Me and him.
Young, slightly sunburned, dressed in shorts and T-shirts, surrounded by a swarm of family. My mom and dad. His mom, dad, and older brother. We were the perfect postcard of togetherness.
My eyes fell on his father.
Hatred coiled in my gut, hissing and twisting, wanting to strike him down for what he did.
Tears bruised my eyes to see my parents again. A flash of a memory appeared. My mother had been called Petal—Sandra “Petal” Price. She’d been too pure and precious to die.
A single tear rolled down my cheek as I drank in the love on their doting faces, the happiness we’d had as a family. Knowing I would never see them again ripped out my heart and left it bleeding on the floor.
It hurt.
So, so much.
“Shit.” Arthur plucked the image from my fingertips, taking away my home, leaving me alone once again.
In a flash, he picked me up from the tiles and carried me toward the door. “I can’t stand to see you in pain.”
I didn’t protest as he carted me from the room.
Over his shoulder, I noticed another photograph peeking up from the floor.
A picture of me laughing in Scott “Rubix” Killian’s arms. I’d loved him. I’d trusted him.
He’d been an uncle to me but destroyed my family all for greed.
Tiredness stole everything from me; I burrowed my face into the crook of Arthur’s neck. No words were spoken as he carried me back to bed.
Placing me gently on the mattress, I cupped his cheek. “I’ve always wondered why your mom called you Arthur. Do you know?”
His face turned soft. “Yes, I know.” Throwing back the covers, he climbed in beside me, pulling me into his powerful body. “She named me after Arthur Cayley. A famous mathematician who wrote a number of papers on rules we use abundantly today.”
I smiled in the dark, holding his arm around my breasts. “So she’s the reason why you’re fascinated with numbers.”
He laughed quietly. “You could say that. I suppose she jinxed me in a way.”
“Or gave you a better life path than the one your father envisioned.”
Somehow I remembered Arthur’s childhood wasn’t as happy as mine. His family home had always been fraught with danger and nervousness. I’d never come out and asked, but I had a feeling his father did more than just raise his fists to his son. I had a feeling his older brother hurt him, too.
His voice turned to a whisper. “Perhaps.”
“How did she die?” I murmured, hating to think his mother had been murdered like mine. There had been too much death. Too much unnecessary waste.
Arthur flinched behind me, taking his time to reply. “Breast cancer.”
I hugged his arm closer. “I’m so sorry, Art.”
Holding me tight, he growled, “No more talking, go to sleep.”
I wanted to offer condolences. I wanted to turn in his arms and kiss him senseless and force him to forget the pain of being locked in prison while his mother died of cancer.
Instead, I allowed him to keep me pinned and welcomed sleep to steal me.
I made a pact as silence fell thick and soothing around us that the moment we woke tomorrow, I would show Arthur how much I adored him. How precious his undying devotion was to my memory and heart.
I would wrap my lips around his cock and adore him until I drank everything he gave me.
I would show him how much I worshiped, not just his soul and mind, but his body, too.
Sleep stole its fuzzy tentacles through my mind. The only sounds were the gentle thud of our heartbeats, once again syncing into rhythm.
I let the gentle intimacy lull me closer to dreamland, but in the last moment before succumbing, I whispered, “Don’t fear the truth around me, Art. Please don’t be afraid.”
I never expected a reply.
I never expected him hear me.
I only wanted the vow to trickle into his subconscious and hopefully ease some of the affliction inside.
Time ticked past, sleep came for me again.
In the final second before I fell into clouds, a tortured whisper breathed in my ear, “I’m more than afraid, Buttercup. I’m absolutely fucking terrified.”
The truth of his confession trickled into my mind, numbing my heart with horror. I curled tighter in his embrace. “Why?” I murmured.
He took forever to answer and when he finally did, I wished I weren’t awake to hear it.
This was what I was afraid of.
This hell masquerading as heaven.
“Because when you know what I did, Cleo. When you find out what a traitor I am, you’ll leave me. You’ll despise me and curse me; you’ll cut out my heart and disappear.”
His arms clutched me, panic drenching his muscles. “You’ll leave me, Buttercup, and this time, I’ll truly be ruined.
“You’ll destroy me forever.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Arthur
She said she knew me from her nightmares.
I never let on how fucking true that really was.
She thought I was her protector. Her confidant and soul mate.
She believed a lie worse than all the rest I’d spun.
I hated to think how I’d betrayed her. How I’d done something completely unforgivable. I never let on how far I’d fallen.
Every time I came inside her, I wanted to beg for forgiveness.
Every time she touched me or smiled, I wanted to fold to my knees and spill the truth.
I couldn’t tell her what I’d done.
But I couldn’t keep it a secret much longer.