Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 51051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51051 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 255(@200wpm)___ 204(@250wpm)___ 170(@300wpm)
Azadeh buried her face in her hands and gently sobbed. The only emotion her sorrow forced out of me was irrational anger. I was tired of life constantly dealing blow after blow to the people I cared about and my ingrained inability to express sympathy or any attempt at comfort. I couldn’t stand by and listen to her wail when I was too helpless and pathetic to do anything for her.
So I walked away.
Chapter 5
Lev—Age 30
Present Day
The sting from Azadeh’s hand lingers on my cheek. I suppose I should be glad it wasn’t her right hook. Azadeh punches like a heavy-weight boxer.
Her chest heaves, and her eyes blaze fury at me. I’ll need to sleep with one eye open tonight. The fury is nothing new. Azadeh has never looked at me with softness, even when I stepped up and did right by her. But it’s okay because I don’t need her to love me as long as I have her near me.
If only she’d come home one month earlier. But instead of coming here between jobs like she has for the last ten years, she decided to take up residency with the Cinders—three brothers known for barbaric cruelty and ruthlessness. She’d rather take a job with them than come home and be with us.
I’d had to free her from the grip of Alaric and his two psycho brothers. My methods may not have been tasteful, but my reasons were sound.
I adjust the knot of my tie, suddenly feeling like it’s strangling me. “You hungry, Azadeh? I don’t know if they have anything of true sustenance at that debauchery club where you work.”
Azadeh glares at me. “I always knew you were a little fucked, Lev, but now I have confirmation that you’re a fucking psychopath.”
If those words were spoken by a stranger, they wouldn’t garner a reaction because they would be meaningless. But those taunting words coming from Azadeh’s mouth—words from my past uttered to grind me into dust—are like a serrated blade cutting into my flesh. For the first time in my life, her words wound. “Since you believe me to be a psycho, Azadeh, and you’re well aware of what I’m capable of, perhaps you should refrain from poking the bear.”
Azadeh bares her teeth, her lips curling as she tugs against Zeke’s tight hold. After a moment of fruitless struggling, she latches onto Zeke’s arm with her mouth.
“Fuck!” Zeke yells, abandoning his hold on her waist. “You fuckin’ bit me. Jesus, Az! What the hell has gotten into you?”
Azadeh’s eyes flicker as she notices the trickle of blood gliding down Zeke’s forearm, and her anger dissipates.
She gently takes his arm, remorse evident on her elegant face. Her teeth are no longer bared. Her eyes are back to their soft brown, and her fingers trail his flesh with tenderness. “Zeke, I’m so sorry.”
A pang of jealousy churns in my heart like a tornado poised to destroy everything in its path. A part of me longs for her gentle touch, to experience the sensations the brush of her fingertips gliding along my skin would evoke.
But you won’t let her.
The pesky voice whispers in the back of my mind, reminding me that the current status of my relationship with Azadeh is my fault.
Shoving my intrusive thoughts away, I pack them tightly in the many compartments I’ve forged in my fragile mind. I push through with the long-held steadfast resolve that all my shortcomings shouldn’t matter, at least not for her. Azadeh always sees past everyone’s monsters, ready to put her fears aside to discover the shred of goodness buried deep in a person’s soul. But she’s always been too frightened to sit with my demons. All she’s ever offered me is civil tolerance.
“Hellcat,” Cyrus says as he rushes toward Azadeh. He stops dead in his tracks when he sees her dark scowl. “Okay, this isn’t a happy visit. You mad at us, Kitten? Is that why you’ve stayed away all this time?”
“It depends. Did you help Lev?”
“Help him with what? I keep trying to unload that stick out of his ass, but he seems to be very fond of it.” Cyrus chuckles arrogantly and points in my direction. “I mean, look at the fucker. He’s hanging around the house on a Monday morning dressed like he’s going to a wedding at Buckingham Palace.”
I scoff at his remark. “We can’t all mimic the dress code of a junkie on skid row.”
Cyrus glances at his ripped black jeans, combat boots and smiley face Nirvana t-shirt before dragging his eyes to me. “Doesn’t matter what you think. Chicks dig the fit, bro.” He wags his eyebrows. “Don’t forget, I’m the one who bagged Azadeh, and your dick is about to get a disease from the blue balls you’re packin’.”
I want to lash out like a spoiled child at Cyrus’s dig. He’s pouring salt and citrus on a wound that’ll never heal. But it’s true we haven’t been able to get all of her, no matter how much Zeke and Cyrus talk about her multiple orgasms in one night. Had they been able to “dickmatize” her, as they say, to stay with us, my actions wouldn’t have been necessary.