Chapter 94 LIE OR TRUTH

Chapter 94 LIE OR TRUTH
Diego's POV 

The door shut behind her, and for the first time in hours, the room was quiet. Too quiet, that it rattled me all the way to my bones. I tried to avoid it, but the harder I tried, the more my gaze trailed back to that spot. My eyes lingered on the space she’d just occupied, and I hated how the faint trace of her perfume still hung in the air.  It smelled too much of roses with a mix of something citrusy, and I hated how it had automatically become my signature scent for her now. 

A small sigh slid past my lips, before I pressed my eyes shut. I didn't ask for it, but somehow, I found myself replaying everything that had just happened a little while ago. 

Kali had come to me with no evidence, and gods, I wasn't sure how I felt about that. That wasn't the plan. That wasn't the plan at all. 

Kali had walked out of my study with her chin held high, but I’d seen the tremor in her hands, and in the way her shoulders had dipped when she thought I wasn’t looking. She tried to keep it from me, but it was easy to tell that she didn't do very well when it came to hiding her reactions. 

She hadn’t lied. She'd told the truth, and that was the part gnawed at me more than anything.

I leaned back in my chair, exhaling slowly, all while dragging a hand across my face. The girl had no proof, no evidence, nothing at all. The only thing she had was the fire in her chest and scars on her body from the wounds earlier. 

A wave of guilt washed over me the minute she walked in here. I should have intervened and stopped it sooner, but for some strange reason, I didn't do it. 

A part of me had thought that she would lie. She should’ve twisted the truth, played me, told me what I wanted to hear. It would’ve been smarter, but she hadn’t.

The latch clicked loudly, pulling me back to the present. I didn’t even look up at first, until Leo strolled in like he owned the place.

“Interesting choice of words you left her with,” he drawled, shutting the door with a lazy hand. “You really know how to crush someone, don’t you? At this point, one would say you're already a master.” 

“Not now, Leo.” My tone was a warning. “I'm not in the mood for games.”

“Who said anything about games?” He ignored my warning, just before  crossing the room with that smug little smirk he wore when he thought he knew something I didn’t. “So, she passed, huh?”

“What?” My head snapped up. “Passed what?”

“The test,” he said simply shrugging. “You wanted to see if she’d bend the truth to get what she wanted. If she was selfish. But she didn’t. She walked away honestly and that says something, even if you're too stubborn to accept it.”

“You.” I narrowed my eyes. “You’ve been watching too closely.”

“I pay attention,” Leo countered, leaning on my desk like he was daring me to shove him off. “And now that you’ve seen she’s not like the others, you have to honor the proposal.”

“Honor?” A humorless laugh ripped out of me. “Don’t lecture me about honor. I don’t owe her anything, and the earlier you believe this, the better for you.”

“She’s different, Diego.” He let out again, and I hated how he did it in that convincing tone, the same one that usually worked wonders no matter how hard I tried to fight it. “You know it.”

“She’s desperate,” I snapped, standing so fast my chair groaned against the floor. “That’s all. Desperation doesn’t make someone good, it makes them reckless. And you know what happens? Reckless people get everyone around them killed.”

“You’re lying to yourself.”. Leo’s smirk faded, replaced with something sharper. “You saw it in her eyes. You felt it. She’s the real deal. And you’re afraid of what that means.”

“You've said enough for tonight.” My jaw clenched until my teeth ached. “Get out.”

“Diego….” he'd barely let out any more words before I cut him off again. 

“I said out!” I snarled. “Get out of my sight right now!”

“Fine.” The silence afterward was thick, broken only by Leo’s sigh as he finally pushed off the desk. “ But don’t drown what you already know is true.”

Without so much as another word in my direction, he turned and headed towards the exit. The door shut again, leaving me with nothing but my own thoughts. I hated that he was right. I hated even more that I couldn’t stop replaying the look on her face when she admitted she had no proof.

I poured myself a drink after that. Then another, and another. The burn was sharp, but not sharp enough to drown the irritation, the restlessness clawing at my chest. By the time the bottle was half empty, the room was spinning and the edges of my control blurred.

Before I realized what I was doing, I was in the hall. My boots echoed too loudly, my hand dragging along the wall for balance as I made my way toward her room. My head screamed to turn back, but my heart, or maybe the liquor, drove me forward.

I wanted to see her. No, scratch that. I needed to. 

I got to her room in no time, and as I stood in front of her door, I quickly accessed the many thoughts plaguing the back of my mind. 

Did I really want to do this? What was going to happen when I walked in? Was she still awake? And why the hell did I want to talk to her in the first place? 

My wolf paced beneath my skin, and somehow that spurred my crazy idea all the more. Without thinking, I knocked once, twice, but there was no answer. Still, my hand found the handle and turned.

She was there, curled up on her bed, her arm resting against her side. She stirred, eyes heavy with sleep until they landed on me. When she really took me in though, her eyes widened, and confusion flickered across her face.

“Diego?” Her voice was soft, uncertain.

I didn’t give myself time to think. Thinking was dangerous, it also led to hesitation. And hesitation was the one thing I couldn’t stomach right now

Instead of giving her a response, I crossed the room, leaned down, and before she could say another word, my lips crashed against hers.