Page 36 of Unveiled

My eyes, filled with the disbelief I feel, shoot to Ethan as I wait for him to deny the monster’s words. He won’t even look at me, too busy staring daggers at the monster instead.

“Ethan?”

His eyes flicker to mine, but they don’t stay long before he goes back to glaring at the monster. I refuse to believe it. Ethan and I have been best friends for as long as I can remember. We know each other better than we know ourselves. I would have noticed if this was more than a friendship for him.

Right?

If he had feelings for me, why did he push me to give into the monster all those months ago? He could have just as easily worked to make sure I hated him, to make sure I only ever saw him as the monster.

“That’s enough,” Mrs. Nash finally breaks in, pushing through her own shock. “All of you. We’re here for a nice family dinner, no matter how strange that family may be.”

Her eyes shoot between the monster and Ethan, but when neither of the boys listen to her, she gestures for me to come to her. The monster loosens his arms, allowing me to go to her as he follows close behind me. She takes one look at my back and lets out a long sigh and then leads us into the kitchen.

“Ainsley,” Mr. Nash greets me with a friendly smile, oblivious to the hostility following us like a cloud. He walks away from the countertop where he’s preparing dinner to wrap me in a hug, but as his arms wrap around my shoulders in a tight embrace, I can’t keep myself from crying out.

Mrs. Nash interferes, getting him to unwrap his arms from around me. He looks at me with troubled eyes, not knowing what just happened, but Mrs. Nash tells him they’ll talk about it later.

So far, this dinner is off to a great start.

“Dinner will be ready shortly,” Mr. Nash says as he looks into his wife's eyes, trying to have a silent conversation with her.

“Come here, little one,” I hear the monster say from behind me. As much as I want to ignore him for how he’s already ruined this night, I can’t deny that being near him brings me the comfort I so desperately need right now.

I turn around to find him looking at me with soft, apologetic eyes, and as I walk toward him, I hear Mr. Nash suck in a sharp breath. He’s seen my back, I take it.

“We’ll be right back,” the monster tells everyone as he takes my hand and guides me away from the room and all the people in it. When their gazes are off of me, it’s like a weight lifts from my chest and I can finally breathe.

I don’t even pay attention to where the monster is leading me until we’re walking down the steps and the musty smell of a basement that’s never used invades my sense of smell.

“Would you like me to turn the light on?” the monster asks in a gentle voice as we reach the last step. The light is all the way at the top of the steps, but he must have just remembered that this basement is where I became terrified of him.

“No,” I answer. There’s still some daylight streaming through the window, but otherwise, the basement is dark. Just like the times I met him down here before. “Why did you do that?”

It’s a loaded question, one meant to encompass everything that happened from the time he knocked on the door until now. Instead of answering, he guides me through the basement until we reach the old, torn up couch that still hasn’t been thrown out.

When he sits down, he pulls me down onto his lap so I’m straddling him with a leg on either side of him. “I’m sorry, little one,” he breathes as he brushes a strand of hair away from my face, even though he can’t see it dangling there. “I didn’t intend for any of that to happen.”

“Then why did you let it?” I ask, choking back a sob as I ask my question. They’re tears of anger and sorrow, both aimed at him. His body stiffens under mine at the sound of my cries, and I can feel his desperation to comfort me in the way he keeps brushing his thumb along my cheek to dry the tears that haven’t fallen.

“I’ve suspected that he had feelings for you for a while, and when I saw the opportunity to show him you’re off limits, I took it. I didn’t think about how it would affect you, but I should have. You shouldn’t have found out that way, but dammit, Ainsley, you’re mine.”

I don’t answer him; the anger in his voice is too much for me to process right now.

“When I saw him wrap you in his arms like that, it was like a darker part of me took over, and I just wanted to see him hurt. Seeing his face when he saw my name on your back gave me the same feeling I have when I make you come. It was intoxicating.”

“You planned this when you had me wear this dress,” I accuse him, remembering how it all clicked together in that moment.

“I had hoped he would see it, but I swear, I didn’t plan for all of that to happen,” he assures me.

“I hate you,” I tell him, repeating the words I said to him right before that door opened and everything changed.

“I know, baby, but you’re still mine,” he declares, and he pulls my face down to meet his, crashing our lips together in a kiss that says more than words ever will.

As his tongue enters my mouth, he’s claiming me in yet another way, reminding me I belong to him. Not as a possession, but as the woman he’s madly in love with and completely obsessed with. As I bite down on his tongue, making him growl into my mouth from the pain, I’m telling him just how much I hate him for everything he’s done to me.

And he doesn’t stop me.

Instead, as my teeth dig deeper into his tongue, he reaches into his pocket and hits the button, making me whimper and release my bite.

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