Chapter 23 ROSE #2
“I don’t want a random woman. It’s not my style.” He scratches his short beard, his brow furrowing. “Besides, we need to talk.”
I knew this was coming. My stomach twists. The thing I’ve been dreading all day. “Can you at least put some clothes on? I can’t talk to you wearing that towel. It’s distracting.”
“Fine.” He rises from the bed, unzips his holdall, drops the towel in front of me and pulls out a fresh pair of white boxers with an Armani logo around the waistband.
I swallow the thick, hot air between us. “Is that a piercing?” My eyes widen at the shiny metal under his semi hard length.
He lifts his dick with two fingers, as casually as if he’s showing off a new watch, revealing the bar with two silver balls on either side. “Yeah, I got it for a bet, but the girls kinda liked it, so I kept it.” His eyes drift to mine. “Wanna try it out?”
Tingles course through my body. “You’re not hypnotising me with your shiny jewelled dick.” I fold my arms over my chest. “Put it away, would you, before you trip over it or take someone’s eye out. Or worse, put me off my dinner.”
He laughs as he pulls on his boxers, his wrinkled nose somewhat adorable. “You wanted me to fuck you earlier.” His gaze flicks to mine.
“That was before you opened your mouth and ruined everything.” Not wanting to stare into his dark, steel-grey eyes, I glance away before I’m asking him to fuck me again. “I will never beg.”
His lips curve into a sinister grin, as if he knows better. He may have been able to bend and manipulate me before, but he’s underestimated the woman I am now. He can’t make me do whatever he asks. Even if my vagina is weeping for attention.
“Can I watch my movie now or are you planning on distracting me all night?” I tie the satin belt around my waist, yanking it tight into a knot.
“We still need to talk, Rose. You getting distracted by my jewellery isn't going to prevent this conversation from happening.”
Ugh. I plop on the bed with a sigh. “Go on then, let’s get it over with.”
He pulls a t-shirt over his head and sits into the hotel chair near the long drapes covering the window. “You need to tell our son the truth.”
A shiver runs the length of my spine. Sweat coats my cold skin.
“I told you he can never be yours. If anyone found out, his life would be in danger and mine. Do you think Magnus would just walk away? He’s only been out of prison a month and he’s already looking for me.
It’s only a matter of time before he finds me. ”
“I’m not afraid of Magnus. I told you before, I won’t let anything happen to you or our son.” He leans forward, his elbows digging into his knees as he clasps his hands together. “I can protect you. Trust me.”
“I don’t trust you, Dan. That’s the problem. You broke that trust when you used me for your mission.” I hate how my eyes sting. Hate how saying it out loud is like admitting it to myself. I want to trust him. I really do.
“Yeah, well, you betrayed me, too. I woke up from a coma to find out you’d married someone else. You lied to me, too. You said you’d wait for me.”
“You were in a coma?” I swallow the lump in my throat.
“Helicopter accident.”
It all makes sense now—why he’s anxious when flying. Why he thinks I betrayed him, but he’s lied so many times it’s hard to know if this is just another lie to make me feel sorry for him. “I didn’t betray you. I was a pawn for a business deal. I thought you didn’t care.”
Dan’s eyes widen. “A deal?” He rises from the chair, his fists tugging at his hair as he paces the small space. “Fucking hell.” He closes his eyes and takes long slow breaths through his nose, his jaw clenched as he pulls back the long drape and looks out at the Rome skyline in the distance.
I sit on the bed, twiddling a piece of popcorn between my fingers. “Did you not know?”
He tilts his head, glancing back at me, his eyes glazed over with a watery film.
“No.” The deep rasp in his tone is almost a growl.
“I thought you married him willingly. Whether it was to spite me or because you actually liked him, I wasn’t sure.
” He paces again, his fists clenching and opening, causing the veins under his inked arms to bulge.
I pop a piece of popcorn into my mouth, then another as he comes to terms with my ordeal.
Watching him unravel is better than any Magic Mike movie.
I almost want him to suffer and feel even a fraction of the pain I went through, but if he’s telling the truth about his accident, he’s probably suffered enough.
“If I’d have known.” He tugs at his hair again. “Did he force himself on you?” His steel-coloured eyes stare into me as if penetrating my mind to extract the information without words.
I look away, shame still gnawing at me for how weak I was back then. “Dan, I was married to him. I’m sure you can guess how it went. You don’t need me to spell it out for you.”
The mattress dips as he sits on the bed next to me. His hand cups my cheek and I lean into the warmth from his palm. “If I’d have known, I’d have come for you.”
“I wrote you a letter.” My voice wobbles, emotions clogging the back of my throat.
“I never got a letter. I would’ve torn the world apart to get to you if I had.”
“I remember folding the paper with shaking hands, sealing the envelope with a kiss and a tear. I poured every bit of heartbreak into that letter. Begged that it wasn’t you.
I couldn’t believe that you came into my home, stole my virginity and killed my father and his men. I didn’t want to believe it was you.”.
“I’m not sorry for killing those men or your father, and I’m not sorry for taking your virginity, but I didn’t steal it.
You gave it to me.” His thumb strokes my cheek where flames lick beneath the surface.
Warm lips press against my forehead just like he’d always do.
“It was the best gift anyone’s ever given me. ”
Heat pools in my belly. For a minute, I’m that girl again, full of love and hope.
I pinch my leg, hoping it will ground me.
Fairy tales aren’t real, unless they’re the Grimm type of fairy tale.
I swallow the jumbled words in my throat, my lips close to his, his eyes sincere and filled with a lifetime of sadness that mirrors my own.
But all this time, I’ve had Angelos to brighten my day. Dan’s had no one.
“You gave me the best gift anyone’s ever given me that night, too.” My fingers caress his unshaven jaw. “You gave me my son.”
He rests his forehead against mine, our noses kissing with the gentlest of touches as he breathes against my lips. “Our son.”
When he says it, my clit tingles, my walls clench as if my body wants to make another baby with this man.
A man who once made me feel loved and safe.
I crave that feeling again. A feeling that’s evaded me ever since the night he left, leaving a catastrophic scene in his wake that would shape the rest of my future and bind me to a life of misery.
I can’t forget this man caused me my pain too.
A knock at the door has my heart lurching from my chest. My bones jump on the bed.
“It’ll be room service.”