Page 79 of The Spare
The story wasn’t as exciting as all the secrecy made it out to be. “A little while after I broke up with Julian, I was out with everyone. We happened to run into him at a bar. He tried to talk to me, but I wasn’t interested, so I kept close to the guys. Everything seemed fine. Later, when we were leaving, I walked past the hallway toward the bathrooms. He yanked me into the hallway, trying to get me alone.”
Marcus’s nostrils flared, his jaw flexed, and his grip on my waist tightened. What Julian would have done, drunk and angry, I didn’t know. It wasn't something I wanted to think about. I wanted to believe I’d have been able to fight him off. Luckily, it never got to that.
“He was drunk and wouldn’t let go of my wrist. When I tried to pull away, he pulled hard and twisted. Something popped and it hurta lot.Tristan saw him grab me, and he and the guys were there in seconds. Xander punched him, Tristan and Rohan dragged him to the alley, and they beat him senseless.”
My skin beneath his hand could feel the fury-fueled tremble as he struggled to keep his word and not react. “Okay,” he said.
“My wrist was sprained and splinted for a few weeks, nothing major.”
“That’s everything?”
“Yes.”
He pulled me into his arms and kissed me on the head. A shutter of relief passed through him.
“Want to feel better?” I asked as I pulled forward and straddled him in an attempt to lighten the mood. I rested my hands on his chest and leaned down to lay a peck on his lips. “I called an old law school friend. He works at the office of Chief Counsel at the IRS. A couple of inopportune investigations into his family’s financial affairs have rendered them insolvent for the foreseeable future.”
A ghost of a smile tugged at the side of his lips. He tenderly ran a hand through my hair and pulled me closer. “I know you can take care of yourself. But you could have told me.”
I rolled my eyes. “You're not really the prime example of being open and honest.”
“What do you want to know?” His hands gently gripped my hips.
Everything.
His walls came down around me at times, but it was up to me to figure things out. He never gave up information on his own. I had to ask the right questions.
He knew why most of my past relationships had failed—I never felt seen. I knew nothing of his. “Why don’t I know anything aboutyourprevious dating history?”
Over the last few years, there had to have been someone. I didn’t want to know, but it felt like a secret. He knew all about my past, and his seemed to be shrouded in mystery.
A smug grin crept across his face. “Jealous?”
“A little.” I was. My finger twisted around the fabric of his shirt. “Answer the question.”
“They weren’t serious. I didn’t want anything serious.”
“Why not?”
He paused and looked at me like the answer was obvious. “They weren’t you.”
The sentiment stole the breath I was about to take. “You can’t do that.” I playfully swatted his chest.
“Do what?”
“Say things like that when we’re fighting.” I pouted; all the anger of the night was lost. “It disarms me.”
“It’s true,” he said, with a sincerity that washed away the bitterness from the night. “Besides, only a fool with a death wish would allow Sloan Amari to be armed.”
I laughed, leaned down, and gave him a kiss. There were a million more things I wanted to know, but I was finding it delightful to stumble upon them at the most unexpected times. Somehow, it felt more intimate that way.
CHAPTER40
Sloan
We hardly ever spent any time at my London residence. Most nights were spent at Marcus’s, and weekends too. It always felt a little off when we slept here. The idea of having nights filled with explosive sex in a house you most associated with awkward trips during your childhood felt weird at best.
But Marcus and I stayed here last night, because Xander flew in today, and he was staying with me for his visit.
