𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬 ( 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐎𝐧𝐞)

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐲 -𝐅𝐢𝐯𝐞 - 𝐌𝐚𝐱𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐌𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝟐

  𝐋𝐢𝐚

My pussy is not made of gold? This was a man-child. I wonder how he treated women, but from that single conversation, I would bet he was a bastard—a brutish son of a bitch who thought that because of who he was he could use that power to lord over women.

I wasn't one of those.

I poured the water into the sink, clenching my teeth in anger as I replayed that conversation. He was a narcissist. He seemed so nice from the moment we met through the whole filming duration of season two. I remembered how well he treated me, introducing me to the crew, making sure I felt comfortable in the set, all along cementing our interaction to this. I felt as if he was good to me so I didn't say no, or feel guilty for rejecting him. I hate these kind of men.

"What's wrong?" I heard Dev ask. Choking off the anger long enough to look at him and answer the question. "Max tells me my pussy isn't made of gold," I glare at him, feeling bad after a second for being waspish at him because he wasn't the one I was mad at.

We stare at each other. I'm not sure whether to tell him about the whole conversation. Finally, I choose to tell him.

"Oh," he murmured, intensely staring at me, " are you going to tell Luc?"

"I haven't thought about it." Dev doesn't move his eyes from my face. I feel like he is waiting for a conclusive answer.

"I don't think so." I say in a gruff tone as I start to get out of the kitchen. "I don't think you should tell him." That's interesting, I thought, stopping by the door, looking at his inscrutable face waiting for him to explain. He doesn't.

"Why not?" I raise a quizzical eyebrow.

He shrugged.

"Don't just shrug at me, Dev. Answer me."

"It's not a good idea." came his cryptic answer, which is not good enough for me.

"You're afraid he would do something to Max out of jealousy?" I sound weary, and I feel it too, but I turn back inside the kitchen because I feel there is more to Dev's request than he is letting on.

"Luc is disciplined," Dev diplomatically states in a small, clear tone. "But he can be ruthless. Murderous, and downright vindictive.

"Just because someone hit on me?" I asked in disbelief. I knew Luc, he couldn't be that unreasonable.

"I know you think you know him, Lia, and you do, but only a part of him. The other is unbelievably combustious. "

"That sound like Zion."

Dev's mouth stretched in a fond smile.

"Zion is volatile."

"Combustious too," I insisted, and Dev shrugged lightly, adjusting himself against the door, his arms across his chest, feigning a relaxed stance.

He nodded slowly.

"Talk to me, Dev." He threw me a dubious smile, then averted his gaze to look at something in the corner next to the fridge. He seemed lost in thought, and for sometime I thought he wouldn't say anything.

Tired of standing, I pulled one of the chairs to sit down, then swung my legs to the next one making sure my feet did not touch the seat. I sat there waiting for him to start talking, giving him time to organize his thoughts.

"Is this about him stepping on someone to death?"

"Oh, God, Lia. Do you hear how you casually say that? You've got no emotion whatsoever."

"Don't make me feel guilty about that, Dev."

"I'm sorry. That's not my intention. But that's not the reason. " he mumbled, subjecting me to a calm, appraising look.

"Dev," I called softly, my gaze fixed on his face, "to my knowledge, this was Luc's first kill."

He nodded, then added, "true."

"Then please tell me why you think he can be batshit crazy."

He laughed at my choice of words.

"There is nothing Luc cannot do, no line he cannot cross when it comes to family, but you are individually compartmentalized in his brain."

My brows shoot up, urging him to continue while my heart pumped continuously, uncontrollably.

"What the hell does that mean?"

I'm waiting to hear it, and my head is spinning, anxiously waiting for the shoe to drop.

"I'm saying it wouldn't take much for Luc to burn the whole world for you."

"Because another man flirted with me?" He jerks his face at me, his solemn gaze resting on my eyes letting me see the conviction of his claim.

"But he didn't just flirt. He insisted. Pressure you insulted you."

True. But who would tell Luc that?

"I won't tell him. You must also promise not to tell dad about it."

He hesitated before letting out a guttural voice, "fine. I won't."

"Good, Im going to shower. And don't worry about Maxwell. I will deal with him."

Standing, I push the seats back, walks to the door and stand on my tiptoe to give him a peck.

"He is not murderous though, is he?" our faces are on the same level, our eyes on each other, and I'm impatiently waiting for Dev to answer.

"He is. They didn't choose him to be the next don because he is the eldest, Luc can be vicious, merciless."

"I can be those thing too," I whisper, without moving my gaze from his.

"I know. But you have compassion, to a degree. Luc is different. He doesn't give a fuck as long as the end justifies the means. Luc will not care if innocent people become collateral damage."

This was news to me. But it was also like Zion. I realized, that I have been looking at Luca through rose-coloured fourteen-year-old glasses. He was twenty-three now, we both were and I needed to know who he had become other than his body.

I told Dev goodbye before walking back to my room. I wanted a shower, but later I will call Luca, not to tell him about Max, I would deal with that shitty excuse of a man later, but to tell him we arrived safely. And perhaps chat more about us.

Dev was right, there was a huge side of Luca that I wasn't privy to.

I had not thought too much of the man he killed because there was no choice, he had to die, yet Luca killing with cleats had been barbarous. If I'm honest, I can admit his face had been scary, emotionless, as if taking out someone's life was similar to stepping on a cockroach.

I didn't sleep that night, I wonder if Luca had. I kept seeing the dead man's face, the tears dripping down at the corner of his eyes as he breathed his last. That is a normal reaction. It was the first time watching someone die in front of us, all of us except Zion.

Wrapping a towel around my body, I left the bedroom to find my phone ringing. It was Luc.

"Hi,"

"Hi," came his raspy voice, giving my body a soothing but erratic tingle.

"How are you?" I lowered my lashes as if he could see me, grinning like a fool, throwing the towel and getting inside the covers, naked. Instantly, I jumped out when I realized my hair was wet, wrapped in another towel.

"I'm great. How are you?" he chuckled, the timbre of his voice giving me butterflies.

"I miss you." He tells me in a sensual note that leaves me breathless.