Chapter 22 Donovan
TWENTY-TWO
Donovan
“Shut up,” I say to a silent Torrin as I slide into the driver’s seat of my black Challenger and slam the door.
He wants to laugh so badly, and the asshole is barely holding it in. His face is red with the effort.
Truthfully, I’m not far behind him. The scowl I wear feels a little forced. If I could see what just happened from the outside, I’d be doubling over with laughter.
Donovan Falco has let someone in. Not just someone, a woman.
I’m so fucked.
I speed off with no direction. I have to get away from my house before the panic in my chest tightens and I won’t be able to breathe.
What have I done? How did I get here?!
It happened so effortlessly. It’s like Astra slid right into my life. She knows all the ways I’m not a good person, and she doesn’t turn her nose up at them. If I believed in fate or any of that shit, I’d say she was made for me.
Astra is too good for me… yet, I’m not going to give her up.
Just a few days ago, I wanted to keep her to piss off her father, but now, I want to keep her to protect her. To covet her. To… make her mine over and over and over again.
Her moans ring in my ear. Her face flashes in my mind. Her neck pressed against my palm, her back bowed as if she needed to get closer to me. The way her eyes roll back in her head right when she’s about to come.
She will be my undoing, of that I’m sure. I just hope it doesn’t happen the other way around. I need her safe, but I know it’s not safe to be with me.
“You’re going the wrong direction,” Torrin says. “They got him in the holding cell in the back room of The Lacey.”
I curse as I slam on the brakes and whip a one-eighty right in the middle of the road.
A car horn blares. I scowl in my rearview at the driver who is far enough away that I bet they didn’t even have to tap the brake pedal.
They should count their lucky stars I can’t see their face with the glare of the sun on the windshield.
“You wanna tell me what’s going on? You seem a little distracted.” I hear the humor in his tone, and it fan the flame of irritation in me.
“No,” I growl.
“In all seriousness,” his tone matches that intro. I glance at him out of the corner of my eye. “Are you sure this is the best idea?”
My teeth grind together as I come up with something to give him. It’s not the best idea and I fucking know that! I probably shouldn’t have told Astra all the shit I just told her, but I can’t seem to stop myself when it comes to her.
She’s become my weakness. The thing I swore I’d never have. If she’s my weak spot, my enemies will extort it to no end… to her end.
“If she’s in my life, she’s a part of my life.
I can’t separate the two because it would mean I have to lie to her.
She’s worth more than an asshole who will keep her locked up and act as if she’s not smart enough to understand why.
I am who I am, Torrin. She’s seen who I am.
There’s no sense in playing pretend. It would be a slap to the face for both of us. ”
Though he’s silent, I’m not stupid enough to think the conversation is over.
He has more to say, but he’s trying to figure out the best way to word it.
Torrin always says what’s on his mind without a care, which means it’s moments like this that I have to watch out for.
I need to pay attention because he’s noticed something from the outside, he either thinks I can’t see or I’m purposely ignoring.
I can’t hate him for it, even if it pisses me off.
“I’m worried how this will play out with her father and all,” he says.
I cut my eyes at him.
“She is not a toy. Not a fucking pawn.” My voice holds a deadly edge to it. I grip the steering wheel tighter. “She will not be used just because I want to get to that piece of shit. I will protect her, even if that means I can never get to him.”
“But what if he doesn’t care the same as you do? What if she chooses family over—”
“She won’t,” I say, managing to keep my calm though I’m vibrating with rage. “She hates him as much as I do.”
If it’s not one hundred percent true, I know it’s close. I could see it in her eyes when she looked at the vial of poison. I could see the way she hated what had been asked of her by her father, and the way it was tearing us apart once I found it.
“You love her,” he states, and I don’t miss the shock in his tone.
“I care about her,” I attempt to correct him, but I fear he might be right.
“And what if this curse is the end for one or both of you?”
I sigh and pretend to pay attention to the red light in front of me. Why the fuck won’t it turn green?!
“I hope that I die so she can live,” I say, an ache in my heart at the thought of her dying. She can’t. I will do anything to keep it from happening.
He wants to say more. I can feel it crackling in the air between us as he plans out his words again.
“That’s the end of this conversation,” I warn, tone dark and on edge. The light finally turns green, and I press hard on the gas, making the tires squeal as I take off.
I park the car in the back of the hotel and hop out. Leaning against the closed door, I reach inside my jacket and pull out the slim metal case that holds my cigarettes. Torrin takes the same stance beside me as I light up and then tuck the case back into my pocket.
“I’m not trying to upset you,” he says, and he’s smart enough to keep his tone low so only I can hear him.
“I just worry about you. And I worry Aubert will use her as a way to get to you, even if she’s not part of the plan.
You can’t stop him, which makes this situation even worse. If I could kill him for you, I would.”
I know Torrin. I can see it in his eyes when I look over at him.
He’s thinking about trying, even knowing how it will end.
Sure, they are just rumors, but some rumors have merit, especially when you’ve seen one of the bodies of the people who have dared to try to kill Aubert.
They didn’t just go crazy, they ended up taking their own lives in the most disturbing ways.
Something even I couldn’t conjure up in my mind.
“There has to be a way to break the protection spell,” I say, my eyes darting around to make sure no one is listening.
“Oh, so you get a little witchy girlfriend and you suddenly believe in magic without question.” His tone mocks me as much as his words do.
I tilt my head slightly and glare at him, nearly laughing when the smile slides off his face.
My dad used to pull the same terrifying look before he killed someone. I guess I know where I got it from.
I take a strong drag of my cigarette instead of punching him square in the nose.
The burn in my lungs is enough of a distraction.
I need Torrin more than ever now, and I need him strong and uninjured.
Besides, I hate the way he talks when he has a broken nose.
I need to keep my annoyances to a minimum if I’m going to deal with this shit.
I drop my smoke as I push off the car, grinding it into the asphalt with my shoe.
“Alright,” I say with a long exhale. “Let’s go make this asshole pay.”
“Or…” Torrin says with a look on his face that screams trouble, “we could hit the bar, have a celebratory drink, and let Paulie sweat it out a while in the hole.”
I’m half tempted to tell him I’m not in the mood. But I pause, taking him in for a second.
“What the fuck are we celebrating?” I ask as I head toward the main entrance in the back of the hotel instead of the door that leads straight to the basement room where Paulie is being held.
“Your recent catch of the feels.” He smiles and shoots a wink my way. He tosses his arms up in the air like he’s throwing out Mardi Gras beads or something. “Love is in the air.”
He’s so fucking annoying. If I didn’t need him, he’d be dead for that shit. This isn’t the first time I’ve had a thought like that, and strangely, I find comfort in it. If only I could find comfort knowing there will be more similar thoughts in the future.
I resist a sigh.
It’s something I’m going to have to deal with soon, but not now.
“One drink,” I say, hoping it will get him to knock that shit off.
“You’re buying.”
“I own the hotel. We don’t fucking pay here,” I remind him as I roll my eyes.