“I have,” I admit. “But I’m also scared you’ll kill me in the end. Even after all this is over and my father is no longer a threat to you.” There’s no longer a reason to lie to him or to hide how I’m feeling.
“He’s never been a threat to me, or to the guys,” he informs me. “Our hatred forces us to seek vengeance.” He doesn’t look at me again, and I’m surprised at how much I miss his attention on me. I crave it. Over the time I’d been around these men, seeing their pain, it’s made me more empathetic toward them. To what they’ve been through. I could never fix what my father did, but the guilt I’d lived with had always forced me to question my own morals. My own darkness.
“I always believed I was evil like him,” I admit to Crow. I have never told anyone about this before. Now I’m alone with him, as we drive through the darkness, I find it easier to admit.
“You’re not,” Crow tells me suddenly, his no-nonsense tone surprising me. “I thought you were, I believed you had to pay.” With a quick glance my way, he doesn’t smile, he doesn’t offer me any reassurances, but I don’t expect it from him because Crow isn’t the type of person to gift them. He doesn’t give anyone anything he can’t or doesn’t want to give.
“And now?” I can’t stop myself from asking. Deep down, I want him to care about me. I want him to save me and keep me for himself. For all three of them. When I first arrived, all I wanted to do was escape, but watching him tonight, learning more about what they do, I find myself enthralled by them.
“And now I don’t know,” Crow admits when he pulls into the driveway of the manor house. It’s quite exquisite from outside. With the soft golden glow of the lights shimmering in the windows, my breath is stolen when I take in the house I’d been living in.
“I can handle that,” I tell him. “But it scares me.”
“You’re not afraid of me, but you are scared of me not wanting you,” Crow says, it’s as if he’s reading my mind and it’s disconcerting. I don’t want him to see my emotions. I can’t allow him to see how I feel about him, but he’s already read me like the back of his hand.
“I don’t want to die,” I tell him before pushing open he car door and exiting the vehicle. But I should know better than to run from a hunter. Crow is behind me, his steps hot on my heels as he follows me into the house. Falcon and Hawk are in front of us, and I want to escape with them, but Crow’s hand shoots out and grips my bicep.
“Don’t you fucking walk away from me, little mouse,” he bites out, his tone turning hard. “I’m not done talking to you.”
“I am done talking to you,” I tell him. “I can’t do this, Crow.”
His gaze flashes. I know what’s he’s waiting for, but I cannot give it to him. However, I have a feeling Crow won’t let this go easily. He’s not a man who can walk away from a challenge. He finally asks, “Do what?”
The man before me needs the words. He wants my admission. Something I cannot give him. Something I know he’ll use against me if he knows. He’ll hold it over my head while I beg for mercy. But the thing is, Crow doesn’t know about mercy. Tonight has made it clear.
“Nothing,” I whisper, but his free hand grips my neck, his fingers curl around the column until the tips of his fingers dig into the soft flesh, stealing my breath. My lungs struggle as he pushes me up against the pillar which holds up the balcony sitting above us.
“Tell me what the fuck you’re talking about,” Crow commands in a tone so drenched in violence, my stomach unfurls in a flurry of nervous energy.
“If I tell you,” I answer, “you’ll only hurt me.”
“But you like it when I hurt you,” he throws back easily. There is no longer a debate here. He knows me. He looks directly into my eyes making every part of my body warm. Our earlier tryst is still fresh in my mind and the scent of blood is still burning my nostrils.
“I do,” I admit, feeling my cheeks burn with embarrassment. “I have never told anyone about my proclivities.”
“Because you’re scared.”
I nod.
“You don’t need to be. Not with us,” he informs me before squeezing even harder until my head swims with the lack of air. I’m close to passing out, and my pussy is pulsing for him to fill me. I want him inside me as he makes me lose all focus. “Because we will give you what you need.” Crow leans in as my head spins. “You like it rough. You like it dirty, and your little cunt drips when I abuse it. Doesn’t it, little slut?”