Wicked Love - Michelle Dare Page 0,88

But my father took me in when I was young, really young. I don’t know who my real family is, but Octavius gave me something I was missing, even when I didn’t think I needed it. If I can repay him in any way, I will.”

Admitting my feelings or even just how much I want to do for the man who’s been my father is jarring. Micaela looks at me for a long time. Her eyes shining with something I can’t quite put my finger on. I don’t reach for her, I don’t touch her, even though my fingertips tingle with the need to feel her smooth, porcelain skin.

“I didn’t think you had a heart.”

I smile. “I never said I did.”

“Only someone with a heart would feel like that toward another person,” she tells me confidently. There’s a shift in her expression, it’s slight, as if I’ve made her see me in another light perhaps, but it’s not as obvious as her anger or her rage.

“Like I said earlier, being loyal is very different from love. And it’s most definitely different from feeling affection.”

A hint of a smile brightens her face. Even just that tiny movement changes her expression. As if a light has been flicked on somewhere deep inside her.

The door suddenly bursts open, and my brothers saunter in. They’re a mess from the mud caked on their shoes, which they leave just inside the kitchen door. Their clothes are filthy, but with it being a Halloween-themed party, it could pass off as fake blood.

“The job is done,” Brody tells me.

Keirin looks at Micaela, then me. “Mr. McCray said to call him tomorrow. He wants to talk to you about the arrangements.” The man must’ve taken the body with him. I knew he wanted to collect, but I didn’t think he would come here tonight and take Devon’s corpse to New York.

“He happy with the job?”

“Yeah,” Keirin says. “He’s a scary fucker,” my brother adds. “Nothing like your girl over there.”

“I’m right here. You don’t have to talk about me as if I’m not even in the room,” Micaela bites out through clenched teeth.

“Easy tiger,” Keirin says with a chuckle. “I was just saying.”

“I need to go,” Micaela says, pushing to her feet, but her knees give out, and my arms wrap around her quickly, holding her against me. Those wide, green eyes lock on mine. A plea is so clear in them, and I want to make her feel good. I want to make her happy.

A war rages inside me. One that tells me she’s mine, and another that warns me to be careful of hurting her. I’ve never had any sort of empathy for anyone before. Doing bad things comes naturally. The darkness that resides within me is something I’ve embraced and come to love.

Remorse is a foreign emotion, and I push it back, locking it in the depths of my mind, as I lift Micaela in my arms and carry her through the back of the house.

“Please, just take me back to my apartment.”

“You’ll stay here. If your father knew I let you go home alone while you’re like this, I’d pay for it, and I don’t particularly want my balls cut off.” I take her straight to my room, which is where she’ll sleep tonight. Tomorrow, we’ll figure this shit out because I’ve promised McCray his daughter will be mine, and deep down, I’ve promised it to myself as well.

I set Micaela on the bed, her red hair and porcelain skin a stark contrast to my black sheets and pillows. Stepping back, I attempt to swallow back the desire that’s taken hold of me as she scoots against the dark wood headboard.

“The bathroom is through there,” I tell her, pointing to the door behind me. “If you need anything, just hit the button beside the door. One of the staff will come up and see what you want.”

“Where are you going?”

“Next door, to the library. It’s one of my sanctuaries in this godforsaken place. I don’t want you running off into the garden. Do you understand me?”

For a moment, I’m sure she’s going to argue, but instead, she nods. Her mouth purses, her lips plump, making me hungry to devour her again, but I fight back the craving I have for her.

“Goodnight.” I turn and head to the door before she can say anything more. I need a fucking drink before I get some sleep. Perhaps even a bottle of something strong. Because the girl