Page 162 of Dark Love

Is he looking for fear? Or encouragement to go on? I’m not afraid of who he was or who he is now. Give him something so that he knows that. But I can’t give him words. The only thing left is a gentle squeeze of his hand combined with a nod.

Believe in me.

Trust me to know who you are regardless of your history.

“The story on the street is they call me Vex as a warning. Vex him and vanish.”

Vex vanish? “They think you kill everyone that irritates you?”

He nods, but his gaze never leaves mine.

Who lives in fear to the point that they give their child a name to shroud them in a cloud of violence? To hide the good man in a haze of evil? To take away a child’s sense of morality? “Why do you like it?”

“Because it’s who I am.”

“You’re not a senseless killer.”

“Why aren’t you crying and running away? A woman like you shouldn’t be defending a man like me.”

“A woman like me? I don’t know whether to be flattered or insulted.”

“Dahl.”

“Vex, I told you I love you. I’ve never said that to another man. My eyes are wide open. So, when you doubt me and think something as trivial as a nickname is going to scare me off, think again.” That sounded firm and determined.

“Never?”

“Not once.” Now say it back to me.

Silence echoes.

***

The pillows and blankets are definitely good for more than just sharing secrets. Cuddling up on a mound of pillows while reading a book is everything I wanted to do.

“Is your book that good?”

“Huh?”

“You’ve sighed four times, but I haven’t seen you turn a page.”

“That’s your fault.”

“Mine?”

“You gave me the perfect day.” Well, mostly perfect if you ignore the drama from Hope and our little exercises in getting to know one another. Okay, fine, it’s basically been the last hour or three doing nothing but being lazy.

It also doesn’t hurt that even though I’m pretending to lie on a mountain of pillows, I’m mostly lying on Vex’s shoulder.

He takes a long deep breath, and I sigh inside.

“Dahl, we need to have a conversation.”

That’s not a happy voice. We aren’t going to discuss a book or how many shelves to stuff in this room. Or what kind of chair he wants to go next to mine. Though right now I’m leaning towards one couch that we can both sprawl out on it kind of like this. “Are you going to say something I need marshmallows for?”

“No.”

I let out an actual sigh this time. With more effort than would be expected, I push myself up and into a sitting position with my legs crossed, facing Vex. “Hit me with it?”

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