Page 312 of Hateful Games

I turn toward the closet, but his soft voice halts my progress. “No.”

Obeying, I let him pull me to the bed and crawl underneath the blanket. Like every night, I pat the spot beside me while he towers over. The darkness of the room concealing those warm and expressive eyes. Messy locks falling over his forehead boyishly and his inviting mouth.

“Come here, Nova,” I whisper into the night.

The mattress dips with his weight as he lies on his back. I don’t waste a second before covering us with the blanket and using his arm as a pillow while tangling my legs with his.

His body is relaxed but his mind is elsewhere as his fingers absently rub back and forth down my spine. Leaning on my elbow, I peer down at him.

“What are you thinking?”

His gaze flashes up to mine and his lips curve in a small smile. That I know is for my benefit. Always the protector for the ones he cares deeply about. When he lets people in, he lets them in completely.

“I thought she was getting better but she’s been lying to me. I should’ve checked on her more often, especially today.”

“Your dad should’ve been here too. Even if he doesn’t love her, she’s still his wife and his responsibility. Why doesn’t she leave him?”

I can’t fathom staying with a man and enduring his infidelity.

Nova and I got lucky.

“I’ve asked her many times but she shuts me down. I stopped bringing the subject up because it triggers her. I don’t want to mistakenly push her into drinking. Today is always tough on her every year. Otherwise, she takes care of herself.”

“Whenever I’ve met her, she’s always seemed happy.”

“She believes he’s changed.”

I smooth the frown line that crinkles his forehead. “And you?”

“He tries.” A mysterious look crosses his eyes before it’s gone. “But there are still secrets with the power to ruin. Sometimes the hold of the past is too strong, there are no cutting the ties.”

“Like our families.” With no barrier and every inch of us pressed together, he doesn’t miss when I shudder. I sink back into his arms, hiding my face in the crook of his neck. His scent a peaceful rush. The mistrust and loathing between our fathers are so tightly tangled, not even the sharpest of knives can cut it.

A silent gasp escapes when Nova turns us on our sides until we’re facing each other.

His eyes search mine.

Peering into the deepest parts of me, cracking my chest wide open.

“We aren’t our parents. I won’t let either of our families’ pasts dictate our future.” Leaning until our foreheads touch, he pins me with his stare and harshly says, “I don’t care if you’re scared or if only hate can exist between our families, I fucking love you, Rose. I don’t need you to say it back, I just need—”

“I love you too,” I confess. He freezes. With my heart galloping wildly behind my ribs, beating his name with every breath, I tell him again, “I love you, Nova. I don’t know how or when it happened, but I do. It may have been the first time you kissed me, the first tear you brushed away, every time you kiss my scars or cheer me up when I’m at my lowest. I fall deeper and deeper in love with you. I love being your wife. I love being your little hellion… your Rose. I love being yours.”

He smiles so beautifully, as though I lit up the sky.

“You’re my everything.” His lips crush against mine.

I taste his smile.

His happiness.

His love and possessiveness.

I taste the heartbreak that’s to come.

Chapter Seventy-nine

Nova

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