Page 56 of Iced Up Love: Part Two
Useless.
He studies me for a second.
“If you stay with us,” he says, “I’ll show you.”
Something in me catches on that.
Barely.
“You’re a Bellandi,” I mumble. “You make people bleed.”
A quiet hum.
“Only when I’m really mad,” he says. “Most of the time, I don’t need to.”
The words sit there.
Strange.
Unfamiliar.
“You don’t have to become him,” he adds, not looking toward where Elijah was, but the meaning lands anyway. “You just have to stop losing control of yourself.”
The room tilts again.
Heavier.
Darker.
I’m slipping.
“My phone,” I mumble. “The plate… the dealer… he was acting weird… I got it…”
His attention sharpens slightly.
“Good,” he says. “That’s something we can use.”
Everything is fading.
I force the words out anyway.
“Fine,” I manage. “I’ll stay.”
My chest tightens.
“For her.”
Lucian nods once.
“Good choice.”
His hand stays steady on me.
“Stay with me,” he says.
And this time I try.
thirteen
