Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 137326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
“Preston…” Kane warns.
“Shut it. I’m doing this for your sake.”
“Not that I have to explain myself to you, but I’m not.”
“Good. Because if you do betray my man, I might truly chop your head off.”
I swallow as that cloud of bloodlust hits me again. Preston remains still, but his eyes are cold, and the purple bruise makes him look monstrous.
For a moment, I think he’ll reach out and crush my face like the other time, but Kane grabs him by the hair and jerks his head back.
He glares down at Preston. “Threaten her again and we’ll have serious problems. Don’t ever think about hurting her.”
“Oh, I will, but only if she betrays you. Now, let me go. That hurts.”
Kane releases him with a shove and comes to sit beside me. “Ignore him.”
I try to.
But even as I swallow, the soup gets stuck in my throat.
I’m not betraying Kane in a sexual or romantic sense, but is previously using him—or attempting to—considered betrayal?
While Preston is scary, it’s Kane who frightens me.
He might be calm and collected, but I know, I just know that if I fuck up, he’ll cast me out of his life as if I never existed.
And that leaves me shaking with anxiety.
Is it truly a new beginning if I have too many skeletons hidden in the closet?
29
DAHLIA
Things have…changed.
Since the first time I slept in Kane’s arms over three weeks ago, he’s been different.
We spent Christmas and New Year’s together, mostly with Preston and Jude. I don’t really like the holiday season, but this one felt different. Because I had Kane, but also I felt the need to celebrate for Vi.
She always took them seriously, insisting we celebrate like a ‘normal’ family and put up this small Christmas tree she goes overboard with decorating. It felt empty this year without her, but at least I had Kane.
He’s been changing over the past few weeks.
It’s been subtle and gradual, but it’s heart-flutteringly noticeable. He still doesn’t like it when I touch him for too long, but he’s not so quick about removing my hands.
We spend entire nights talking about everything and nothing. I told him about my whole childhood and all the shit I went through so Vi and I could survive—but I also told him about the good things as well.
Part of the reason why I opened up was in the hopes that he’d also talk about his own childhood in depth, but he rarely does, and when it happens, it’s usually without any emotion.
Kane might have let me in, but his walls still stand tall. Completely and utterly indestructible.
But I’m not complaining.
This whole time, I’ve only felt Kane lose control—momentarily—during sex. But lately, I can see glimpses of him doing so even if he’s not fucking me.
He’s one meticulous bastard and hates it when I leave things lying around. He also has these strange quirks like cooking in silence and not listening to any music. He also does the same in his home gym when working out—no speakers or headphones. When I asked about it, he said he uses that time to think, and he doesn’t really listen to music or anything audible, because it interferes with his thoughts.
Kane also wakes up early and is always the first player who arrives at practice.
But he doesn’t drag me along and often tells me to sleep some more, especially if I visited Vi the previous night.
I’m starting to feel guilty because I can’t spend the whole night by her bedside anymore. I try to stay for a couple of hours and give her updates—mostly related to Kane—but I feel like it’s not enough.
My days are busy with work and school, and the nights…well, if I’m not being chased and dicked down by Kane in the sickest, most perverse ways, we’re either going out with his teammates or snuggling up for a movie or cooking the most random shit I find on the internet.
Or he cooks and I just stand around like the most useless assistant.
And on the weekends, I insist that we spend time with his mom—something he dislikes, so he grumbles and acts like a general asshole. However, when we went to his parents’ house yesterday, he was mostly silent as he watched with a cryptic expression while Helena and I fed and talked to the koi fish.
Then he left us to have a meeting with his dad. I’m not sure what was said, but afterward, Kane had a defeated but relieved smile. Grant merely narrowed his eyes on me as he stormed out of the house.
Since last night, Kane has been more relaxed. He fucked me so hard that I was screaming, and I woke up this morning with his head between my legs. Best morning ever.
He also said I should move my stuff into his apartment, to which I was left speechless.