Page 62 of Vile Emotion
“I had to.”
“Had to?”
“Yeah,” I say, looking at her and soothing her with a soft stroke of my thumb against the back of her neck. “You needed a distraction and this helps. Plus, you stop breathing every time I kiss you.”
“No, I don’t.”
“Don’t make me test it out again.”
“I need to use the restroom!” Juliana stands up, alarmed.
“Okay.”
I take a step back as she power walks to the bathroom. I shake my head and sit back down. I flag the waiter ordering a drink, I’m going to need it.
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You stop breathing when I kiss you…
Is he serious? No, I do not.
Shutting my eyes, I take another deep breath in and release it.
He’s nowhere, Juliana, I’m everywhere, me…
Ugh! I open my eyes and focus, he’s right and I don’t know if I’ve had the chance to dislike it or like it. I’m sure there could’ve been other ways for him to get me to calm down from the panic attack but it’s too late to go back in time to change that. I take another breath as I shake away all the nerves and make my way back to the table.
Alaric doesn’t say anything as he watches me sit down. He watches me as I take a sip of my water and I place it.
“Did you put something in it?” I ask.
Alaric glares at me. “Put something in your water in a place full of people so that, what? You could die?”
“Perhaps.” I shrug.
“I don’t plan on wanting you dead, Juliana. I told you I want you around me and I mean that.” He says and this time when he says it, it feels different. There’s something in the way that he’s saying it and I don’t know how I feel about that.
“Want me around?” I repeat.
“Juliana, is there something you need to ask me or should I continue on with our prior conversation?”
“Yes, I need to ask you about kissing me? You’re avoiding the subject and how we probably should not be doing that.”
“I could be a bastard and pretend I don’t know what you’re talking about or I can tell you that yes, I did kiss you. Yes, it happened more than once and yes, I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t do it again.”
“That doesn’t sound like an answer I was looking for.”
“And you weren’t looking for me at all yet here I am.”
I blink wondering what he’s talking about. What did he mean by that? But I don’t know if I’m ready to face any of that so I change the subject.
“Edwin…” I say his name, calming myself down. “Why do you want to talk about him?”
“I need you to know that I know everything, even things you didn’t want me to know. I won’t make you talk about it with me or anything like that but I need you to know that, he will be taken care of.”
“What do you mean?”
“Edwin, he can’t be around anymore, do you understand?”
