Page 91 of All Your Hate

Am I doing the right thing leaving her there? She’s not my problem. I’m here to help Wynter, not to be a white knight for every trafficked girl in the city.

Who knew having a heart would be so difficult?

I’m only ten minutes out from Wynter’s location when she texts, telling me she’s finished.

My heart weighs heavy with guilt as I walk into the salon. But as soon as I see Wynter chatting away to the stylist, with a huge bright smile on her face everything else vanishes. All I can think about is the light in her eyes and the tiny dimples in her cheeks.

“Is this your guy?” the stylist asks and Wynter turns to look at me, her smile getting even brighter when she sees me.Fuck.My knees feel like they’re about to buckle from the way that smile hits.

“Yeah, this is him.”

Everything fades away around us. The chatter of people and the hum of blow dryers, completely gone.

“Do you like it?”

I blink and the world zooms back into focus.

This time I take all of her in and give her the attention she deserves. There are new blue streaks in her hair that match her eyes perfectly and it’s so full of life, just like her.

“You’re beautiful.”

“Okay, he’s definitely a keeper. Where did you find him?” The stylist chuckles.

“He found me.” My heart is pulled in two at her words. I want to give her the truth, to tell her everything that’s happened today, but I can’t destroy that smile. Can’t ruin all the progress I’ve made to have her fall for me.

What she doesn’t know won’t hurt her. After all, nothing much has changed for her. We’ll still be killing her enemies. I’ll happily be the one to carry the burden of truth if it means I get to see her smile like that every day.

“Oh, you two are the cutest,” the stylist giggles, making Wynter blush.

I refuse to ruin this moment for her.

“I can’t believe you actually didn’t come to check on me.” Wynter comes closer and weaves her fingers through mine. “Thank you for that and for indulging me all the time. You don’t have to keep doing these things though. You don’t need to buy my love.”

She has no idea how badly I want her to say it’s because I already have it, but I don’t need those words to confirm that she’s in love with me. It’s in the way she threads her fingers through mine in her sleep, the orgasms that shatter us both, the way she looks at me when she thinks I don’t notice, how she brushes the hair from my face when it slips from my hair tie.

It’s in the smile she’s giving me now as she holds my hands and leans in to kiss me.

18

WYNTER

It’s so unfair. How can one man be so unbelievably attractive? All I did was come to use the gym while I thought Bones was in his office and here I am needing a change of underwear as I watch him doing sit-ups. I could make my presence known, but it would be rude to interrupt a man so hard at work.

He stands up and rolls his shoulders, his shirt pulling up giving me a glimpse of his tattoos. I’m about to turn into a puddle on the floor as he reaches for the back of his collar and pulls his shirt off in one fluid movement.

I never thought I’d feel like this about anyone, especially not him. As much as I want to still call him a monster, I can’t. I’ve seen the good in him. It’s just twisted up in his own dark corruption.

His body shines with sweat and I never in my wildest dreams imagined licking sweat off a man before, but my tongue is practically on the floor. I want to drag it all the way up that dragon tattoo that covers his back.

“Do you want to join me?” Bones smirks at me over his shoulder.

Crap.

I stroll inside as casually as I can and pick up a weight.

“Not like that.” Bones comes over and swaps it for a lighter one. “I know you want to be able to do everything right away, but remember what I told you. It takes time. Stick with the routine I showed you and once you’re good with that then we can switch it up.”

He spots me through my workout and it irritates me that he was right. I’d be burnt out already if I didn’t follow his instructions.

---