Page 61 of For the Gods' Sake

“Good,” I said, keeping my smile intact. “After—”

“I’m going to ask you again, Reyna,” Adrian said, low and threatening. I caught my nervous swallow at the last second. “What. Is. Wrong?”

This time, I took a step towardshim. “I told you. Nothing. Now,” I said, reaching up to tap his rock-hard chest. “Time to play the perfect boyfriend, yeah?”

I felt him reaching for me, but I slipped out of his hold before his hands could descend on my bare skin and steal away my sanity.

I reached for the door knob myself, only for Adrian’s hand to curl over mine, using our combined reach to open the door. As he did, he pressed close and leaned down to speak in my ear. “You’re a little liar.”

I looked over my shoulder at him, glad my nerves were steel-coated this evening. “Am I?”

A low growl jumped from Adrian’s throat as he ripped open my door. I tried to wrestle my hand from his, but his iron grip kept our fingers firmly intertwined. When we stepped out on my front porch, three of my security guards, including Titus and my brother’s old guard, Antonio, stood at attention.

“You,” Adrian said, beckoning Titus forward with a hand. “You’redriving.” He turned to the other two. “You two follow.”

Titus gave Adrian a skeptical look, sliding his gaze to me for confirmation. I grumbled my assent. When Titus walked toward the long car to open the door for us, I turned to Adrian. “You do not get to command my staff just because we are in arelationship.”

I put extra emphasis on relationship, shoving the hidden meaning down his throat. It was the most sterile way I could characterize this. A reminder of the arrangement.

Adrian understood. And that understanding only appeared to light his anger on fire so that it turned into a destructive blaze. “Reyna,” he growled. “Get in the fucking car.”

I stepped toward him, forcing him closer with a yank on our hands, bringing us chest to chest. I lifted my chin with a sweet smile. “Try that again. Nicer this time.”

Adrian leaned down, his nose barely an inch from mine. “Get in the car.”

The dark command in his voice did something to my instincts. Because I got in the car, pointedly ignoring a curious look from Titus. It was fine. Couples fought. It probably added to our credibility.

Adrian shut the door after I was tucked into the seat, coming around to the other side while Titus got in the front seat.

Adrian was silent as he unbuttoned his suit, relaxing back into the seat and settling his long legs wide so that I was forced to acknowledge that we were sitting next to each other.

Despite that, I did my best to ignore him. I stared out the window while Titus took over, leaving the hills where I lived and descending into the city. As the sun set, bathing the streets in moonlight, the energy in the car got more and more tense.

After about ten minutes of feeling slow pulses of energy shoot down my spine, I tore my eyes from the window, looking down at my hair.

The once smooth, carefully placed curls were disrupted by static, the ends of my hair pulled into the air. That seemed to be some kind of breaking point, because Adrian’s voice boomed into the silence of the car.

“Raise the divider,” he said to Titus. No, ordered him.

“What?” I snapped, my head flying towards him so fast, I got a kink in my neck.

Adrian ignored me, speaking straight to Titus. “Raise it. Then make sure you can’t hear anything.”

Heat, and a mix of incredibly inappropriate arousal and embarrassment, burned my cheeks. Titus’s observant gaze caught mine in the rear view mirror and I watched in horror as he assigned the wrong meaning to my reaction and Adrian’s words. He raised the divider slowly and I heard the click of the silencer, leaving Adrian and I alone.

“That was unnecessary,” I said, forcing myself to keep his eyes.

“Really?” Adrian said blandly. “I think it was perfectly necessary.”

“Titus thinks that we’re—” I had to cut myself off. I couldn’t say it.

“Fine. It would only match what I’d like to be doing.” My mouth dropped open, shock burning over my skin. But Adrian paid it no mind, barreling forward. “What are you doing?”

“I am sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I was bearing down, letting my stubbornness flare. But it was better than confronting the truth.

“You’re acting cold.” Adrian looked me up and down, his gaze snagging on my chest and hips. I clamped down a quip about noticing what I was wearing. I was letting the dress speak for itself. I’d chosen it to piss him off. It was a deep purple, my family’s color, but was tight. “Emotionless,” he added.

“Really?” I snapped back. “Coming from you?”

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