anything.
Everything.
But he had to do it carefully. Slowly.
She was just finding her feet and he couldn’t rip them out from under her.
Mona needed him to keep his head.
His control.
“Dinner was pretty good.” She arched her back, body pressing to his. “I’m not sure you can offer me anything better.”
If he didn’t know better he’d think Mona was doing this on purpose. Trying to goad him into something she most certainly wasn’t equipped to deal with.
Shouldn’t have to.
“You would be surprised what I’m capable of, Love.” He lowered the hand at her neck, forcing it away and to a more respectable location. One that gave her more freedom.
More control.
The one thing most valuable to him.
“Stop it.” Her voice was sharp and strong. Mona ripped her hands free of his, pushing between them to shove at his chest. “Stop changing.”
In the blink of an eye she was behind him. “Go.” She pointed to the door. “Just go if that’s how you’re going to be.”
Rarely was he speechless.
“I mean it.” She said each word slowly, breaking them apart with long pauses between.
“I don’t think I understand what the problem is.” He’d done nothing wrong.
He was being so careful. So cautious to make this comfortable for her.
The finger pointing to the door swung his way. “You. You’re the problem.” She snorted out a scoff. “Who even are you?”
“You know who I am.”
It was more true than it should have been. He’d given her a glimpse of what he was today. It was something he’d regret forever.
Now she was confused. Scared of what she saw in him.
He couldn’t blame her.
Mona shook her head. “I don’t know who you are.” Her chin lifted. “You won’t show me.” Her eyes skimmed down him. “Because you’re afraid.”
“I’m not.” It came out sharp and fast. An immediate response to a cut that still bled.
He was not afraid. Not ever.
But Mona didn’t understand. Didn’t know the truth of how dark his past really was.
“Prove it.”
“No.” He wouldn’t. Not to her. Not ever.
“Fine.” She once again pointed to the door. “Then go.”
This was not how he intended things to go. Not how he imagined their time together would unfold.
He planned to help her navigate the shift she was experiencing. Show her how to be careful.
How to avoid going too far.
“As you wish.” Pierce turned for the door.
“Don’t pull that Princess Bride bullshit on me.”
He pressed the fingers of one hand to his eyes, trying to rub away the exhaustion there. “Nothing I give you is bullshit, Mona.”
“Liar.”
He slowly turned her way. “What did you call me?”
“I called you a liar.” She walked toward him. “You hand out bullshit like candy.” She waved her hand around him. “All of it’s bullshit. The clothes. The way you act. The way you talk. All of it.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He hoped to God she didn’t.
Because if Mona knew all she claimed then there was no way they could be together. Not ever.
“You pretend to be this man you show everyone.” She shook her head. “But that’s not who you are. Not really.”
Fuck. “Stop.”
“No.” Mona kept coming toward him. “Everyone else might be fine with it but I’m not.” Her pale blue eyes were narrow as they stared into his soul. “I can’t be around people who aren’t real, Pierce. I won’t do it anymore.”
Couldn’t she see he was protecting her? Giving her the best of what he could be?
“I am real. I promise you.” He might not be willing to show her all he was, but every bit of what he’d given her was real.
Was him.
Her eyes moved over his face. “You hide.”
Her ability to see through him was devastating. “Doesn’t everyone?”
Her gaze held his as her shoulders lifted and fell with a deep breath he could feel in his own lungs. “What do you want from me, Pierce?”
It was an answer he thought he knew. Had spent hours working out.
But this was changing everything.
All of it.
“I don’t want anything from you.” The answer was outdated, but it was all he had.
Mona’s eyes dropped. “Then there’s no reason for you to be here, is there?” She turned and walked toward her room.
“So it’s fine that you don’t know what you want from me, but I should know what I want from you?”
She stopped, her body very still.
He hadn’t meant to speak to her that way. Shouldn’t have done it.
Mona turned. “Fair enough.” She sucked in a breath. “What I want from you is honesty.” Her gaze raked down the front of him.