Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 67324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 67324 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 337(@200wpm)___ 269(@250wpm)___ 224(@300wpm)
“What can I get you?”
“You can’t get me anything, but you can tell me . . . who are you, Dax? Who are you really?”
He stares at me, zero expression on his face. I know I have to follow through with what I’ve said even though I’m internally kicking myself, because my question likely sounds incredibly odd.
“I’m nobody, Waverly.”
Oh.
Shit.
I didn’t expect that.
I honestly didn’t.
I blink and wonder if I heard that right.
He’s nobody?
No.
Everybody is somebody.
Everybody.
But in that moment, something so clear washes into my mind. A tactic I didn’t think about earlier. I’m playing the innocent, broken girl. But what I should be really playing on is the fact that he clearly cares about me, and because of that, I should be able to get into the very depths of his soul. What if I can get him to just tell me everything I need to know? To trust me? To confide in me?
It’s tricky, because it means I have to do things I really, really don’t want to do, but it could also be a quicker way to get the hell out of here.
“I feel like you’re standing in front of me and telling me all these things, yet I don’t really know you. Not a single thing about you. I don’t know why you’d help random girls on a street. I don’t know why your gaze is so closed off I can’t see behind it. I don’t know why you’re who you are.”
He flinches as if he’s taken back by my questions. Like he never expected I’d just lunge forward like that. “Maybe one day I’ll let you in on everything I am, but the problem with unleashing the truth is that you won’t like what’s put in front of you.”
“Maybe I’ll surprise you, Dax,” I say, carefully. “Maybe you’re not the only one filled with darkness.”
Cheering on the inside at my epic little finishing line, I turn and walk off. I want him to trust me, and I know that won’t happen overnight, but if it gets us to the end result quicker then I’ll do what I have to do.
I reach the bathroom and lean in to turn on the shower. I take my top off and attempt to take off my jeans but trip when my foot gets stuck in them. I’m still way too out of it to coordinate this properly, and I am just realizing how much so when my body slams against the cold tiled floor. I cry out in pain because damn, a grown adult falling down is something else entirely. We don’t bounce back up like we did when we were kids.
God.
Ouch.
“Waverly!”
Suddenly, Dax is there, leaning down, his hands taking my body and lifting me up like I weigh nothing. When he gets me to my feet, he glances down. My bare breasts are quite literally squishing against his chest. His eyes meet mine, and oh lord, I can see the desire there. The epic desire. He wants me, and it’s written all over his face.
My body goes into panic mode, and I start panting.
I’m pressed against his body, half-naked, and if this isn’t the perfect fucking moment for him to take full advantage of me . . .
He doesn’t.
Part of me wishes he would so I could hate him more. So I could make myself seethe when I look at him. So that I wouldn’t feel these twisted feelings I’ve got swirling around in my chest right now. I need to hate him. I need him to remind me why he is such a disgusting human.
But I’m struggling to remember that.
He releases a hand and strokes a wayward piece of hair from my face, and my heart races.
No, Waverly.
No.
He’s a liar. It’s an act. This is what he does. He’s a monster.
He leans down. His lips brush against mine, and my body reacts in ways I wish it wouldn’t. What is wrong with me? What the fuck is wrong with me? This man is a horrible, cruel piece of shit, and I’m letting him kiss me. My body is aching to feel more. Everything inside me is pulling me towards him and not shoving me away.
I let him kiss me. I let him kiss me deep and slow.
Then I force myself to remember Merleigh, and Cova, and Bobbie and Amy. I force myself to think about Magnolia and Briella’s mom, and how their dead bodies were thrown on the club grounds, tossed into the dirt like they were nothing. All those acts were controlled and led by Dax. He’s a monster that has his hand in some disgusting and cruel shit.
These feelings I’m experiencing, getting swept away in the moment—that’s because of the drugs.
I’m falling for his act.
Which is exactly how he has gotten every other girl before me to do what he wants, to get them to trust him and then he sells them to a monster and watches as their hearts break and their worlds are turned upside down.