Page 72
Even then, why did I want to be, though? My eyes swept over his frame. Everything about him was beautiful to me, both inside and out, and the more I looked at him, the more I wanted to be in his life.
I shrugged.
His eyes stared intently at mine. “Now that I think about it, I’ve never seen you get angry at all.”
“There’s not a lot that makes me angry.” I was angry, very angry once. But I soon learned that anger wouldn’t bring my mother back.
“I thought you were faking the whole calm attitude.”
“I don’t know how to fake.”
He raised a brow. “And you don’t know how to lie either,” he quipped, which made his upper lip curl flawlessly, showing a little of his teeth. In the bright moonlight, the scar on his jawline looked almost feral.
“I honestly don’t,” I replied. “Lying makes me uncomfortable, and I feel it’s a chore.”
He chuckled. “Never heard anyone describe lying as a chore.”
“But it is.”
“How so?” Arkane poured himself a healthy serving of his favorite bourbon from the coffee table, and at the same time, Buddy made himself known from somewhere in the shadows and jumped onto my lap. For a menacing-looking Pitbull, he was the sweetest.
“It destroys both you and the recipient.”
“Recipient? Who uses that word?” Arkane only chuckled harder before asking, “How can someone like you exist in this world?”
“Someone like me?”
His eyes studied me with rare wonder. “Someone so soft but courageous, innocent yet brave, and so very beautiful all at the same time.”
I didn’t know if it was his words or the way he said it or the look in his storm-gray eyes, but my cheeks heated, and my heart pounded in an unfamiliar beat. I cleared my throat. “Can we get back to important matters now?”
A slight grin tugged at his lips as he watched me with amused eyes. “Fine,” he said, rising to his feet and ever so slowly removing his long coat and flinging it away before unbuttoning his suit jacket and flinging that away as well.
“What are you going to do about the threat?”
“Nothing,” he answered. “I want to wait and watch. It’s a serious threat, and I don’t want to lose another life. I’ve doubled the security for my family and shipped Paul away to a safe house.”
“Paul?”
“My R&D head; he’s the only other person who knows how to use Invictus.”
“That’s wise,” I muttered, my curiosity winning again. “Can I know?” I asked, not containing my eagerness. “How to use it?”
He raised a brow, a slight smirk shadowing his lips. “You would love that, don’t you?”
“I just want to know how brilliant you are,” I mumbled, and I really did. As a Valerian who depended on traditional weapons, modern tech really didn’t interest me much, but not when it came to him. I want to know everything about him.
Arkane shook his head, smiling before he typed something on his phone. In only his shirt now, with his sleeves rolled all the way to his elbows, showing off his veiny, strong forearms, he looked so good that I wanted him all to myself. And I hated that I couldn’t have him all to myself.
Not knowing what to do, I kept my hands busy, patting Buddy, who loved the attention and curled deeper into my lap.
“Here.” He threw his phone my way. “Read this, and then I’ll explain everything.”
I gave him a look as I caught the phone right before it would’ve hit me smack in the nose, and he just grinned, dropping back into the couch and relaxing with his hands laced behind his neck like he had no worry in the world.
If this place were mine, I’d say it was my favorite. The views of the lush ocean and the warm, intimate setting made it feel like a private paradise amid the calamity of the outside world. I could tell why Arkane loved to unwind down here.
“You trust me with your phone?” I asked, raising a brow.
