“I used to be only one man.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.” Mona stroked her thumb against the barely-there stubble covering his cheek.
“It was a bad thing.” Pierce rolled to the side, pulling her along so they stayed face-to-face. “I was out of control.” His eyes darkened. “Dangerous.”
“You’re still dangerous.” She smiled a little. “Otherwise Vincent wouldn’t want to work with you.”
“I used to be more dangerous.”
She lifted a brow. “I don’t believe you.”
“My parents sent me away when I was thirteen.” His touch was soft as it stroked over her hair.
“Where did they send you?” Mona shivered a little as the coolness of the air around her finally started to register.
Pierce shifted away. “A school meant to break me.” He snagged a blanket from the pile on the floor as he pulled the spent condom from his cock, wrapping it in a tissue before depositing it in the trash can next to the bathroom door. He shoved down the pants and underwear barely hanging from his hips as he came her way, his full body finally on display.
She worked hard to pay attention to what he said as her eyes found their focus elsewhere, taking in the dips and planes of the muscle cut into his form. His suits didn’t hide how well put together he was.
But they didn’t do him full justice either.
“It’s where I first met Anthony.” He pulled the blanket over her body as he curled around her, his front to her back. “He was the most awful human I’d ever met.” Pierce’s voice lowered as his head tucked close to hers. “And that’s saying something.”
“How did you know so many bad people?” Mona cuddled back into him, his warmth a temptation she couldn’t resist.
“Wealth can bring out the worst in men, Love.” Pierce pressed a kiss to the back of her neck. “Makes them believe they are more than mortal.”
“A God complex.”
“Exactly.” Pierce’s arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her even closer. “It can make them believe everyone is lesser. Unworthy of anything but their presence.”
A spot deep inside her chest ached. “You are not like them.”
“I try not to be.” There was regret in his voice. “Often I fail.”
Mona twisted, fighting the weight of his arm and the blanket blocking out the constant chill she felt here. She faced him, pressing both hands to his face. “You don’t have to try.” Of all the things she expected to find in him, insecurity wasn’t even a consideration. “You are the kind of man who lifts other people up.” She shook her head a little. “You would never look down on someone.”
“I look down on many men, Love.”
“Men like Anthony Sanders?”
His eyes moved over her face, the line of his mouth softening. “I’m not sure how I waited for you to be ready for me, Love.”
“You didn’t.” Mona pressed down on her lips as they tried to smile. “I think it had to be sort of a trial by fire.”
“How flattering.”
“I was terrified of you.” She reached out to run the tip of her finger down his perfectly straight nose. “When you walked into a room I thought I was going to pass out.” Mona smiled at the change in his expression. “Not because of you. Because of me. I knew I wanted to be better which meant I had to stand up to you and the thought made me want to throw up.”
“I want you to stand up to me.”
“I know that now, but it didn’t occur to me then.” She let her head fall to the single pillow they shared. “I was very sheltered growing up. I knew there were bad people in the world, I just never expected to find any of them.” Mona curled closer to him. “When they found me I didn’t know how to deal with it.” She swallowed the regret tugging at her throat. “So I didn’t.”
“And you thought I was bad?”
“No.” Clearly she wasn’t explaining this well. “But if I can’t stand up to someone who’s not bad then how can I expect to deal with someone who is?”
“You shot a bad man to protect your friend. I would say you can deal with bad people just fine.”
“I can’t go around shooting everyone who’s bad.”
“It seems we have differing opinions on that.”
Mona laughed a little. “Not everyone who’s bad deserves to die.” She closed her eyes as the lids grew heavy. “There are different degrees of bad.”
Pierce’s lips came to rest on her forehead as her