Chapter 34 I’m Still In Charge Here
Lorenzo’s POV
I stepped out of the pool slowly. The water trailed down my skin, shining under the red light. I didn’t bother covering myself. I wanted her to see. To remember who she had called back.
She looked away quickly. “You’re disgusting.”
“Maybe,” I said, grabbing a towel from the chair nearby. “But you still came in here.”
“I was worried.”
“For me?” I smiled. “That’s new.”
I was standing before her now, my gaze roaming around her as if searching for the truth. “You know.” I tilted my head. “What I don’t understand is why you chose to save me, when you could have simply left me dead there and regained your freedom.”
She glared at me, jaw tightening. “I’m a nurse, Lorenzo. And it is my duty to save lives.”
I scoffed. “Yeah, I almost forgot.”
Evelyn lifted her chin, her face more serious. “Does men…..the one’s that shot you.” She said quietly. “I think it will be best that you resolve any issues you have with them amicably.”
“Because whatever this is….this…..thing, it’s not normal.”
“Normal,” I said, throwing the towel aside. “That’s your favorite word. You want normal? Go back to your pretty little world and pretend monsters don’t exist.”
Her voice rose, trembling. “I just watched you dead! And then I watched you come back! You think I can pretend that away?”
I took a slow step toward her. “You shouldn’t have come back, though. You were not supposed to see me in that state.”
“That’s not a proper appreciation.”
“Did I hear you demand for appreciation?” I murmured, my eyes locked with hers. “The universe brought us together, Eve. You don't need that."
She didn’t argue further.
The air grew heavier between us. She didn’t move back even when I stopped inches from her. Her heartbeat was coming out too loud for me to hear.
“But why does it matter to you?” I asked quietly. “Whether I live or die?”
Her lips parted, yet nothing came out. I leaned closer, voice a whisper now.
“Tell me, Evelyn. When you touched me tonight……what did you feel?”
She lowered her head, half confused. “It was not my first time.”
“I know, but you haven’t used the power to resurrect the dead before.”
She swallowed hard. “The power….” Her voice grew lower. “Does it wake all the dead?”
I laughed, just a little. “Nah, I don’t have the ability to bring back lives. Just taking.”
Her eyes lingered around mine, searching, as if afraid. But I ignored it. “So, I ask again.” I brushed a knuckle on her lower lip. “What did you feel when you touched me tonight?”
Her eyes flickered. “Nothing."
“And you think I will believe that?” I said.
She glared at me, her voice sharp. “Who do you think that you are? You think everyone wants you. You think the whole world spins because of you.”
“It does,” I said simply.
Her hand shot up before she realized it, pressing against my chest. “You’re not God, Lorenzo.”
“No,” I said, catching her wrist. “But I can do most of the things your so-called God can do.”
Her eyes widened slightly. I smiled at that.
“You see,” I continued, my tone softer now, dangerous, “you think saving me means you have control. But you don’t. I’m still in charge here. You just chained yourself to a part of me that you will never understand.”
Her voice was small, almost lost. “And what exactly are you?”
I leaned in close, my breath grazing her ear. “I’m not just immortal,” I whispered. “There’s a history behind me that will take you years to learn.”
She shivered, and I could feel it. The pulse under her skin trembled against my fingers. For a moment, I almost let her go. Almost.
But then she whispered, “You scare me.”
“Good,” I said. “Fear keeps people close.”
She pulled her hand free and stepped back, eyes burning. “You think the? You think all this makes you superior? You’re just…..”
“Broken?” I finished for her. “Yes. But I made my peace with that a long time ago.”
The water from the pool rose as if agreeing to what I just said.
She turned away sharply, but I caught her arm again.
“You’re not walking out on me, not tonight.”
She faced me, anger flickering beneath her tears. “Why not? You have done enough today, do you want my life too?”
“No,” I said, lowering my voice, “but you marked me. Today’s touch, whatever you did…..it tied us stronger. I can feel you.”
Her eyes flicked up to mine. “You’re lying.”
“Am I?” I stepped closer again, our faces inches apart. “Then tell me why your heart races every time I'm this close to you?"
She exhaled shakily. “You’re insane.”
“It’s not new.” I smirked. “But at least I’m still alive, acting normal now. Thanks to you.”
Her gaze softened for a second before she hid it. “I didn’t do it for you.”
