Page 83 of Sinner's Perdition

“No.”

“This wasn’t open to debate.”

I roll my eyes at him, and he angles his body forward. “I can’t wait to fuck you pregnant.”

I conclude he is disturbed, but if I like the way he makes me feel, I have to be disturbed too.

“Dream on.”

“When you’re comfortable.”

And then, he says something like that and I’m a goner. He smiles, a genuine, dreamy one, and I think he has a split personality, a good and evil twin living in him and fighting for supremacy.

“I heard from Kieran. Aurora is going to study.”

“Yes, he’s great at bribing her.”

His brows pinch together in confusion. “I thought you’d be happy for your friend.”

“I would be, if it were real.”

“It is.”

No, it’s not. It can’t be, after everything he put her through.

Cato clears his throat. “What about you?”

“I always thought I wanted to study the arts.”

“You can.”

I won’t be here by then.Instead, I swallow. “I’d love that.”

“I am going to ask what college she’s enrolling in so you can go together.”

My heart melts in my chest. The dessert being put in front of my face helps me rein in my emotions or I would have crawled over the table and kissed him.

“If you moan a bit louder, I might think it’s better than my cock.”

The chocolate goes down the wrong way, and I cough, tears welling up in my eyes.

“No more dessert for you.”

I take a few sips from my glass of water, and he pulls the plate over to him. When I try to take it back, he swats my hand away playfully.

I pout, and he feeds me a spoonful. He’s doing things to my insides—twisting, pulling, and smashing them back together in different ways.

The night ends too soon. There’s something happening between us, and my brain shouts danger, while my heart wants to know what this connection is.

Cato pays for dinner, and we drive back home. I lean my cheek against the window, a dreamy sigh parting my lips.

“I want you to be happy with me, with this life,cara.”

“And I want you to care for your life.”

He sighs, knowing we just asked the impossible of each other.

I’m in the walk-in closet when he takes the gun from his holster. He opens the panel, and I remember the night when I threatened him with the gun. Only he would teach me how to use one. I slide my fingers over the cold, smooth surfaces. He removes two guns from the wall, along with ammunition. “Follow me.”

---