hands rub up and down my back in a soothing gesture as I try to come to terms with everything.
“I’m not sure how to handle this, Sunrise. I was expecting you to be pissed. To attack me with a hidden shank or some shit. Not...this.”
“Oh, I’m furious,” I assure him as I cling to him and weep. “And—hiccup—when my emotions get under control, I will absolutely be plotting for your death,” I tell him with complete seriousness.
He lets out a puff of breath. “I’m so sorry, Sunrise.”
“How the hell did you become a guard?” I demand, my uncontrollable tears and snot getting all over his shirt, but since my current state is his fault, I give no fucks.
“Easy,” he says with a shrug, his fingers inching up to toss my hair away from my face and run circles over my nape. “I paid the hiring officer off.”
“But I asked around about you,” I argue.
“More bribes.”
“But...the paperwork. I saw your hiring date and your reviews,” I cry, my voice more of a whine than I’d like.
I feel his shoulder lift in another shrug. “Forged to make it look like I worked there longer.”
“You—hiccup—motherfucker.”
He starts to chuckle, and I smack him on the stomach to shut him up. He is not allowed to laugh right now. Rook lets out a little cough and wisely cuts off his amusement.
Pulling back, I look up at his face. I want to see his eyes when I ask my next question. “Why?”
He takes a breath and works his jaw for a moment, like this is the question he’s been dreading. “I intended to take you that first day. I was pissed that you kept evading my attempts at breaking you out. I was going to show you that you couldn’t win against me. That I could take you and there was nothing you could do about it. And then I was going to call your lounge out for breach of contract and let your debtors handle you.”
Wariness fills my gaze and a clamp of fear twists my gut. “But…?”
His eyes flicker over my face. “But...then the first time we met, you smacked me with a cafeteria tray.”
“Should’ve hit you harder,” I grumble.
The corner of his mouth hitches up. “It was an impressive hit.”
Pulling out of his arms, I wipe my face and get up, taking a few steps away to give myself some distance. “So...what? I clocked you over the head with a piece of plastic, and you were smitten?”
“Something like that,” he says. “My cockatrice liked you immediately.”
“You sure it wasn’t your other beast that starts with c-o-c-k?” I fire back.
He smiles, flashing those stupidly perfect dimples at me. “That too.”
Sighing, I run a hand over my tired face. I feel like I could sleep for a month and still need more time to process everything. “I’m so mad at you, Rook,” I say quietly.
“Tell me what to do,” he says vehemently. “Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it.”
I believe him. “You lied to me. I thought…” I swallow past a lump of emotion that I’m still contending with. “I thought I was never going to see you again. And I was so damn mad at you for what happened in my cell—”
He’s in front of me in a blink, grabbing hold of my arms. “I’m so fucking sorry, Sinclair. I wanted to fucking kill them, but I knew if I blew my cover, that it would blow up in my face, and I was terrified I wouldn’t be able to see you again, that you wouldn’t have anyone watching your back if I was gone. You have no idea how much it killed me to watch them do that to my mate.”
My startled eyes fly up to him. “I’m not your mate.”
He cocks his head, once more bringing up his hand to grasp my jaw. “You are. And not even because of some contract that your matriarch signed on your behalf. But because the moment I met you, I knew you were my match.”
Tears fill my eyes again at hearing those words come from his mouth. “Rook…”
“I’m sorry for lying to you,” he cuts in. “After I met you, I just wanted to spend time with you in the prison. I knew you hated Alpha Bowen, so I wanted you to get to know me just as Rook.”
I nod quietly, because I get it. I do. If I’d been in his position, I might’ve done the same thing. But that doesn’t mean