Page 200 of Beautiful Venom
I look in the direction of the bathroom. “Kane?”
Even as I call his name, I know he’s not there. His presence is gone and so are his kisses, his dirty and soft whispers.
“Go to sleep now, Dahlia.”
Those were the last words he told me, after he dried my hair and held me to his chest. After I asked him about his tattoos and he said the crow represented freedom and the serpent was about control.
After he let me stroke his chest and mumble incoherent words against him. After he kissed my forehead and I felt like a little girl who was just too exhausted and needed sleep.
Because his arms were safe.
His voice was safe.
So I thought if I closed my eyes a little, he’d be here when I opened them again.
I thought because he lathered my body with soap, carried me in his arms, and dried me, he might forgive me.
I thought because I saw the concern and cryptic emotions in his eyes, he might keep me.
But maybe I thought wrong.
Because he’s gone and I’m the only one in this vast bed.
Maybe he can’t get over my betrayal after all.
My breathing comes in slow, chopped sounds, and I think I’m having a panic attack.
Breathe.
Just breathe.
Who the hell do you think you are, Dahlia? Keep you? A rat from the streets who shouldn’t even look at him, let alone touch him?
His father was right.
Megan was right.
Preston and Jude weresoright.
He’s a Davenport.
No matter how hard I try to erase that last name, it defines him.
And now that his father is dead, it ishim.
I pull my knees to my chest and a whiff of his cologne fills my nostrils. It makes me want to cry.
Why did he treat me that way if he was going to discard me?
If he were crueler, it probably wouldn’t have hurt this much.
A phone that’s plugged into a charger lights up on the nightstand.
It’s mine, I realize.
My fingers shake as I grab it. There are a few worried texts from Megan because she hasn’t heard from me in a while. I text back that I’m fine and it’s a long story.
I should get up, locate my sister, and?—
