” I whisper. “You came downstairs and looked so pissed off as soon as you saw me. And then you stormed out.”

A muscle in his jaw jumps. “You were doing yoga in the middle of the goddamn living room. Do you have any idea what you looked like? Do you even fucking know how insane you make me?”

I shake my head. But really, maybe that’s not true. There’s been… something between us. An unspoken attraction, a connection that neither of us has ever explicitly acknowledged. But now Atlas is giving voice to all of it.

My emotions churn in my gut and my chest, making it hard to breathe. However I expected this to all come out, if it ever did, it definitely wasn’t like this. I don’t even know if I’m ready to hear what he’s saying, but that doesn’t seem to stop Atlas from saying it.

It’s all pouring out, like he’s been bottling it up for a while now.

“You’re married to Nico,” he says. “To my best friend. My brother.”

“It’s not real,” I whisper.

“It sounded real enough when you were screaming his name.”

My throat moves under his palm as I swallow. Nico’s name wasn’t the only one I uttered that night, and part of me wants to tell Atlas that. But I don’t, keeping the words tucked safely behind my lips.

His gaze tracks over my face, his eyes bouncing between mine as if he’s searching for an answer to a question he hasn’t even asked yet. Slowly, he releases his grip on my throat, but only so that he can slide his large, callused hand up the back of my neck, cradling my head and threading his fingers through my hair.

I suck in a breath, my heart skipping a beat and something tightening low in my body at the feel of his fingertips pressing against my scalp.

For a suspended moment, we just stare at each other, me caught in the storm of Atlas’s eyes and him drinking me in like he’s been parched for the sight of my face.

Finally, he speaks again, and his voice is lower now, but still rough. “You’re right. You should go.”

“What?” I gasp.

“You should leave, vicious. Right now.”

“Why?”

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