Page 233 of Dark Love

“Your boyfriend’s name is Vex?” Colin’s voice has this weird tone to it.

“Um… Yeah. Didn’t I mention that before?”

Everyone shakes their head.

“What kind of name is Vex?” Stella asks no one.

“Dahlia, can I speak to you privately?” Colin stands up.

Um… Has Colin heard about Vex? Vex knew about Colin.

Colin better not try to say something bad about my man. “We can talk in the bedroom.”

He follows me in and closes the door behind him.

“You know, every single one of them has their ear pressed to the door listening in.”

Colin seemingly ignores what I said as he stares at me.

Fine. I can deal with whatever he might say about Vex.

“How long have you known Vex?”

It feels like forever sometimes. “A few weeks.”

“You’re serious about him?”

“Yes.” Even though it feels like I should add a million caveats to that answer.

“And he’s serious about you?”

Whatever it is we have doesn’t feel like his standard operating procedure when it comes to women. “Yes.”

“Then you know about him?”

Mostly. Sort of. “The important things.” Though there are still holes. To ask these questions, Colin must know Vex. “Why do you ask?”

Colin’s whole demeanor changes. “Because Vex has a certain reputation.”

As a crime lord or killer. “Yeah, I’ve heard about his reputation.”

“But you don’t believe it.”

The question isn’t if I believe it. “I’m in love with Vex, and I won’t allow you to speak badly of him in my presence.”

“That’s something I would never do. I brought you in here to reassure you that Vex isn’t the man the world believes him to be.”

The shift in conversation is hard to follow. “How do you know that?”

“I ran The Nest, a shelter, in Urbium for years.”

He ran a shelter? Colin Knight, sexy author and angsty man, ran a shelter? There’s astory there.

“Vex would bring us women that needed help.”

“Women that he rescued,” the words just slip out.

“They never gave us details except to say Vex saved their lives.”

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