Page 168 of Beautiful Venom
“I’d take that chance,” Jude says.
“The betrayal is sending me.” Preston smiles again at me, but it’s fake at best and menacing at worst. “Never mind them. Tell me, Daniella. You’re not by any chance fucking both Kane and the Wolves’ dog at the same time, are you?”
“Preston…” Kane warns.
“Shut it. I’m doing this for your sake.”
“Not that I have to explain myself to you, but I’m not.”
“Good. Because if you do betray my man, I might truly chop your head off.”
I swallow as that cloud of bloodlust hits me again. Preston remains still, but his eyes are cold, and the purple bruise makes him look monstrous.
For a moment, I think he’ll reach out and crush my face like the other time, but Kane grabs him by the hair and jerks his head back.
He glares down at Preston. “Threaten her again and we’ll have serious problems. Don’t ever think about hurting her.”
“Oh, I will, but only if she betrays you. Now, let me go. That hurts.”
Kane releases him with a shove and comes to sit beside me. “Ignore him.”
I try to.
But even as I swallow, the soup gets stuck in my throat.
I’m not betraying Kane in a sexual or romantic sense, but is previously using him—or attempting to—considered betrayal?
While Preston is scary, it’s Kane who frightens me.
He might be calm and collected, but I know, I just know that if I fuck up, he’ll cast me out of his life as if I never existed.
And that leaves me shaking with anxiety.
Is it truly a new beginning if I have too many skeletons hidden in the closet?
29
DAHLIA
Things have…changed.
Since the first time I slept in Kane’s arms over three weeks ago, he’s been different.
We spent Christmas and New Year’s together, mostly with Preston and Jude. I don’t really like the holiday season, but this one felt different. Because I had Kane, but also I felt the need to celebrate for Vi.
She always took them seriously, insisting we celebrate like a ‘normal’ family and put up this small Christmas tree she goes overboard with decorating. It felt empty this year without her, but at least I had Kane.
He’s been changing over the past few weeks.
It’s been subtle and gradual, but it’s heart-flutteringly noticeable. He still doesn’t like it when I touch him for too long, but he’s not so quick about removing my hands.
We spend entire nights talking about everything and nothing. I told him about my whole childhood and all the shit I went through so Vi and I could survive—but I also told him about the good things as well.
Part of the reason why I opened up was in the hopes that he’d also talk about his own childhood in depth, but he rarely does, and when it happens, it’s usually without any emotion.
Kane might have let me in, but his walls still stand tall. Completely and utterly indestructible.
But I’m not complaining.
