Page 100 of Unravelling The Beast

His brows lift, and he smirks—he actually smirks at me.

When he continues, he elevates his chin calmly after his eyes have relaxed again.

"All this because I won't admit to you that I have fake fucking feelings for you?You want me to lie to you to make you feel better, Wren? Is that it?"

I glance at his lips as his words come out condescendingly, and it irritates me.

"I want you to be truthful with yourself, Arlo. If you don't feel anything for me, you will have no issue with letting me go. I'm not bound to you; I'm just a fuck, remember? I'm free to do whatever the fuck I want."

I raise an eyebrow at him and I can see that what I said angered him because his luscious lips have lost their smirk and his eyes have narrowed. I pull my eyes away from him before walking around him while he remains in the same posture, not stopping me.

I attempt to appear confident as I stride down the hallway, heading for the stairs, despite the fact that I can feel his dark orbs burning into me from behind.

My jaw tightens as I watch her walk down the stairs, feeling irritated that she is doing this.

Yeah, I get it; I went over the top, got defensive, and said some wild shit, but what does she really expect from someone like me? I am who the fuck I am, and I am unapologetic as fuck about it. I'm not going to tell her what she wants to hear just to make her feel better.

Why would she want anything more from someone like me? Is she fucking insane? Of course, she is. She is my perfect mate, my dark queen in my fucked-up fantasies. No sane woman would allow you to tie her up to a fucking tree in the pouring rain and fuck her ass into oblivion.

I shake my head before I explode, push my arm off the doorframe, and jog down the stairs to see Wren open the door for Cree, my mom, and Sara.

As I reach the bottom step, Cree notices me with a wide smile on his face, and I inhale deeply before returning the smile. My son is the only person I could ever love or feel anything for. He is the only solace left in my miserable soul, but I know I have to put on a mask every day to avoid showing him the monster his father is. I don't want him to be like me; it’s what Bridge would have wanted.

I crouch down and catch him in my arms when he sprints in my direction. I squeezed him tightly before lifting him off the ground with his arms wrapped around my neck.

"Missed you, Cree."

"I missed you, too, Daddy!"

I perch him on my forearm, keeping a big smile on his innocent face, and I elevate my chin before speaking calmly.

“What have you been up to?”

“I played with a muddy mess at Granny’s house when it was raining!”

“Muddy mess?”

“Yes, I played in the wet mud with my raincoat and boots on! Did you see the rain?”

I raise an eyebrow and smile before glancing over at Wren, who is chatting with Sara by the front door, and my thoughts return to last night as my eyes wander down her body while I respond to Cree.

"I sure did."

Sara yells over to me, her fucking loud voice ringing through the mansion, jolting me out of my dark, wicked thoughts.

"Arlo, I was just telling Wren about my birthday dinner tonight; didn't you tell her?"

I give her a slight head shake, and she sighs loudly while rolling her eyes.

Cree attempts to wriggle out of my arms, and when I place him on the ground, I watch him dash to Wren, who catches him and places him on her hip with a big smile.

I stand back, pressing my tattooed hands into my front jeans pockets, while I observe as she happily interacts with him until Sara calls over to me again.

"Well, are you all coming?"

I carefully shift my gaze away from Wren and Cree to look at Sara.

"We will be there."

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