Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 92368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92368 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 369(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Zeus is in the driver’s side moments later, and then we’re peeling out of there.
The anger rolling off him is palpable. It’s stifling in the confined space of his car. I feel like I’m the one choking now.
I know I should say something, but I don’t know what to say.
We drive back to his apartment in that thick cloud of silence.
Zeus is still living at the apartment until his lease is up in just over a month, and then he’ll move into the house. In the meantime, he’s going to start work on the house, getting it ready—a new kitchen fitted, decorating the place up, buying furniture, basically making it a home.
Zeus said he wants my input on the decor, as it’s my home, too, and I’ll be living there soon enough, so I should like how it looks. I didn’t argue with the “soon enough” comment because I know Zeus and how he gets when he sets something in his mind. Truthfully, the more I think about living with him, about us finally being a family, the more I feel comfortable with the idea—maybe even a little excited.
Though, right now, excitement is the last thing I’m feeling. Worry, trepidation…yep, definitely feeling those.
He parks the car outside his building. Turns off the engine. But makes no move to get out of the car.
He’s sitting there. Hands curled around the steering wheel, eyes staring straight ahead.
I unclip my seat belt and shift in my seat to face him. “Zeus,” I softly say his name.
“I wanted to hurt him.” Dark eyes turn to mine. “I really wanted to fucking hurt him.”
“I know,” I say quietly. “And you did hurt him. You hurt his pride. I’m pretty sure you broke his camera. And you definitely scared the shit out of him.”
I smile, but he doesn’t react. The smile fades from my face.
“After what happened with Scott”—he blows out a breath—“things started to look different. The hunger to fight…it didn’t seem so important anymore. But then…in that moment, that asshole was Marcel along with every fucking journalist out there who’s said something bad about you. He was every regret and mistake I’ve made with you. He was five years without you. He was missing out on Gigi’s start in life.”
My eyes fill with tears, and I reach for his hand.
“I wanted to hurt him, Cam…but I wanted to hurt myself more.”
“Zeus…”
“You’re better off without me,” he says. “I should never have come back.”
A tear spills down my cheek. “Is this you giving up on us again?”
“No.” Remorseful eyes move to mine. “But you should give up on me. I’m no good for you, Dove. I’m no good for anyone.”
I climb over the console, straddling his lap, and take his face in my hands. “Bullshit. You listen to me, Zeus Kincaid. I have loved you for nine years. Five of them, I spent without you, and not once did my feelings for you diminish or stop. You are good for me. We’re only good together. This is just another bump in the road for us. We’ve gotten over bigger. And we’ll get over this one.”
His eyes, which are fixed on mine, slowly blink once. “I love you,” he rasps out. “So fucking much, it hurts.”
I kiss his scarred brow, then his cheek, and finally his mouth. “It hurts to love you, too, Zeus. But it also heals me. Loving you is everything.”
“Fuck,” he groans. His fingers plunge into my hair, and his mouth takes mine in a deep kiss. “I just wish you could see my feelings for you, Dove. See how fucking deep they run.”
“So, take me inside your apartment, and show me,” I whisper into his mouth.
And he does exactly that.
Zeus takes me into his apartment, and he spends the rest of the night showing me with his body just how deep his feelings for me really do go.
Gigi, Zeus, and I are having a lazy Saturday afternoon at his apartment.
I took Gigi shopping this morning. It’d been a while since we had our girlie time together. And then we grabbed three takeout burritos for lunch and brought them with us to eat at Zeus’s place.
We’re all fed up with burritos, and now, we’re sitting on the sofa together, watching Tangled for what is quite possibly the thousandth time.
Gigi is sprawled all over Zeus like a blanket. He looks so content, sitting there with her. They both do.
It makes my heart swell. I could sit and watch them all day long like this.
Zeus catches me staring. I don’t look away. It’s so much easier that I don’t have to hide my feelings from him or myself anymore.
The corner of his lips lifts into that stunning smile. I smile, too.
He parts his lips, wetting them with his tongue.
My sex clenches.
Down, girl. We’re rated PG at the moment.