“It is when you’ve seen it as many times as I have,” he says, tilting his head down. “Close up, it looks like their glazed eyes are wide open as if their souls are stuck between here and the nether.”
“You’re sick,” I say.
“I didn’t choose to be this way, Charlotte,” he says.
“Yes, you did. You could’ve let them live,” I say.
“Bad things happen to bad people,” he explains. “Or would you have wanted me to let that man who tried to use you live as well?” He raises a brow.
I swallow away the lump in my throat. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want that man dead. But I couldn’t stomach the thought, let alone do it myself.
“Admit it,” he says. “You’re secretly grateful that I took care of him. It puts your mind at ease doesn’t it?”
Why does he read me with such ease?
“I do the dirty work other people don’t want to do. Only hard work gets you where you want to be. If that means killing a few people, then so be it.”
“But is it worth it?” I ask.
There’s a pause before he answers. “Not one of those fuckers who died would ever give as much to charity as I did. I’ve taken their wealth and turned it into more wealth, then hand it over to those who deserve it. I’d say I’m doing the right thing, yeah.”
He thinks he is … but I can tell his soul is burning away like a candle losing its wax, and without fuel, that flame is going to die out.
I shake my head. “You’re ruining yourself, Easton.”
His nostrils twitch. “I’m done with this conversation.”
Right … Of course, he is. When it gets too hot under his feet, he avoids the questions once again. It’s like he doesn’t even want to face the person he’s become.
“Did you sleep well?” he asks, grabbing a cinnamon roll and his coffee, totally glazing over the topic.
But there’s no point trying to make him talk about who he is. If he refuses to speak, it won’t get me anywhere, and the more I ask, the more annoyed he gets. So I have no choice but to go with the flow and let him lead.
I sigh out loud. “Yes … you?” I ask, cocking my head as I tug the plate filled with pancakes closer to me and cut into them.
“Fabulous,” he muses, a lopsided grin appearing on his face.
Of course, he did. He was snuggling me, which is what he wanted all along; to pretend we’re one happily married couple. But I won’t fall for it.
“You weren’t in my bed this morning.” My bluntness almost made him spit out his coffee. “Care to explain?”
“I don’t have to explain anything to you,” he replies, putting down his cup. “But I’ll indulge you. I had important business to attend to. That was all.”
“Right.” I take a bite of my pancakes. Their deliciousness almost throws me off, but I force myself to swallow. “But that doesn’t explain why you were in my bed in the first place.”
He stuffs his mouth full of the cinnamon roll, and there’s a pause while he chews and swallows. “You were crying in your sleep last night.”
I raise a brow. “So you came to console me?” What a peculiar thing to do for a man like him. Maybe I misjudged him … or he has ulterior motives. Whatever the case, he must’ve felt something for him to lie next to me in the middle of the night and fall asleep.
Still, he refuses to even look at me as he’s chomping away at his breakfast, sipping his coffee between bites like nothing’s going on. He’s hiding behind his food, and I don’t like it one bit.
“Tell me,” I say, slamming my fork down.
This catches his attention. “I didn’t know you cared so much about what I feel for you.”
The way he hones in on me with those piercing eyes makes me weak. If I wasn’t sitting right now, my legs would tremble underneath me. And I hate it. I hate that he makes me feel this way with just one look.
“I just want to know if there’s something human inside you after all,” I quip.
“Of course. But you don’t want to see it,” he retorts.
We stare each other down. “I don’t believe it. And I don’t believe for a second that business was the reason you left.”
He takes an apple and cuts it into small pieces. “You wanna know what I believe? I believe you’re upset I left you alone in your bed.”
“Nonsense,” I hiss, gobbling down my pancakes.
He smirks while chewing on a piece of apple. “Then why do you care so much?”
“Because you’ve never slept a night in my bed,” I reply. “And I think it was an accident.” He snorts, but I continue. “I don’t think you ever intended to stay, and that you were shocked to find yourself lying in my bed when you woke up this morning. So you fled.”