Page 61 of Cruelest Contract
Her face changes while I’m talking. She goes from skeptical to eager to downright enchanted and looks for all the world like I’ve just successfully planted my flag in her heart.
Cecilia gets ahold of herself before swooning and says, “Um, maybe we could do that another night.”
“Sure we can.” I’m careful to keep a triumphant smirk off my face. The evening I just described sounds infinitely preferable to beers and brawling in a sweaty bar. I’m glad she agrees.
“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” Her eyes drop to my mouth again and she shifts her weight. She’s nervous. And turned on.
She’d let me kiss her right now. She’d let me push that dress down, suck her tits, annihilate her panties and fuck her atop the covers.
“Yes, you will.” I don’t budge an inch.
“Okay. Well, good night.” Cecilia steps into the room, glances back at me with curiosity, then softly shuts the door.
I wait until I hear her go into the bathroom. My cock is so riled up I’ll need to choke the snake at least twice before sleep is even an option.
That’s next on the agenda.
First, I’m stuck giving Sonny an update. He waits downstairs.
I hear the groan of the water pipes as Cecilia turns on the shower. Standing here will only send my mind back into dirty territory and I need to put those thoughts on pause.
On the way to the staircase, I pass a dark wood accent table pushed into a shallow alcove. The framed photo propped on its surface is one I’ve walked right past thousands of times. It’s me and my brothers, all decked out in our cowboy hats on a blazing summer day.
An answering fierce surge in my blood is powerful and protective. Maybe this is the instinct of the firstborn in every family. But in a family with our history, that reflex was always destined to be sharper.
I would kill for my family. Ihavekilled for my family.
There’s not much doubt I’ll be called on to do so again.
My past and future crimes aren’t what troubles me as I trot down the stairs. On the opposite wall above the front door, the spectral bull skull has remained in the same spot for decades. In the mood I’m in, the sight of the thing hits me like a bad omen. The glow of being with Cecilia is rapidly fading, replaced by a bleak, unreasonable guilt I’ve carried around for nearly twenty-five years.
That long ago camping trip was only supposed to last for one night.
I’m the one who begged and pleaded with my father to stay longer.
If I hadn’t, he would have been home when murderers descended on Storm’s Eye Ranch.
And my mother might have lived to see her sons grow up.
11
CECILIA
THE PROS AND CONS OF MARRYING JULIAN TEMPESTA
PROS:
Gabriel will be protected
I’m deeply attracted to Julian
