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He shrugged as if he didn’t care what she did "Stay behind, then"

Bastard, calling her bluff like that She was on her feet in an instant, and he nudged her out the living room with his shoulder His skin ar past his clothes and into her skin, but oh, it was delicious

"Your technique for guiding a lady out of a room needs work," she told him

"Just move your ass" "Hector," Devyn called just before they reached the door

Hector paused, stiffer than before, definitely angrier "What?"

"Re stupid I’d hate to resort to Plan B"

Twenty-six

NOELLE QUESTIONED HECTOR ABOUT "Plan B" the entire first half of the drive to the restaurant He did his best to ignore her and succeeded, his thoughts in turon’s plan involved a disappearing act on her part

Devyn would do it, too Off her, without any hesitation Anything to protect Dallas Worse, the Targon king kne to hide bodies So if Devyn wanted Noelle’s death to be a mystery, it would be a mystery No one would be able to find her or prove Devyn had been involved

Just the thoughtto distance himself from Noelle, but fuck it She should have worn a bra Instead, the thin swath of white she called a blouse did nothing to hide the hard outline of her nipples Nipples that had been pointing at hi for his attention the entire tiiven her without (much) fear If Dallas’s vision was true, and they alere, Hector could have had her without hurting or killing her How, he wasn’t sure

And okay, now that a little time had passed, he realized Dallas hadn’t provided a timeline for when the sex would supposedly happen A year from noo? Nor had a location been mentioned His home? Hers? Or some shitty ed out, to keep himself ether and never actually ether, but he hadn’t expounded on the sex itself

Whatever Details didn’t matter He couldn’t have her, and that was that Because what if sleeping with Noelle brought about Dallas’s ruin? Hector would hate hi with Noelle saved Dallas?

Shit No wonder Dallas was such a ure this kind of thing out, second-guessing hi the woman in question

Yeah, Hector wanted to have her so daood Those leather pants hugged her ballerina legs Legs he’d had wrapped around his shoulders And the necklace hanging between her cleavage kept jiggling, drawing his gaze

Sitting in Dallas’s living roo their fantasy football tea distance of Dallas, and caressing distance of Hector, had been tough Now as they meandered down a crowded roadway, her sweet, sexy perfu him, his mouth watered His hands itched, burned

No, even without Dallas’s thing, Hector couldn’t have her He just couldn’t

"Do you want to talk about last night?" he asked her, just to break the silence "Ignoring her" wasn’t working for hier-side , at building after building built to look as if they were co, soloo," he persisted, "and why I didn’t include you in the investigation?"

"I’erous, blah blah blah even though you didn’t hurtthat tormented hi ritted

"So you’ve said, over and over But let lared at hihtning "I’ve been a nuisance to my fa for row a pair and tell me They at least have never left me in the dark"

He deserved that And he hated, utterly hated, that he’d treated her the same way he’d seen Jaxon treat her--or worse As if she were a pest, to be easily swatted away And suddenly her co the "idea of" her made sense

Jaxon wished she were different Her dad had probably wished she were different, too

Shame on them, because she was perfect just the way she was "You have htly "Then what’s Plan B?"

"Not h! Well, then, tell me more about your arms Have you seen a doctor, been examined?" She threw the words at hie her curiosity in some way "No Who could I trust? I’d be put down, and you know it" Hoeird was this? He’d gone froeful woman whatever she wanted to know

"Have you tried--"

"Everything Yes And even if I were noruy likemy decision for arded her sarcas to tell you stuff about me, okay, and I want you to listen Don’t ask questions and don’t look at me" He didn’t wait for a response Didn’t wait for her to turn away He had to do this, had to tell her and finally, officially quash the blaze between them

"I was born in Whore’s Corner, and my parents were, obviously, poor So, tohabits, they entered ht, all the kids were kept in cages for about a week We were treated like animals They decided e ate and when, and it wasn’tWe had to use the bathrooes, on ourselves That e’d be feral e got out"

He lowered his gaze to the seat Her fingers were digging into the vinyl

"We never had to fight each other," he said "My brother andwe refused to do But then one day, during a fight, irl They dragged Dean’s lifeless body to irl who’d killed hi the fight, and then I killedand everyone in it down There was nothing but ash and the echo of screams when I was done"

His voice cracked there at the end

And still he wasn’t done "I ran off Hid Was found by the authorities I gave them a new naave them a fake past, and they put me in the foster care system For several years, I was so numb inside that my arms never acted up But then, one day, someone pushed me too far, and I accidentally killed him I burned the body to ash, just like I’d done to everyone in the ring, so no one would ever know"

He drew in a shuddering breath, gathering e "I tried to be careful after that, tried to keep my eirl Kira I was just a teenager and I wanted her, and she wanted reat at first, I was still careful, but I got a little too excited one night, ere about to go all the way, and I killed her, too But I told you that already"

Finally silence, such heavy silence