Page 8 of It Destroys Me

Theo pulled out of me, and I felt his come drain out of me onto the sheets.

He pulled on a pair of boxers and running shorts, like he was about to hit the gym now that he’d had his morning fix. “We’ll have breakfast after I shower.” He headed out of the room, the muscles in his back shifting and moving as they hugged his spine.

I watched him go before I turned over and snuggled with his pillow.

I went right back to sleep.

We sat across from each other in the dining room, the curtains drawn back from the windows as the springtime sunshine flooded the floorboards and the rug around the dining table. His butler had decorated the table with a pot of coffee, cups and saucers, and a small vase of pink roses from the garden.

Theo drank his coffee as he looked at his phone, like he had emails to address like any other businessman. He was still shirtless, as he always was whenever he was in the house, like the muscles of his body acted as his own furnace.

His eyes were down on the phone, so I took the opportunity to stare.

Fuuuuccckkk.

His butler entered with our breakfast, placing an enormous egg white omelet in front of Theo with sauteed vegetables and a side of bacon. I got a much different plate. A little bowl of oatmeal with mixed fruit and shaved almonds, along with a stack of buttermilk pancakes and a side of bacon.

Way more food than I could possibly eat.

Theo set his phone aside and rested one elbow on the table as he grabbed his fork and sliced into the omelet that was still steaming.

I ate my oatmeal as I watched him down his breakfast like a caveman who hadn’t eaten in days.

He seemed to forget I was there in light of his hunger, eating half of his omelet in a couple bites before he looked at me across from him. He grabbed his mug, which looked way too small in his big hand, and took a drink. “You like your breakfast?”

“Not as much as you do,” I teased. “You look like you’re starving.”

“I’m always hungry.”

“I’m always hungry too, but I don’t have a reason to be.” I used to run regularly, but life had been too hectic for that lately. But no amount of cardio could replace the fifty pounds of muscle he had to feed every day.

“Are you going to work today?”

I felt my mind go blank because I’d forgotten that I had my job back. I was still in limbo, still getting used to the fact that I lived with Theo now…until he killed Bolton. Once my ex-husband was out of the picture, would he ask me to move out? Maybe letting him live wouldn’t be the worst thing. “Yeah. I almost forgot. Need to get used to that.”

“You don’t have to work if you don’t want to.”

I’d needed that job when I was with Bolton. I’d needed something that was just mine. But now, that job kept me away from the man I wanted to be with every moment of the day. It was too soon to be so clingy, especially when he’d said he would try and probably still walk away in the end. I needed to play this smart, treat it as a marathon and not a sprint. Being all over Theo all the time was a guaranteed way to chase him off. “No, I like my job.”

He reached into his pocket and placed a phone on the table between us. “Here’s your new phone. My contact info is in there, along with Octavio, Axel, and Scarlett.”

“Octavio?”

“He’s my second.”

“Second?”

“In a duel, you name your second, the man who will fight when you’re dead. When I’m dead, he’s the new guy in charge. If I’m not around, you can trust him.”

The high I felt immediately evaporated at his words.

He must have seen the terror in my eyes because he said, “I mean if I’m not available, if I’m in a meeting or something. I trust him the way I trust Axel. He knows who you are, so if you need help, he’ll be there for you.”

Theo was the only man I wanted to be there. “So…do you have any leads?—”

“I told you not to worry about it.” He’d been so gentle and approachable all morning, but the second I stepped into forbidden territory, he turned into the ruthless leader who operated in the shadows.

“Just curious to know if we’re close.”