The way he looked feral as he drove, a sleek beast, a panther that was pure stealth as he hunted.
The man was art in the seat, one hand on the wheel while the other tapped out a controlled dance on his thigh.
Questions burned on my tongue. I wanted to ask him so much. About his life and how he was and if he’d found love—even if it’d drive a stake through my heart.
I wanted to ask him if it’d been worth it.
I stole another peek.
My spirit twisted.
I supposed it had. The proof was in the wealth and the arrogance.
Greed and power his only friends.
It’s what he’d wanted, wasn’t it? To prove something? Have it all? No caution to what it would destroy when he did.
The game he’d played last night confirmed he’d become the man I’d worried he would all along. Those sorts of tables were as crooked as they came. Illegal. Dangerous. The highest stakes cast because the men who sat at them got off on the risk.
If I were the one making bets, Jarek had at least one thing right—Logan had most likely stacked that game. He’d never exactly played fair, so I shouldn’t have been surprised.
His mind was too sharp. Quick to add and calculate. He’d arrived at a sum before anyone else had the time to process the cards they’d been dealt.
Flashes of memories flooded my brain, the way he’d yank me into a deserted room.
“What are you doing?” My breaths were short, and my pulse sped.
His hands were in my hair. “I need to kiss you.”
“Someone will see us.”
“Don’t worry, they’re distracted.”
I clutched his shirt. “What did you do?”
Green eyes gazed down at me. “I fell in love with you.”
His mouth crushed against mine.
Sheer obliteration.
I clung tight to him like I might not ever have to let him go.
“None of it matters. None of it but you,” he murmured against my lips.
“Then take me away from here.”
His hold tightened on my face. “One day, Aster. One day.”
I was shocked out of the memory when the calloused word broke through the daze.
“Don’t.”
His big hands flexed on the wheel, both wrapped around the leather as if it were the only way to keep them tamed.
“Don’t what?” I fumbled and blinked.
He shot me a glare. “Don’t look at me like you have the right to know. Like you have the right to look inside me.”