Page 41 of Brutal King

“Have you never watched Beauty and the Beast?”

“I don’t have much time for movies.”

I roll my eyes. “The beast captures Belle and forces her to live in his castle. He offers her a library as consolation for the loss of her freedom. She’s so gullible that she actually falls in love with him because of it.”

I leave out the part where I also fell in love with the beast when I was a kid. Same went for the Goblin king from Labyrinth when he put Sarah in that Masquerade ball bubble, even though he caged her in a hellish maze. Actually, I fell in love with just about every other handsome villain thatI desperately wanted to get the girl. Yeah, I see the pattern. But just becauseIknow my weakness for bad boys, doesn’t mean Gideon has to.

“I won’t fall in love with you,” I say to drive the point home, mostly for my own sake.

His lips tug upward in that infuriating smile, like he finds everything I say amusing.

“Stop it,” I hiss.

“What?”

“Smiling. I’m not kidding.”

Hiding his smile behind his hand, quite ineffectively I might add, he shakes his head. “I believe you.”

“I’m serious, Gideon. There is nothing you can give me that will ever make me love you. Nothing.”

Suddenly, his grin vanishes, this time for real. I immediately want it back when what replaces it is far too terrifying, not because it’s ugly, but because of my instant reaction to it.

Gideon’s eyes glimmer as they rake over me. It’s that predator stare that sparks to life my need to be consumed.

“Are you sure about that? There is nothing I can give you? Nothing I can… do?” His voice lowers to dangerous depths.

He takes a step toward me, and I take one in retreat, but the counter at my back stops me. The smile returns, but the hunter’s glimmer in his gaze remains.

When he comes closer, I lift a hand to stop him. “Don’t.”

“Why, Little Bird, are you so afraid of me?”

I swallow hard, through the tightness in my throat. Damn, it’s hard to breathe with this man so near. “I’m not afraid of you.”

He dips his head, his lips dangerously close to mine. I tilt my face up to his, expectantly. His mouth is only an inch away, and I can almost taste it. I can almost feel the heat of it.

But the kiss doesn’t come. Gideon pulls away with a knowing grin because he can read me so well. He could tell I expected a kiss. That I fucking wanted it.

My hand twitches with the need to slap him.

“I was just reaching for this,” he says, and gives me a black box. “It was behind you. You didn’t think I was going to?—”

“Shut up.” I snatch the box from him and put it on the counter. When I open it, I gasp. It’s a camera. Not just any camera, but a Leica Rangefinder. “Oh my God.”

“Do you like it?”

“I—” I’m speechless. It’s such an expensive camera that I never even considered the possibility of ever owning one someday. “I—” I gently pull out the lenses and other small tools and inspect them. Then, with the care I’d use handling a newborn, I lift the camera itself.

My hands are trembling, but I hold it in place against my eye and turn to Gideon. He smiles wide and I snap a photo.

The light flashes and he rubs his eyes. “I had it preloaded for you. Not by me. By a professional.”

“Did they help you design this room too?”

“Yes. He told me what to get. It was an empty storage room, so it wasn’t hard to do.”

“Thank you,” I whisper. “Thank you for this.”

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