Page 17 of Dueling Flames

“Good.” She sat back and crossed her arms as well. “So why do we hate Milo?”

I took a deep breath. “He treated me like a trophy, not like a person.”

“He wanted you to be pretty?”

“He wanted me to be pretty and stupid. I swear that man wants a himbo for a partner. He would get so angry and try to embarrass me when I knew anything he didn’t know.”

Memories started to flood my brain of him shushing me when we ate dinner with his friends or colleagues. How I’d mention something from a book I was reading, and he’d pat my head and say, “That’s nice.” In the end, no amount of good sex took away the emotional neglect he’d tried to convince me was normal.

“Is he why you don’t share the tidbits of knowledge?”

I nodded. “He told me I didn’t need to prove I was smart or that I didn’t have to share everything that I thought out loud. Eventually I stopped. I figured everyone felt that way.”

“No one feels that way but him. I like the random facts. Though I’d be careful. I think he’s still interested in you.”

I gagged. “I’m not interested. I dated him for too long the first time.”

Lissa rubbed my shoulder. “Let me know if you want me to run interference.”

“Thanks,” I said and let out a breath that seemed to get rid of all the tightness in my shoulders. Lately, just being close to her helped me relax. “I really mean it.”

“Anytime.”

Chapter 8

Thorne

As soon as we got back to the apartment after work, Lissa told me to change as she wanted to take me somewhere.

“What’s wrong with what I have on?”

She shrugged. “Nothing. I thought you might want to change. I’m going to shower.” The washroom door closed behind her.

“How fancy do I need to dress?” I called through the door.

“Casual.”

I looked down at my standard uniform of blue slacks and shirt with my last name on it, then made my way to the bedroom.

Twenty minutes later she led me out to her ride and drove us to the north end of South Loop. Once parked, we walked toward an enormous red brick building that covered an entire block. The roof had a copper patina color. I wasn’t sure if it was real aged copper or painted to look like it.

The entrance was a set of double doors set into a grand, semicircular arch. Along the arch it read, “Harold Washington Library Center.” I gazed along the outside of the building, from corner to corner, and up to the top of the building where a lovely sculpture sat directly above me.

I turned to Lissa. “This is a library?”

She laughed. “Yes. Did you not do any research before moving here?”

“Yeah, but apparently not enough.”

She rubbed my back. “Let’s go inside. There’re more than just books here.”

Once inside, the entrance led us down a large hallway with marble wainscoting. The hallways opened up to a large square room with a round section of railing in the middle. Upon closer inspection, I noticed the center section opened up to the floor below.

I pointed into the hole in the floor. “You see this?”

Lissa laughed. “Yes. But wait, there’s more.”

We spent the morning walking through the first five floors of the building. The architecture blew my mind. The sheer number of books I looked through and passed by gave me a deep sense of loss, for I’d never be able to read them all.