Black Thorns (Thorns Duet #2) by Rina Kent

Good.

Now she understands a sliver of what I fucking felt.

“Email me my schedule, Candice.” I leave her standing there and step into my office.

The door opens behind me and Naomi enters, her breathing harsh as she shuts the door.

I face her with an intentionally exasperated sigh. “What is it now?”

“You can’t just ignore me and pretend I’m not here.”

“Believe me, I can.”

“Fine, you’re right to be aloof and apathetic. The past was bloody and wrong, but we’re not there anymore. We’re here and you need to hear me out.”

“Maybe I’m always there. Maybe I didn’t wake up in the hospital. Maybe I remained in that fucking cell for seven years.”

Her mouth drops open.

“I see you still have the habit of going speechless when hard facts are thrown your way, Naomi. Or should I call you Mrs. Mori now?”

Saying the name is like swallowing fucking acid down my throat. It’s like stabbing my own goddamn eyes and floundering in the dark with no exit in sight.

But I continue with my taunting look and tone. I continue to roll in the lie until it consumes me.

“Akira is dangerous,” she says in a low voice. “Don’t be fooled by his outer businessman appearance. He’s ruthless and callous and has not one bone of mercy in his body, especially since he’s approaching you for reasons other than work. He wants to dig into my past through you and he won’t stop unless he gets what he’s after, even if it means ruining you and Nate’s firm in the process. So walk away now while you can.”

“You forget one minor detail. He wants to work with me.”

“He’ll eventually give up.”

“You just said he won’t stop until he gets what he wants. Which happens to be me.”

“Just don’t accept his offer.”

“Why do you care whether I accept it or not?”

“Because it’ll impact me.”

I take a step toward her without realizing, because this fucking pull we have is apparently not something that can be eradicated with time.

The scent of lilies mixed with peaches and the past fills my nostrils when I stop a few inches away from her, and my voice drops. “Impact you how?”

She sucks in an audible breath, her pupils dilating. When she speaks, it’s with effort. “I don’t want Akira to know about my past.”

My jaw clenches at her insinuation that our past is some sort of a dirty secret she wants to hide from her hotshot husband.

“Why should I care about what you want?”

“You don’t want him to know either.”

“Maybe I do. Maybe I’ll have a drink with him and tell him about all the ways I chased his pretty wife and fucked her in all her holes while she screamed for more. He could use some pointers.”

That pink hue explodes on her cheeks again and she raises her hand to slap me, but I’m faster. I grab it in mine before she has the chance to act.

Maybe it’s the fact that I’m touching her again or it could be the anger shining in her dark eyes that she’s not allowed to have. But in a fraction of a second, my mood goes from gray to black.

All the bottled-up emotions rush to the fucking surface, eradicating any sliver of control I possess.

Using my hold on her, I back her up, slam her against the door, and imprison her wrist above her head. She gasps as I crush my front against hers, my lips meeting the shell of her ear. “You have two options, Naomi. One, turn around, leave my office, and never fucking show your face here again. Don’t talk to me about your husband or your concerns, and don’t ever fucking ask me to hear you out. Two, stay and bear the consequences.”

She blinks rapidly, her delicate throat working with a swallow. My hand itches to wrap around that throat and squeeze until she’s lightheaded and gasping for air. Until she’s hazy and dizzy but not fighting me, because she trusts me to allow her oxygen.

Fuck.

Now that the image has formed in my head, I can’t chase it away.

She doesn’t make a move to leave either. Doesn’t attempt to pull herself from me.

“Your time is up, Naomi.”





22





Naomi





I’m frozen.

Unable to move.

Unable to blink.

Unable to even breathe.

My heart hammers so loud, my ears buzz with its rhythm. The air feels like sharp needles pricking at my skin and hooking against my bones.

Your time is up, Naomi.

I heard Sebastian say it, yet my brain doesn’t fully process it. But then I recall why I made the risky move of coming into his office in the first place.

I had to make him change his mind about working with Akira. That’s the sole reason I’m talking to him.

But it blurred along the way when he touched me, grabbed my wrist, and slammed me against the wall as if he’s been waiting years to do it.

Maybe I’ve been waiting years for him to do it as well.

No.

I can’t allow myself down that rabbit hole again. This time, there really won’t be any way out.

Snapping out of my stupor, I attempt to pull my hand from his, but he tightens his lean fingers on my wrist until I wince in pain.

His hard chest is flat against my heaving one. A flash of heat shoots through me as my body’s memory kicks back to seven years ago when he used to trap me.