Page 66 of Primal
Congrats on the engagement. I’m sorry about last time. Can we meet? I want to make it up to you.
The message is innocent enough, but I know better. I can’t get the image of Marco raising his hand out of my mind. That isn’t the action of a man who is truly sorry. This is either the world’s worst clean-up job or he has another idea in mind. A shiver runs through me. I don’t want to know what he intends, but I can’t keep this a secret.
Braken needs to know.
I interrupt whatever Jescie is saying with, “Let me call you guys in a bit. Something came up.”
“Yeah, like Braken’s dick?—”
“Jescie!” Sable cackles.
“Someone sounds jealous.” I laugh before hanging up without hearing their answer.
Braken is still on the phone, so I finish my wine as I wait. He still hasn’t changed out of his new Mariners jersey, but now the flaps hang open and show off his skin-tight wife beater. How can one man look so damn handsome in normal clothes? It isn’t his sharp jawline or his toned body. It’s the way he carries himself.
A man who knows his power.
A man who knows what he wants.
And a man who stares at me, ready to put his money where his mouth is.
He ends his call and pads over from the bar, pocketing his phone in the back of his jeans. “Your sisters?”
“Worse.” I slide my phone across the coffee table with Marco’s text message open so he can read it.
Braken sits perpendicular to me, reading the message a few times before exhaling. “No.”
“No?”
“You’re not meeting him.”
“Do you trust me, Braken?”
He eyes me over a few loose strands of chestnut-colored hair. “That’s a loaded question, sweetheart. What answer do you want to hear?”
I ponder his words for a second. WhatdoI want to hear? Yes? No? At this point, I don’t want to meet Marco either, but don’t know if I owe it to him after years of… whatever we were? We were so close for so long, and it feels wrong to let it fizzle out like this. On the other hand, Marco Pollozo can kiss my ass. Power-tripping men don’t deserve my time or effort. Blocking him now would solve all my problems.
And yet…
“That you trust my decisions,” I admit, “but I also think your overprotectiveness is sexy.”
Braken raises a thick eyebrow. “Well, then you are going to think I’m sexy as fuck, because my life is now about keeping you safe and protected.”
I draw a deep breath and sit up on the couch. “I just don’t want to feel controlled. That is all I’ve been my entire life.”
The corner of Braken’s lips quirks up. “I can agree to that, and I can also relate to it.”
Really? I feel like that was much too easy. My face must convey my skepticism because Braken chuckles.
“One condition.”
“Of course,” I respond with a grin. “Always a condition with you.”
“The Vault is part of my life. Can you handle that?”
My cheeks heat at the confession I’m about to give. “The idea excites me. If The Vault is part of your life, then because I’ll be your wife, it’s part of my life. The couple times I visited before I loved it. And you know how much I liked The Hunt.”
“But we follow my rules at The Vault.” His eyes darken as he speaks.