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Gareth Blackwater was a pleasurable and maddening shock to my senses.
Gareth lifted his glass to the room then turned to me. The sharp angles of his cheeks and jaw seemed sharper. “Cheers, darling. You’re stuck with me now.”
I realized a split second too late that Gareth Blackwater should not be poked.
Until I reined myself under control over this woman, I would pretend she had no effect on me. At least, that was the current plan.
She seemed to be our spokesperson since Willard wasn’t quite socially equipped for civilized society, and I wasn’t about to thank this prick for anything.
“If I got angry every time a man was condescending to me with sweetie, honey, baby, or any number of belittling names to knock a woman down a peg, I’d be nothing but a ball of rage. Now let’s get back to business.”
For the first time since I’d met this man, an emotion of vulnerability broke across his expression. It was fleeting. There and gone in a millisecond. But I knew without a shadow of doubt that he had suffered in foster care personally.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” “That’s why I asked.” He was flirting with me to distract me. Or torment me. Or both.
And that had me tapping my index finger on the table, glancing around the bar to note every person here. It was an old habit to catalog all possible threats in my vicinity.
The one thing he taught me, and taught me well, was that using strength and fear to dominate doesn’t make you more powerful. It makes you a tyrant.
“I thought you’d be glad to come with me. Get your Clara fix for the night.” “Look, dick. Don’t pretend you aren’t here to drool all over that witch, Livvy.”
“Just look at her.” Henry started flicking his Zippo lighter again. “She’s a goddamn angel. Why would she want to be a part of my fucked-up mess?”
I didn’t want to be honest this time. I didn’t want to have her look at me with disgust or fear, but she needed to know. “Grims always know where true evil lies. Because it lives inside of us. It’s in our blood.”
My breath faltered. His tattoos reflected quite the tortured soul, one who was seeking some sort of salvation. Or perhaps simply another life altogether. My stomach twisted into a knot.
“What is this?” “What do you mean?” “This heavy flirting thing you’ve got going on.” “I apologize. I wasn’t aware that you weren’t aware of what flirting means.” “That’s not what I meant.”
“Is this how you woo all the girls, Blackwater?” His smile dimmed but didn’t disappear, his dark eyes glinting with mischief and glee. “No, Lavinia. You seem to bring out the best in me.”
I suddenly found myself realizing I’d rather he win this contest instead of me. My involvement in this was solely selfish. His was altruistic. Self-driven from his own experiences, yes, but still.
I smiled at him condescendingly. I’d love to see him fucking try. Even if he attempted to use his powers against me, it would come to nothing. They wouldn’t work on me.
“You know, stop giving Richard murderous looks like you’re about to choke him.” She was close, I’ll give her that. I’d been contemplating something more bloody, like dismemberment. But choking was a pleasant thought.
“What does that mean? Would you look at me and stop ogling Martell, please? I need your undivided attention when you insult me.”
Belatedly, I realized he had slid out of the enemies category after our dinner at Daisy Duke’s.
“No, Lavinia.” He shook his head then dipped closer to me. I was sure he would kiss me, but he skimmed his nose along my jaw until his lips brushed my ear. “You are,” he grated, biting my lobe. “And I’m so fucking caught in your web.”
“Grims have a strong core belief that information is everything. More powerful than money or fame or anything else. We also prefer to keep ourselves in check.”
“Are you dangerous?” she whispered, eyes dark as midnight as she clasped her slender white fingers around my wrists. “To you?” I brushed my mouth against hers again, holding her gaze. “Never.”
I pressed a hand to my sternum, stunned by the stinging ache. I’d managed to live with and control my monster my entire life, but now it was pushing to escape. Because of her.
I was going to kill him if I didn’t walk away. Not figuratively. I was going to literally dismantle his skull and force the bone fragments inward till his brain turned to jelly.
My mouth quirked in disbelief. “You aren’t evil, Gareth.” “I didn’t say that I was. I said it lives inside me.” “That doesn’t make sense.” “I’m aware.”
I loved Clara. She could be as bad as me or Violet. She just did it with a sweet smile on her face that made you think she truly was innocent of malicious intent.
Was it smart to get involved with someone who purposely kept secrets because of the grim code or whatever? Was it wise to let my heart fall for someone who might very well end up breaking it?
“Well, Gareth can—” I stopped suddenly, realizing he might not want me to share what I knew. Was I breaking his code if I shared information with her?
“Now then, why don’t you tell me about this girl?” I flinched. “What girl?” “The one you’re all smitten with. The one that makes you smile. That’s a rare occasion indeed for my Gareth.”
“How do I stop it?” I whispered. She chuckled and sighed. “I think it’s too late for that. When a grim finds that special companion, their own lifeblood in another, the darkness won’t ever let them go.”
“Mark me well, Gareth Michael,” she said, aiming one of her hard expressions at me. The one that told me she meant business. “You are worthy of love, dear boy. And you have so much of your own to give.”
“It’s a brilliant idea actually.” He held my gaze, voice softer when he added, “Not surprising coming from you.”
“What’s this?” I raised our laced hands. His onyx eyes flickered to me and held. “You can let go if you want.” After a few seconds, I whispered, “I don’t want to.”
Rather than his customary grim-brooding, he was in a state of murder-contemplation-brooding.
She didn’t even know that grims could recognize their true mates like vampires and werewolves. But how could she? She didn’t know our ancestry. Yet again, I felt compelled to tell her.
“I rocked your world, didn’t I, Blackwater?” “You have no idea.”
“You’re right.” I snort-laughed. “You’re admitting it? Excuse me while I go into shock.”
“You are not evil, no matter what darkness you hold inside you. I know that with every beat of my heart. And if you never tell me what happened, that’s fine too. I admire the man I see.”
“What do you do when you’re sad?” “I get angry and want to break things.” “What about when you’re angry?” “I bake something chocolate?” He smiled wider.
This beautiful, brilliant woman had fulfilled my dream of saving supernatural orphans from the tragic fate I’d endured. She’d done it without me asking it of her, but because she saw the need, compelled by her heart to act. To do what I’d never been able to.
“So you’re basically breaking the grim code or laws or whatever to be with me?” “Lavinia. I’d break the whole world to be with you.”
Basically, the supernatural courtroom was Vegas. What happened there, stayed there.
Ruben glanced toward her then me, his gaze snagging on Jules who was setting out a giant pot of jambalaya for us all. “We’ve all got a monster inside us, Gareth. That’s nothing new. It’s just how you use it that matters.”
“We love with a love that is more than love.”
