Page 57 of Darkest Deception

Her eyes capture me and send me into a daze.

Deep. Powerful.

What is going on with me?

“Do you think this is a good enough budget?” I hold out the papers.

Maybe she is wearing emerald earrings. I can’t see her ears, as her hair is down.

She grabs the papers and studies them.

My hand reaches out. I don’t think twice. I haven’t been thinking at all since our elevator kiss.

All I see, hear, and even smell is Ambrose, and it’s killing me slowly.

This obsession is growing bigger than it is supposed to.

Using my finger, I lift the curtain of blond hair, softly placing it behind her ear, revealing emerald stud earrings. They are surrounded by smaller diamonds. She has two more lobe piercings and one in her cartilage.

My eyes fall on Ambrose, who has frozen, her lips parted.

She’s watching me.

Her eyes are soft. In wonder, almost.

But I can only focus on my finger gliding over the shell of her ear. My heart pounds. Each throb demands for me to capture her plump lips in a kiss.

Why does that thought make my heart race? More than being in a car chase. More than the rush of being in power, of holding something over someone and watching them wither in fear.

Why is this feeling so much stronger than anything I have experienced before?

“What are you doing?” Her voice is still strong, but I hear the faint quiver.

“Are you scared, Ambrose?”

She scoffs.

My hand trails down her neck until I let it drop. My gaze returns to her.

“And why would I be?” She crosses her arms, lifting her chin, but I see her eyes fighting to stay on mine. She holds my gaze for several moments before her gaze dips to my lips.

I grin.

“That’s my girl,” I murmur, my eyes drooping lazily, watching her.

She blinks, faltering for a second.

“You should be scared, a small fair warning.” I wish my words were a lie.

I wish they were false, and that she didn’t need to fear me. But as I walk away from her with my pulse thrumming in my eardrums, my body fights me. I know something is wrong.

Something that shouldn’t be there.

Something very close to like.

For a woman I threatened to kill multiple times.

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