The Boy Who Has No Hope (Soulless #6) - Victoria Quinn Page 0,82
mind, and I want you to talk to me about it.” It was a candid approach to a problem, but he didn’t know how to go about it a better way than to outright ask. “You’ve been…different…all day. I can feel a change here, and I can’t figure out what it is. I don’t think I did anything, and if I’m wrong about that, please tell me what it is so I can correct the behavior.”
He approached my emotions like a scientific experiment, outright asking for data instead of approaching me like a human with a range of feelings. It was endearing coming from him. I closed my laptop and stared down at it for a moment before I found the words I wanted to say. “My mom knows about you. She figured it out…because she knows things.”
His fingers were interlocked between his knees, and he waited for me to say more.
“She just said a couple things that hurt, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.”
“What did she say?” he asked quietly, fear in his voice.
I shrugged. “You know…that this relationship has no future, and I’m risking a lot for slim odds. My mom is really frank about things…just how she is. It bummed me out, but I’m sure I’ll feel better tomorrow.”
“Could you be more specific?” he whispered.
“She basically said no handsome billionaire is going to be a stepfather to Lizzie, and once this fizzles out, you’ll disappear…after you satisfy your physical need to have me. My job is at risk, my heart is at risk, and I’m risking it all for zero chance of success.”
He stared down at his joined hands, absorbing my words.
“It doesn’t change us… It just upset me, I guess.” It’d only been a short time since our physical relationship began, but I was so attached to him, and I knew that was because this relationship began long before we shared a single touch.
He stayed quiet.
“Anyway, it’s getting late—”
“I said I would try. I meant that.” He lifted his gaze to look at me. “My feelings for you are pretty obvious. If you haven’t noticed, then you should pay better attention. I can’t promise you anything, and I want to take this slow, but my intentions are honest. I’m risking as much as you are because I’ve been hurt badly in my life. My birth mother abandoned me, and I never want to feel that way again.” He stared me down and watched my face for a reaction.
My affection for him deepened because of the honest way he spoke to me, the way he reminded me of why I was risking my heart—because he was worth it. He was better than any other man out there, and I would risk everything for him a million times…and risk nothing for anyone else.
“Don’t give up on me before you’ve given me a chance.” His voice changed, his voice slightly pleading. “I can’t lose you…not now.” His eyes had been glued to my face in a special way since I’d let him into my heart, in a way he’d never looked at me before, in a way he’d probably never looked at anyone else.
“You aren’t going to lose me, Derek.”
He opened the door to his penthouse and looked at me with that intense gaze, like I was just as beautiful now as I was the last time he saw me. I was dressed in jeans and a long-sleeved sweater, wanting to be casual and authentic. Both of his parents had already met me, so I didn’t need to impress them.
They knew exactly who I was.
His arms circled my waist until his hands gripped my lower back and pulled me close. A deep kiss was pressed to my lips, shadowed skin slightly rough against my skin. His hands tightened on me as he pulled me closer, as he embraced me on the doorstep like he wanted to pull me inside and to his bedroom.
I wanted to be kissed like that forever.
He pulled away and loosened his hold. “Ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be…”
“They already like you, baby.”
“I know. I just…feel a little awkward. I’ve never done this before. You know, meet a boyfriend’s parents.”
“You’ll be perfect at it—just as you’re perfect at everything you do.” After he locked the door behind us, he took my hand and walked with me down the hallway to the elevator.
It was the first time we’d held hands in public. We stood in the elevator together and rode down to the lobby.