Page 54 of The Daredevil

“Did he hurt you?” he asked. The deadly look on his face surprised me.

Words jumbled in my brain, but nothing made sense. I couldn’t break away from the intense eyes that held me in the spot. “What?”

“Your ex-boyfriend. You said you wished you didn’t have to endure him.Did. He. Hurt. You?”

I felt the dangerous edge of his voice rubbing against my skin. The power of his gaze chilled my bones. This reaction painted him a different man from the friend I’d known for years. This was a man he kept hidden. Despite that, I wasn’t afraid of Royce. The wrath he emitted wasn’t toward me. I sensed an inexplicable security with him more than anyone I’d been with.

“No, not physically. I would’ve bruised his balls and used my hair clips to stab them if he’d dared.”

Wincing, Royce loosened the grip on my hand. “Okay then.” He shifted his seat as though trying to protect his family jewels.

I stifled a smile.

“I guess I should be more concerned about your ex.” A smirk formed on his lips before it disappeared. “What did he do to make you cry?”

I couldn’t believe Royce remembered that day. I must have made some horrific impression.

His genuine concern made me say something that surprised me. “He made me feel unworthy.” That was a truth I was afraid to admit until now. How had Royce coaxed that truth from me so easily? So painlessly?

“You arenotunworthy. What an ass.”

“I didn’t see that until it was too late. He only wanted me to be an accessory on his arm in public. I had to look a certain way. Eat certain things to stay trim . . .”

Shit. Fuck.What had I done? He wasn’t supposed to know about my weakness—the monster in my closet.

Royce looked at me with deep concern.

I interlaced my fingers together and placed them on my lap, facing forward. “I think we should get going.”

Royce didn’t object and sped off. “Thanks for sharing your past with me.”

“You owe me.”

“Owe you what?”

“Something about your past. Since I shared mine with you, it’s courteous for you to return the favor. That’s what relationships are all about, right? Give and take. You don’t have to tell me right now. I’ll take a raincheck. Thank you.”

He laughed, and the sound bounced in the car, making me smile too. “You’re some negotiator, angel. If memory serves, I owe a lot. One is your compensation for being my fake girlfriend and now this. I feel like I’m losing in this relationship.”

Grateful the conversation had turned to a different topic, I studied his profile. There was no annoyance on his face, just amusement. “There are no winners or losers, just two people trying to make this relationship successful. While we’re at it, we’re becoming closer friends, don’t you think? I mean, I know more about you now than I ever did.”

He nodded slowly. “A Viking and an angel make a wonderful pair.”

I liked the ring of that, even though it seemed farfetched. The closer friends we became, the higher the risk of destroying that friendship by adding passion to the mix.

Feeling too much had been my mistake when I dated Julian. I was attracted to his determination to succeed in his financial world, but that was the problem. He only had eyes for his career. I was an asset to make him look good. He ensured I stayed that way by controlling what I ate and wore and how I exercised. He made those basic needs I’d suffered—and was still healing from—into a chore. In doing so, he added to the monster already within me. He made it more frightening. I didn’t want to give another man that power.

With Royce, my emotions were raw again. He touched something deep within me, and I couldn’t describe it. It was primitive and thrilling. What if things didn’t work out between us? I’d lose more than friendship—I’d lose my friend, my heart, and my soul.

CHAPTERTWENTY-SIX

ROYCE

I wantedto kick her ex-boyfriend’s ass for making her feel unworthy. Didn’t she know how precious she was?

Why had she stopped mid-sentence? What was she hiding? The forbidden attracted me more than anything else. Even though every cell in my body wanted to, the horror on her face prevented me from asking further. I didn’t want to frighten her.

Time. Michelle needed time to trust me. That became my mission. I needed to earn her trust.

---