Page 150 of Vicious Addictions

With our fingers still entwined, he presses his forehead on my shoulder as we pant for breath. Once we recuperate, he spins me around, his eyes soft and loving, only to find mine hard and hateful.

I don’t wait for him to say anything and instead pick up my panties and jeans and rush to put them on. I then pick up the key from the floor and pocket it before he has a chance to steal it.

“Mina—”

Before he says anything, I quickly bend down to my left boot and then cover his mouth with my hand, placing my newly retrieved dagger across his Adam’s apple.

“That’s all you get. Don’t kiss me. Don’t fuck me. Don’t even look at me like that again. If you needed closure, then you got it. After I leave this room, I don’t want to ever feel your touch again. Is that understood?” His nostrils flare as my dagger cuts into his skin. “I said, is that understood?” He nods, the clench of his jaw telling me he’s pissed. “Good. Leave the past where it belongs—in the past. That girl you missed so much… loved so much… no longer exists.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I don’t care what you believe. All I care about is the job. You, more than anyone, should understand that.”

I turn to leave, but he grabs me by the arm to halt my quick escape.

“It hurt, didn’t it?”

More than you know.

Chapter 25

Jude

I fucked her, good and proper.

And what did Mina do?

She pulled a goddamn knife on me.

Fuck.

I had tried so hard not to give in to my urges… to give in to my addiction.

I tried so fucking hard…

But apparently, spending most of the night with Mina and not being able to touch her like I wanted to was too much for me to handle.

She said she doesn’t feel anything for me.

She said to leave the past where it belongs.

But her words don’t match her actions.

Her disdain and contempt don’t match the way her body responded to my touch—like it was made for just that purpose.

It was only after the haze of lust had evaporated that Mina became this unfeelingthing.

A thing of my creation.

I did this. Me. I ruined her.

I turned her into this weapon, her tongue sharpened to perfection, knowing exactly what to say to cause the most destruction.

But should I even be surprised?

I chose my family over her love, and for that, I will never be absolved of such a sin.

There was a period when I deceived myself into believing I should never have left London. I should have stayed and pledged my allegiance to the Firm like she wanted me to. If I had done that, I would have still been able to do what I loved and gotten the girl of my dreams.

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