Page 135 of Beautiful Venom
“Who’s this?”
Kane goes still, but he calmly pulls away.
I see it then, in a fraction of a second when his eyes meet mine.
Anger.
No…fear?
He stands to his full height, slightly blocking me behind him, but I still see the man who just spoke.
An older version of Kane, with a hard expression and a tailored suit.
Grant Davenport.
It must be him.
The man who broke Kane and left scars all over his body.
He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. “I didn’t know you were bringing guests over, son. Introduce us.”
“She’s no one important,” Kane says in a detached tone, but he’s half hiding me now.
“Oh? If she’s no one important, why is she at my house?”
“Won’t happen again.”
“Introduce us, son,” Grant repeats in the same monotone voice.
I can feel Kane’s entire back going rigid, and I don’t like it.
A protective urge I’ve only felt for Violet washes over me, and I step from Kane’s shadow and force a smile as I offer Grant my hand. “Dahlia Thorne. Nice to meet you, sir.”
He shakes my hand. Hard. And I do the same, hoping to break the fucking hand that he put on Kane.
We finally release each other.
“I’ve never heard of the Thorne family.”
“That’s because they’re not important.”
“Not important,” he repeats in a deadpan tone, then looks at Kane. “If you’re done here, follow me.”
Grant walks down the hallway without another look in my direction.
As he disappears around the corner, Kane faces me, his shoulders still tense but his expression neutral. All the passion and the glimmer of heat from earlier have disappeared.
His walls are back in place, and he looks like a shell of himself. “You go first. Samuel will drive you to your dorm.”
I grab his wrist, an awful premonition tightening my stomach. “Why don’t you drive me? I’ll go to your place.”
“Not tonight.” He calmly starts to remove my hand.
I dig my nails in deeper. “Don’t follow him. He’s going to hurt you like that night against the Wolves. I know he’s the reason you have those bruises.”
Kane clenches his jaw but soon releases a breath. “I see my mother has been sharing things she shouldn’t.”
“She’s worried about you.” And I’m worried about him, too—what the hell?
