Page 54 of Devour

“Who caused this?” he asks.

“Me,” I whimper. “I snapped.”

He chuckles. “I would’ve loved to see that. Do they have security cameras? I need to find the footage.”

My voice comes out shallow. “I don’t know.”

“Hey.” He held me tighter. “Talk to me. Communication, remember?”

I tell him about what happened. Then I have to restrain him from going up there himself. He sighs and grumbles, “I guess both of us snapped today.”

I nearly fall over. “What do you mean?” Nick snapping could’ve resulted in any number of things. I’m sure it was nothing compared to my outburst.

He scratches his defined jaw, and then finally says, “I cut out Leo and Trina’s tongues.”

Horror. That’s the only word that can describe what I’m feeling and it has to be etched on to my face. I scramble backward off his lap. The reality of who this man is, is worse than I imagined. My blood turns icy cold.

“Stop,” he commands. “You don’t know the whole story.”

“How could you possibly justify it?” My tone is accusatory.

“I won’t repeat the vile things he said about you. But he’ll never say them again. Don’t forget that she went out of her way to be cruel to you and then went to Cleric to ruin your life. She won’t be asking for any more favors.” Nick crawls toward me. “I won’t tolerate anyone disrespecting you. You might not like my choices, but I didn’t kill them, sweetheart, so that’s progress.”

“I need to be alone.”

He sucks in a deep breath. Finally, his expression turns to one of defeat. “I’ll have one of my men drive you home.” I’m honestly surprised. He always saidhe always win, but he’s stepping back. “Call me when you’re ready. But please, don’t shut me out. Still give us a chance. You’re meant to be mine.”

Probably the best thing that could’ve happened is that the book event was the same weekend of the week I acted rashly and quit my job, along with taking some space from Nick. The man cut my enemies’ tongues out. I don’t know if I should feel pride or panic over it.

On the flight to Texas, I tell Lani about it. She’s the only person I know that I could retell that story to and not flinch. My stomach churns the whole time I tell her about our relationship. I am so anxious yet Lani just listens.

“Also, how can you love someone who acts so drastically? What am I thinking? He’s a psycho, Lani?”

“You love him?” She smiles.

“I do. What am I thinking?”

“Typically you don’t think when you’re in love.”

“Clearly,” I grumble. I sigh. This is supposed to be a fun trip for her; I need to stop rehashing my disastrous life.

Lani pats my forearm. “Listen. Men like Nick and Cleric, they’re not average guys. You can’t label them or except them to follow social norms. You’re going to feel everything more intense with them, because that’s just who they are.”

She tells me about her experience with Cleric and, surprisingly, I feel better about mine. At least Nick didn’t blackmail me to have his baby. I didn’t realize how badly I needed to talk to someone.

“Did he ever tell you his real name?”

“Of course,” she giggles. “But I’m not telling you.”

“You really love him?”

“That I will tell you. Yes. More than anything.” Her eyes go soft as a small bashful smile tugs at her lips.

Lani means it. I’m a teensy bit jealous of how confident she is in her feelings. This woman is one hundred percent in love with the man who used her body as his personal incubator. I jerk with surprise when she laughs. “He isn’t that bad. He’s a wonderful father and husband. Nick is a good guy, too.”

“I’m pretty sure he’s the bad guy.”

“But a good guy for you.” Lani teases.

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