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Holy shit.
“How long have you known?”
His jaw ticks and he looks away for a split second before those hurricane eyes turn back to mine. “Since Prince’s men found his body buried in a shallow grave not too far from your Virginia home.”
I want to be angry. I want to fight with him. Ask him how he could keep this from me, but it’s my secret, isn’t it? I’ve kept it from him for just as long. I did it. So who’s really at fault here?
His arms tighten around me. As if at any moment, someone might snatch me away from him.
Sometimes, it feels like it.
Still . . . even as I soak in the warmth radiating through his skin, I know . . . This has to end.
My mother killed my father. My sister is dead. The cartel is after Mason and I’m bringing all this right to his doorstep with a promise of love.
They had him in their crosshairs. They were prepared to shoot him.
“I need to leave, Mason.”
Mason stills beneath me, tension radiating through every tattooed muscle. A beat passes before he drawls, “Want to run that by me again, little doe?”
This is going to hurt.
My mother only wants him because of me. Thecartelonly wants him because of me.
“It’s not safe for you to be around me,” I murmur quietly, keeping my gaze pinned to the nightlight emanating from the bathroom. I swallow the lump forming in my throat, but my voice still comes out shaky and pathetic. “I need to go.”
Carefully, I disentangle myself from him and stand on shaky legs. He doesn’t stop me when I step from his bedroom into mine. I don’t even know why I came in here, I just needed to walk away from the volatile stare searing a hole into my back.
Unfortunately, it follows me.
“You think that’s going to solve all your problems? Sacrificing yourself?” I canfeelthe rage in his voice, seeping into me like toxic waste.
“It’s not safe for you, Mason,” I snap, whipping around to face him. Big mistake, because if I thought a hurricane was bad, I don’t even know what to call this. His eyes have never suited him better. “You have to see that.”
“That’s not for you to decide.”
“You could have beenkilledtoday, Mason. You were shot!”
He chuckles darkly, the sound sending a shiver through me. He cocks a brow, a dangerous darkness seeping off him in waves.
“This is getting real fucking old, Hannah.”
Something in my chest cracks and tears well in my eyes, but I force them back. “I’m not running,” I seethe. “I’m trying to protect you.”
“You’re running alright. Right into fucking death.”
“Then that’s my choice.”
“That’s it, then. Your grand plan? Fucking leave and expect me to sit here and lose you?”
“You have to.” A tear slips down my cheek and he watches its descent with an icy darkness. “I can’t . . . I can’t let anything bad happen to you because of me.”
“You walk out that door, Hannah, you’re doing it with me. I won’t allow you to offer yourself up for sacrifice.”
I can feel that he means it by the possession in his gaze. The protectiveness in his hands. Call it whatever you want. Toxic. Loyal. I don’t care. For once, it feels good to finally meet another person who feels as deeply as I do. Who would be willing to risk their life to save mine, just like I would to save theirs.
I crave to be a part of his life and that’s dangerous. He could decide at any moment he doesn’t want me here. That the words he says in the darkness of my nightmares are just empty promises. But . . . I accept it. I want to fall into Mason Carpenter, even if it means trusting him completely.
