Page 65 of Dark Souls

“Locked away.”

I scowled, not liking that answer. “You locked him away?”

“No,” he gritted, already irritated by my questioning. Well, buckle up matey, because I was only just getting started.

“Who locks him away?”

“Why do you care?” He spun, his demeanour turning icy and hostile. His posture was rigid and I could see that rage had returned to his eyes. I’d clearly hit a nerve. Or maybe he was just being jealous.

“Because I do.”

“Are you fucking him?” he growled. Ah, jealousy it is. I was about to point out that he was feeling another emotion other than rage in my presence, but I bit my tongue. I needed to pick my battles wisely.

I scoffed, “No.”

“But you want to.”

“I’m not having this conversation. Especially with you, of all people.”

“Why? Because you feel guilty?” He strolled towards my chair, his eyes so intense I had to look away and stare down at my bottle. “You feel guilty that you want to fuck someone that isn’t me?”

“Why would I feel guilty? We only fucked once, right? And that was all it was. A one-night stand. Best way to forget you would be to get beneath someone else,” I replied with sickly sweet venom, watching as his nostrils widened with anger but otherwise he remained blank. Expressionless. Cold as the fucking artic. “God, Heathen warned me you were like this. I thought he was exaggerating, but clearly not.”

“Answer the question, Ilaria. Do you want to fuck him?”

Honestly, I didn’t know anymore. Yes… at one point, I had wanted to go there with him and the way things were heading, it wouldn’t have been long until the inevitable happened, but then… Red. I hadn’t even seen Heath since before that night, so I had no idea how I would feel about him anymore. I knew another man’s touch would probably disgust me now that I’d experienced Red, which just made me hate him even more. He’d ruined me for all other men and then left me. What the hell was I supposed to do with that? I stared up at his gorgeous face, wanting to hurt him like he’d hurt me. Yes, I hated him.

“Maybe. I did. Before you. Maybe I still will. Who knows? Once I forget you, I mean. Not that it will be any of your business.”

He remained silent but all the muscles clenched in his angular jaw before he took another swig from the vodka. Jeez, he guzzled that thing like it was water.

“You need to stay away from him. You need to stay away from us both.”

“So you keep saying.” I rolled my eyes, tugging off the wig with relief and massaging my scalp with my fingers.

A small moan left my lips at the bliss and Red stared at me hard. I paused. Our eyes met as the room’s tension multiplied. His burning gaze took in my natural hair and his throat moved as he swallowed thickly. It was still there. The sexual tension between us. I could feel it pulsing like it had a life of its own.

“Take them out,” he demanded, his voice low and thick with arousal.

I knew exactly what he was asking for. He wanted to see the real me. I carefully took out the contacts, casting them onto the table and glanced up at him. His expression darkened, a hunger so raw and primal possessing his features.

Oh god. I wanted him. I hated him. I didn’t know a thing about him. Who he was. Where he was from. He could be pure evil. I mean, so far, it didn’t look good. Killing for sport. Ruler ofThe Underground.Fuck boy. But I still wanted him so badly.

What had happened to him to make him carry so much anger? To make the choice to live this way with no humanity. It’s all I could see in those eyes. Pure rage. Except when he looked at me. In those moments, I saw a flicker of something else. Longing. And it gave me dangerous hope.

“Who are you? What’s your name? Your real name,” I asked quietly, holding his gaze. He broke our eye contact, glancing away.

“I’m no one, Ilaria. Not to you.”

I felt my heart twist. “How can you say that? You are my soulmate! Does that not mean anything to you?”

His hands clenched into fists at his side as he closed his eyes. “You need to leave.”

“No.”

“Ilaria.”

“I’m not going anywhere.”

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