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He caught my hands and held them inside his easily And then, he pulled one of my curled fists to his mouth and kissed it

I yanked away fro fro," he said in an even voice "If you promise me you won’t flip your shit when I do"

My voice was as shaky as the rest of rabbed the insides of my elbows "I can’t promise you that"

He sed and looked away, actually looking afraid Definitely an e, he ran a hand through his hair

"Even though we only physically o, I’ve known you for over a year I told you in St Lucia that--that youall the tihts You’re very witty, and I looked forward towith your articles, even when you werethe co some past frustration "Sometihed so hard my sides felt like they’d split open But--beyond that, I really felt I knew you Especially e started spending so aht spot during a dark day s in and share laughs with the group I enjoyed them all, but with you--" He took in a deep breath and exhaled "It was different"

He shot me a look "But then you wrote the Manifesto You already kno le point of it with you for hours The whole idea of the auction offended the hell out of me You know the reasons why I feel the way I do about wo their bodies"

I looked away and he hesitated He released my hands and cleared his throat "And I just had to know, you know? What would drive you to do this? I had this ie of you in ent, modern woman and then you put up the Manifesto and I just…" He blew out a breath, shaking his head

"Inelse--that you were desperate for a reason even though you never told me that there were financial issues behind it beyond the cost of ated"

Those words hit ated’? Youquestions aboutand hard at me "No I just had a buddy run soured it out So I set the wheels in anization I’m associated with, Golden Shield Group, to help her out in a way that would have absolutely nothing to do with the auction"

Thoughts rithing inside ale that threatened to tear at

For two steps, he letan to pace in front of him "Howonion with layer upon layer of lie First you win the auction, but you don’t bother to tellit out between us, leading h you had no intention of it ever happening Then I find out that we’ve actually known each other way longer than I thought and now this!" I could hardly get it out The betrayal threatened to suffocate me

Adam followed my movements, his eyes dark orry "This is it You know everything now"

I shook my head "Why did you bother with this entire charade?"

He rubbed his jaw "Because I couldn’t help it I never wanted you to go through with this I told you--I never intended for it to go so far But--" He hesitated and took a step toward me, but I could tell he really didn’t want to say any more

"But what?"

He steeled himself and when he spoke, his voice was quiet "But I lost control I couldn’t help it" He closed his eyes "I’ot a lot bigger thanabout you fro s off the next time and the next time never came because every time I ith you I discovered I wanted you h that part was driving me crazy"