Page 27 of Fierce Monarch

“I never should’ve touched you.” Her words stung, but all I could see was buried hurt. There was no way through it. Not now. Not until I earned back her trust.

Maybe not ever.

“Shoot me.” My mouth moved on instinct, refusing me even a second to think things through, but I couldn’t deny I’d have made the same choice over again.

Her eyes widened, her strong stance faltering just a touch. Mari wasn’t as unaffected by me as she’d hoped I believed, but would that matter in the end?

Finally, she shook her head, restabilizing the gun pointing at my chest because she needed the control. I got it. I’d be upset too, given the circumstances. “What did you say?”

“If you think I’m a danger to you, pull the trigger.”

I didn’t tell her that I didn’t want to live in a world where she hated me, or that it would be a mercy to take me out before my brother did. Because it was only a matter of time before Cash realized my loyalty had shifted that day on the side of the road, and if he got his hands on me after he did, I’d wish for an easy death.

I stayed silent and watched as Mari thought about it. She didn’t dismiss me or pull the trigger immediately; she looked at the situation from every angle, like she always tried to.

I watched the moment her finger twitched so damn close to pulling the trigger, and I didn’t flinch.

Didn’t blink. Refused to look away. If I was going to die, I’d do it with her face as the last thing I saw. It was a mercy I wasn’t sure I deserved, but one I was taking anyway.

Finally, the gun eased off, and so did she. “I’m not going to make more trouble for myself by killing you now. I’ll wait until I can do it without risking the people I care about.”

The heavy implication that I was no longer one of those people bruised, but I didn’t dwell, because for the first time since I’d caught up to her, Mari let me see her.

And I liked what she was hiding.

“You can’t do it at all.”

She rolled her eyes, but I pushed forward, putting myself in her space and waiting to see what happened. When she neither retreated nor shot me, I smiled, knowing I was right. “You can’t do it. You can’t shoot me.”

“I can?—”

“You can’t because you still love me like I love you.” I brushed a hand over her ponytail, enjoying the silkiness against my skin and wondering what it would feel like hiding our bodies as we writhed?—

Don’t get ahead of yourself.

For her part, Mari looked completely unfazed. And pissed. Very, very pissed. “Love isn’t real when it’s built on a lie.”

“Then what is this?” I pulled up her empty hand and placed it on my chest, right over my thundering heart. It’d been pounding since I’d gotten her alone, and it was getting bad enough that I worried I was having a stroke.

But what a way to die, right?

Mari flinched, ripping her hand away with a snarl. “It’s adrenaline and bullshit.”

Bullshit was definitely right, but I didn’t call her on it. I wrapped my hands around her hips, pulling her against my body, and for the first time in days, I felt whole. My thumbs slipped beneath her suit jacket until I found the sliver of skin I wanted, and fuck me, if just touching her didn’t make me hard as stone.

“Let me rebuild it,” I whispered.

“Rebuild what?” She knew. We both knew she did, but if Mari needed me to say it, then I would.

“Us.”

I thought she’d soften—hoped, really—but she stiffened instead, pulling away without moving an inch. “Did Cash ask you to do this? Get close and try to soften me up for round two?”

“No,” I growled, because fuck my brother. “I’m not here for anyone but you, Mari. I know you don’t trust me, but let me prove myself again. We can go slow. No sex, no kissing until you trust me. I’ll even give you your space if that’s what you want. Whatever you need. We’ll take this at your pace, angel. Just let me try.”

She didn’t call me on the nickname again, though her eyes narrowed dangerously. “Does giving me space include following me around town?”

Ah, so she did know I was following her. “Probably.”

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