Sadie
His question hung in the air like a thick suffocating fog. Was it that obvious? The question was rhetorical. I wasn't a love-struck teenager, but there was something about Zane that unraveled me. Zane Gonzalez, thirty years old, a financial prodigy and enigma. He had the kind of intimidating, broad-shouldered build that made him look like a professional athlete or magazine model, and eyes the color of obsidian that felt like they could see straight through your soul. His jet-black hair was perfectly styled, adding to his air of untouchable handsomeness. I didn't know when my crush had started. Maybe it was when I was a child and he was a teenager more like adult, and I'd seen him once at a family dinner laughing with my brothers. All I knew was that it was a crush that had grown into something powerful and consuming, and now he was asking me if I had feelings for him.
"I..," I stuttered, unable to form a coherent thought
He cut me off, his voice low and serious. "Don't have feelings for me, princess I'll hurt you."
The casual way he said it, as if it were a simple warning about a minor inconvenience, sent a shiver down my spine. "You won't hurt me," I said the words coming out more confidently than I felt.
He let out a low, dark chuckle that did things to my insides. "Oh, darling, so sweet, so innocent." He reached out his long fingers gently stroking my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze "What you need to understand is that, I'm dangerous, princess. Trust me when I say you don't want to get involved with me. Live in your beautiful, sunny, bright world. Don't try to creep into the shadows."
I stared at him, confused and a little disturbed. "Why?" I whispered
He paused. "Why what?"
"Why are you telling me to avoid you when you know I won't?" I asked the challenge in my voice surprising even me.
A dark smirk crossed his face. "So that when I do start hurting you, and when I show you the real me, you will remember that I warned you." He continued stroking my chin, his thumb drawing slow circles that sent a wave of electric shivers down my body.
"But...that ex of mine..." I started.
He cut me off again. "That ex of yours is lucky," he said, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "Had he not broken up with you, I would have found a way to sever his body part by part. And I wouldn't have hesitated."
A cold fear, unlike anything I had felt before, washed over me. I took a step back, my heart pounding in my chest. He wasn't just handsome; he was terrifying. Maybe I should really avoid him.
He saw the fear in my eyes and his expression darkened. "Don't come down to the party tonight. If you do, I promise I'll send you presents made from the eyeballs of every guy who looks at you the wrong way."
My mind reeled. Was this a joke? Or this was the 'real him ' he had warned me about?
"If you even look at another guy, I will find him," he said, the cold, hard promise in his voice sending another shiver down my spine. "And I will break him"
I took another step back, my eyes wide with a mix of fear and strange, undeniable attraction. He was a monster, a monster with a beautiful face, but a monster nonetheless. And for some reason, I found myself wanting to get closer, even as every instinct screamed at me to run.