Page 76 of Titan

We needed to. I didn’t know what page he was on. I wasn’t sure what one I wanted to be on, either. I mean, I knew I wanted him, but in what capacity could we make this work? He was a mafia boss. I was a sex worker. Those two roles weren’t exactly natural bedfellows in the real world outside of this little bubble we were in. Then there was the matter of my past… and the fact he’d killed three people in front of me.

He let go of my hand and stood up. It made me sit up.

“Where are you going?”

“To put something on.”

“Oh.”

He moved around the room, picking up our clothes and folding them neatly before placing them on his chest of drawers. Gil pulled on a pair of boxers, then selected a t-shirt from his drawers and brought it over to me. He sat on the bed next to me. I put my arms up and let him pull it over my head. It swamped my lithe form. I couldn’t help pressing it to my face and breathing it in. Gil quirked an eyebrow. My face went red. I hid it behind my knees as I pulled them up to my chest. He reached out and stroked my arm with his fingertips. His touch was soothing. It made me feel good knowing he still wanted to be close.

“What are we doing here?” I asked.

“You mean us?”

“Is there an ‘us’?”

He moved closer and wrapped his arm around my shoulders before leaning his head against mine.

“I’ve never done this before, but I’d like to explore the possibility… if it is a possibility.”

I almost laughed. Did he not realise how enamoured I was with him?

“I like you, in case you hadn’t noticed,” I whispered.

“I had.”

“Then you know there’s a possibility.”

He let out a breath and pressed his face into my hair.

“I needed to hear you say it.”

My heart hurt. He needed reassurance. I let go of my legs and turned to him, wrapping myself around his body. He curled his arms around me, holding me tight against his chest. I didn’t know how much I needed to be held by him until right at that moment.

“Are you sure about this, Theia? My life is…”

“Dangerous, I know. Did you forget you literally just killed three people in front of me?”

He let out a breath.

“No… but I don’t know how you feel about that.”

I pulled away to meet his eyes but didn’t let go of him.

“Well, I don’t know if I’m supposed to think you as a mafia boss is hot, but I kind of did.”

Gil cocked his head to the side as if he was trying to work out whether I was joking. I licked my bottom lip and slid my hand from his back up into his hair.

“You thought it was… hot?”

“No, I think you are hot.” I shifted so I could straddle his lap and wrap my arms around his shoulders. “The killing stuff didn’t exactly bother me. I’ve seen a lot of violence in my life. Guess you could say I’m a little desensitised to it.”

His brow furrowed as his hands gripped my hips and pulled me closer, so our chests were brushing together.

“I was my father’s executioner, Theia. It’s the only thing I’m good at.”

I leaned closer, brushing my nose against his.

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