Page 87 of Dmitri

“K.”

“Wanna come?”

Yes, but in a different way than he’s referring. “Naw, I’m staying back. I want to finish this book.”

Knox’s coffee mug clanks on the counter. “I knew it. You’re a closet reader.”

“That’s not even a thing.”

“Keep telling yourself that.” He waggles his eyebrows at me. “You’re sucked into the story, huh?”

“Seems like it.”

“Don’t be ashamed. Reading is a great form of escapism, bro. It’s not cheap, but at least it’s not drugs.”

I scrub my face and head into the kitchen with my jeans slung low on my hips and no shirt on. “Get the fuck away from that machine before I break your face.”

Knox throws his hands up and backs away from the espresso machine.

I make us both an acceptable drink and hand him his. One sip has Knox’s eyes rolling in ecstasy. “Fucking marry me, D. This is so good.”

He’s the only person who can say shit like this to make me laugh. Around others, Knox is a very intense guy who’s not easy to get along with. But it’s an act. His armor. We’ve been through too much together for him to be hard around me. “Donottell Ryker or Vault that I’m reading vampire porn. They’ll never let me hear the end of it.”

“Your secret’s safe with me.” Knox tips his mug and takes another sip. “Fuuuuck, I could come in my pants drinking this.”

“TMI.”

He shoves on his shoes and grabs a baseball hat, putting it on backwards. “I have no clue when I’ll be back.”

“It’s fine.” Not like I need a babysitter or anything. “Thanks for letting me crash last night.”

Knox waves off my gratitude. “You know you’re always welcome here.” He pauses before heading out. “You going back to the Monarch tonight?”

“No.”

I’m going back to Daelyn’s house.

???

When Knox leaves, I feel off kilter. I enjoy being alone, but not in a space that isn’t mine. Going back to the Monarch Club and hiding in my dungeon won’t help yet. I think I’ll just get pissed off that I don’t have Daelyn there to play with.

Waiting until nightfall to see her is already proving to be near impossible.

She ghosted me. I’m in a headfuck. We need to stay away from each other.

At least for now.

Needing a distraction, I pick up the romance book again. Knox isn’t wrong. Reading is a decent escape from real life, but unfortunately, these damaged characters on the page are a little too relatable. Figures I’d randomly pick a book that has a fucked-up hero I can identify with.

Christ, did I just compare myself to ahero?

I’m mental.

Hours pass and I finally finish the story. Spoiler Alert: They live happily ever after. They also have a lot of sex. I think I could have gone without that part because it just makes me want the same thing.

Tossing the book on the couch, I lean forward and bury my head in my hands. The scenes in the book were hot. The danger was intense. The heroine reminded me of Daelyn because she was an adorably hard-headed baddie.

Daelyn’s words from the other night filter into my mind.I’m a bad person who does bad things.

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