Page 100 of Lethal Attraction

“Shh,” she coos. “Don’t ruin the moment.”

Was she…planning to lock me in the basement? Now is not the time to be turned on by that.

“I feel like I still have so much to catch up on,” I say quietly into her hair as I rub a hand over her back.

She pulls away, taking my shoulders. “Then let me explain everything. You can help me with Sophia’s blanket while I talk.”

The corners of my mouth twitch. “I would like that.”

We finish our dinner before retreating to the living room. Thalia drags a massive tote over that’s filled with an array of current yarns. Her unfinished project, a baby girl pink blanket, resides on top, her crochet needles crossed over each other. As I sit beside her, I swing her legs into my lap, kneading the heels of my hands into her feet as she begins to crochet and I watch every expert swoop of her fingers.

“What I’m going to tell you is hard for me,” she begins gravely, her eyes becoming distant as she continues to loop and pull. “I started my training when I was eight, but I wasn’t treated the same as my brothers. My parents were harder on me, my mother especially, because she felt the only good part about being a woman was what you could do with your looks—how to control men, lure them in, and then trap them. She relied heavily on that tactic when she was in her prime. Maybe it was growing up in a patriarchal society that warped her bird brain, but I knew I didn’t want to be like her. I didn’t want anyone to have control over me.”

My heart aches for her. The control. The reluctance to pursue anything. It all makes sense now. Her mother tried and failed to turn Thalia into someone she wasn’t meant to be. I’m proud of her for becoming so much more than what was expected of her. She’s perfect just the way she is.

She continues with a heavy sigh. “We fought. God, we fought so much while I was growing up. I was her problem child, and she was the bane of my fucking existence. I gave her hell for years. Until Brooks came along…” Her expression hardens with hatred as her hands fumble with the pattern before she regains her composure. “My mom told me not to pursue him. Being the rebellious teen I was, I did the opposite of what she said. Unfortunately for me, the South branch has its own set of outdated rules that I didn’t know about.” She takes a deep breath before lowering her needles to her lap. “Sleeping with another assassin from a different branch is a lot like winning something in their eyes. It’s a pride thing and a way to show that you’re better than them because one of their own has voluntarily betrayed them…”

“Oh my god,” I breathe. “What the fuck did he do to you?”

Her lips wobble as she tucks her head in shame, and I could fucking rip through the state to find Brooks all over again. “It wasn’t just him. It was a whole group of his friends from the South Branch too. They hung the bedsheets we had sex on from my dad’s flagpole and announced to the whole compound that I had lost my virginity to Brooks. They shamed me in front of everyone. It was a humiliation ritual, but it might as well have been the signature on my death certificate. My parents beat me so badly that Rowan was banging on the shed door and pleading with them not to kill me. He and Atlas were the only people in my family who still looked at me the same afterwards. Alana and Connor were banned from our house and couldn’t check on me while I recovered, but that didn’t stop them from sneaking into my window to bring me medicine or food. They were the only ones who still saw me, and not the broken girl who had been humiliated by her past decisions. Rowan wanted to kill Brooks; Atlas jumped him hours after the incident and put him in the ICU of the local hospital, and Alana kept me updated on his condition from her cameras. We both hoped he would have succumbed to his injuries after what he had done to me. Luck wasn’t on our side.”

I reach for her, tilting her chin up. My heart shatters at the look of devastation on her face. She’s expecting me to pull away, to treat her the same way Brooks did, but all I can think about is how I owe him far more than a fucking punch to the jaw.

He deserves to suffer for what he did to someone so kind and compassionate. He deserves something slow and unforgiving for trying to break the spirit of the strongest woman I know.

“He’s a sorry fucker who has deserved every ounce of hatred, every punch, every fucking speck of karma he’s ever received. There’s a special place in hell for people like him, Thalia, and I’m only glad you came out of this stronger. Never let anyone take your spark, because it’s what’s making me fall irrevocably—”

She presses her fingers to my lips, her eyes wide. “Reed.”

I gently remove her hand, piercing her with conviction. “You’re making me fall irrevocably in love with you, Thalia.”

She gasps, her pretty lips parting in disbelief. “What?”

I chuckle, nodding. “You did this to me. You drugged me, kidnapped me, and wiggled your way right into my heart. And I’m not going to stop it, Little Devil. I was wrapped the moment I met you and had no idea just how much you would consume me. You don’t have to say anything, but just know, I’m not going anywhere. No matter what happens.”

She shakes her head slowly, blinking. “There’s no way…”

“There is a way,” I say quietly. “I got to know you and I fell. Hard.”

“I don’t know what to say, Reed.”

“Don’t say anything. I’ll wait for you, Thalia.”

She leans across the sofa, smashing her lips to mine in a heated, greedy kiss that leaves me breathless. Her taste dances over my senses, and I go pliant against her. This kiss feels so much more meaningful—more profound. As if it’s our promise to each other.

I would wait a lifetime if it meant calling her mine. Anything.

She pulls away, biting her bottom lip as her chest rises and falls deeply. Her cheeks are flushed a pretty red shade as she tilts her head. “I really want to play with you, Reed.”

Heat ignites in my lower stomach as I nod in agreement. “Please.”

She gives me a seductive, siren smile. “Would you put your trust in my hands?”

“Of course.”

“Then let’s play.”

Chapter twenty-eight