Page 34 of Beautifully Damned
My throat goes dry. “Oh.”
The wind picks up a little, brushing my hair into my face. I tuck it behind my ear with shaky fingers. “You know, you’re a lot more talkative when you’re not bleeding.”
“I prefer bleeding.”
I laugh under my breath. “Of course you do.”
The sky turns darker. The guards don’t look our way, but I know they’re watching. Everyone always watches when Roman’s around. But for once, it doesn’t feel like I’m just prey under his boot. It feels like he’s watching the sky too.
“You always this angry?” I have never seen him not livid, not frustrated, not violent. This man is a cluster of negative emotions waiting to explode at any minute. Volatile.
“This is me relaxed.”
“You must be a riot at birthday parties.” I scoff.
He looks at me then, the corner of his mouth twitching. Barely. It’s not a smile, but I’ll take it.
“Did you ever have one?”
He tilts his head slightly. “A birthday party?”
“Yeah.”
“No.”
“Ever get cake?”
“No.”
I frown. “That’s… depressing.”
He shrugs. “People make too much of birthdays.”
I pick at a piece of grass between my fingers. “What about gifts?”
He makes a quiet, derisive sound in his throat. “Gifts were lessons. And the punishment if you didn’t earn them.”
That’s really messed up. I want to say something more, but I don’t know what. I don’t even know why I’m trying. He doesn’t make this easy. Nothing about him is easy.
“Do you…” I start, then shake my head. “Never mind.”
His voice cuts in, low. “Say it.”
I chew on my lip. “Do you ever want something else? Something softer?”
“No,” he says. And I should have expected it.
“It’s not smart,” he adds eventually, “to ask me questions like that.”
“I know.”
“Then why do you keep doing it?”
“I guess I want to know more about the man holding me hostage.”
“What are you expecting to find?”
“I don’t know,” I admit, honest even though it could hurt me. “Something human.”
