Page 93 of Lust

He’s seething. I can see it in his eye, but beyond that I can see that I’ve hit a nerve. I just hope it’s the right one.

“You don’t know jack shit about me. Why don’t you just fuck right off?”

“I can’t. There’s something I need and I can’t get it without you.”

He grabs the door to slam it in my face.

“I need to get into Anthura’s room to steal something.”

The door stops moving. He opens it again. “You want me to get you into Anthura’s room? Why?” His anger has cooled slightly and he’s replaced it with a look of curiosity. “And for that matter, why the fuck should I?”

“What I want isn’t your business, but I think you know why you should. Anthura hasn’t looked at you since…” I nod to the mess of his face. “She wouldn’t sit near you at the meeting. She wouldn’t even look at you.”

He pulls back into his room and I think I’ve lost him, but he returns a few seconds later with his shoes on.

“Fucking bitch.”

I have no idea if he’s referring to me or Anthura, but I take the win. Now I just need to figure how to use him to get into Anthura’s apartment.

I focus on him to stop the familiar feeling of queasiness as we travel up. “Rowena is the only woman that’s not cringed at the sight of you, isn’t she?”

“Shut the fuck up before I change my mind, Snowflake.”

I smirk. “Rowena told me once that telling young girls that boys like them if they pull on their pigtails is a way of instilling abuse as love.”

Felix turns to me. Up close, the damage to his face is shocking, but it’s already better than it was when he was in hospital. Anger is rolling off him in waves. If I’m not careful with my mouth, he’s going to push me off the platform.

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”

I shrug as we reach the top floor and the entrance to Anthura’s penthouse suite.

“Just don’t keep metaphorically pulling on Rowena’s pigtails because she’s way too smart for that.”

He gapes at me as though he has no clue what I mean.

“Don’t hurt her because you don’t know how to love. Figure your shit out yourself and don’t expect her to do it for you.”

He lets out a huff, then turns to the door. “Wanna use that mouth of yours to tell me what you want me to do right now?”

Fuck, right!“Knock on the door and get Anthura away from her apartment.”

He shakes his head, but does as I ask. I sprint around the balcony, disappearing from view, and press myself against the wall. My heart threatens to burst out of my chest, and the floor seems to sway beneath me. Placing my palms against the wall, I take deep breaths in an attempt to quell the vertigo that's washing over me.

I hear the click of a door opening. “Felix,” Anthura drawls. “I’m surprised to see you out of your room.”

“I won’t be hidden away, Anthura,” he snaps. “Just because you can’t stand the sight of me doesn’t mean others can’t.”

Shit.I don’t want to stand here listening to them brawling. I cross my fingers.

“Darling. Who says I can’t stand the sight of you? I had to leave the meeting quickly because there was something I had to do up here.”

“So prove it.”

There’s a long pause before she makes a low strained sound. “What do you want me to do, Felix? I’m too busy to be playing games.”

I hear Felix’s sigh from where I’m standing. He and Anthura really do belong together. Despite what I said to him, I doubt Felix has the capacity to dig deep enough into his heart to become worthy of Rowena.

“Come down to my room. I have something to show you.”

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