Page 16 of The Castle (Endgame 3)
I collapse against the door, my muscles made soft and replete. Satisfied, like he said I would be. Satisfied so that I would let him hurt me. He doesn’t hurt me, not anymore. He pulls me against his body, gathering me like I’m in a hundred pieces. I curl into his lap, resting my head against the smooth fabric of his shirt. How is it that he isn’t even wrinkled? I’m a disaster.
“You can’t go looking for him,” he says, his voice low. And strained, as if this is almost too important to put into words. “No matter what happens. No matter what you think or fear or wonder.”
I blink slowly, made curious by his intensity. Why does he think that will happen?
“I know what he did to my mother. I saw what happened at my house. I know how dangerous he is.”
His arms tighten around me. “Danger doesn’t keep you away.”
Because he’s dangerous. That’s what he tried to prove by holding my neck, by threatening me. It’s what he did every time he threatened the women at his father’s brothel. Threatening them in a desperate attempt to keep them safe. I nuzzle my face deeper against his chest. “I’m here, Gabriel. I’m not leaving.”
And only then does he allow his head to rest on top of mine. He could have climaxed ten times, but he wouldn’t have had the bone-deep satisfaction that radiates from him now.
He doesn’t want me broken. He wants me whole.Chapter SixI spend a few minutes freshening up with the makeup in my clutch, but there’s not enough lipstick in the world to make me presentable. My eyelids are heavy, my cheeks flushed. My hair a wild mane around my shoulders. It’s dark in the back of the limo, but I know I must look sultry, the aura of sex emanating from me.
Gabriel raps on the window, and the door opens. A blast of humid night air rushes in, a sharp contrast to the cool interior. I take Gabriel’s hand, surprised to find my legs shaky. I know that I affect him. I can see the impact when we’re alone together. And I see how much he fights it. But he looks completely unaffected, his expression stern, his suit perfectly pressed despite what we just did. No one would know that he just had sex to look at him. Meanwhile I’m rumpled and loose-limbed, every nerve of my body still tingling from aftershocks.
I blush when we pass the men standing at the door, but they don’t meet my eyes. They don’t even twitch. They might as well be statues made of concrete.
Gabriel’s hand guides me up the narrow steps onto a hand-scraped wood floor I remember from my visits. Except there aren’t any tables. There’s a muted clatter of pots, the bustle of the kitchen not far away. All I can see is a shadowy interior.
As if he’s walked this path a hundred times, he guides me down the hallway. The restaurant spreads out in front of me, dark walnut tables surrounded by maroon leather booths. The large rooms arranged in such a way that almost every person is visible from here—but no one directly faces us.
He pulls my hair to the side, exposing my throat. His lips meet the side of my neck, warm and soft—a contrast to the cold space in my chest. “This is where I stood,” he murmurs. “When you laughed. When you smiled at your daddy like he was the whole world.”
Pain squeezes my heart. “And that’s when you decided to ruin him?”
“No, little virgin. That’s when I decided to ruin you.”
I whirl to face him. “Stop trying to scare me. I’m not afraid of you.”
His expression flickers with something like pride. Something like pleasure. “And now you look at me like I’m the whole world. Do you want me to apologize for that?”
“It might be nice.”
“Do you want me to pretend I wouldn’t do it again? Do you have any idea how much you’re worth?”
“One million dollars,” I whisper because the amount is imprinted on my soul. Written on my body.
He takes my chin between his thumb and forefinger, lifting my gaze to his. “I built that house like a fortress, a goddamn castle. All that’s missing is a drawbridge. But I had nothing to protect. No one.”
I turn away from him, staring at the glittering array of women, the black-and-white clad men. “You could have had anyone.”
“Not someone I would die for.”
“I don’t want you to die for me,” I say too loudly. The couple at the closest table turn their heads. Whatever they see in Gabriel’s expression makes them look away fast. I struggle to find my composure. “I don’t want you to die at all.”
“Not even for revenge?”
My eyes prick with tears. It wasn’t only me in that fire that haunts my dreams. It was Gabriel, trapped and burning. “Not ever.”