I smiled faintly. “You keep saying that like it’ll become true.”
A silence fell between us again. The sound of the water filled the room, steady now, glowing faintly blue. I turned, watching it. My life. My sin. My salvation.
My gaze shifted back to Evelyn. She stood there, studying me, as if trying to understand what I was. Sweat glistened on her skin, maybe from fear. My eyes traced a bead as it rolled from the curve of her neck down toward her breast.
A wave of need surged through me. An aching urge to reach out, to feel her, to hold her. Before I could stop myself, my hands moved to her waist pulling her to my temple, she let out a soft breath, eyes still wide against mine, darting without words.
Her silky nighties clung to my damp skin, teasing every nerve, and in that charged silence, I saw her nipple harden beneath the fabric.
“Evelyn Martins.”Her name left my lips like a command, sharp and slow. She stiffened in my arms, her pulse stumbling beneath my touch.
“Let me go,” she whispered.
I didn’t.
I only leaned closer, letting my breath brush the shell of her ear. “Say that again,” I murmured, “and make me believe you mean it.”
Her hands pressed against my chest, trembling but firm. “I mean it, Lorenzo. I'm never going to allow you to use me again."
I laughed quietly, the sound low and rich. “Coming from someone that once begged me to take her.”
Her breath hitched. “You’re impossible.”
“To you.” My fingers brushed the back of her neck, tracing the soft hair there. She flinched nervously. “You always tremble when you lie.”
“I’m not lying.”
“Then look at me.”
Her eyes lifted reluctantly. Exhausted but impossible to hide tge desire burning in them. I could see every thought warring inside her, logic screaming to run, heart betraying her with every beat.
“You don’t even know what you’re doing,” she said, trying to sound steady.
“Oh, I do.” I tilted my head, watching her closely.
She tried to twist free again, but I caught her wrist and brought her hand to my heart. It was beating hard, fast, too alive for someone who had just been dead hours ago.
“You feel that,” I whispered. “You think it’s just flesh, blood, cells? No. It’s the echo for you.”
“Stop it,” she said, her voice shaking.
“Why?” I asked. “Because it’s true?”
“Because you’re manipulating everything I feel.” She said quickly.
I tilted my head, a hint of amusement crossing my face. “You give me too much credit, Evelyn.”
Her breath caught in her throat. For a moment, she just stared at me, like she’d seen something crack open beneath all my arrogance.
Then she looked away, whispering, “You need help.”
“It’s not your first time saying this, and I think I have already gotten one,” I said softly. “And it’s you.”
Her eyes darted back to mine, something fragile flickering inside them. “Don’t twist this.”
“I don’t twist. I reveal.” I stepped closer, my body almost brushing hers. Leaning just enough to inhale that same hair shampoo that she always wears after bathing at night and it drove me crazy. Every instinct in me screamed to claim her, make her mine, fuck the hell out of her until she couldn’t walk straight.
Her eyes fluttered closed, only for a second. “You’re making a mistake.”
“Then stop me.”
Her hand shot up between us, palm flat against my chest. She pushed, but I barely moved. “You’re not listening.”
“I’m listening to everything,” I said quietly. “Your heartbeat. The lie on your tongue. The way your body betrays every word you say.”
“Lorenzo……” Her voice broke on my name.
I smiled at that. “You still say my name like it means something.”
“It doesn’t.” She said with fury.
“Liar.”
Her eyes flashed with anger. “Stop calling me that!”
“Then stop lying.”
Her silence was heavy. I could feel her fighting the pull, trying to remember why she came here in the first place. But the room had swallowed every reason whole, all that was left was the sound of the water and the heat between us.
“I should hate you,” she said finally.
“You already do,” I murmured, brushing my thumb against her lower lip again. “But hate has never stopped anyone from wanting.”
“Stop.” She cut in.
“Say it like you mean it.”
“Lorenzo!” Her voice cracked, and something inside me shifted, not guilt, not remorse, just recognition. The raw sound of her fear tasted too much like the life I’d left behind.
I pressed my forehead against her, our breaths tangled in the air, the tip of my nose hovering at the corner of her chin, my shorts aching so tight that it almost tore the fabric.
Evelyn’s jaw tightened. “Don’t start what you can’t finish.”
I pulled away just for our eyes to meet. “Don’t challenge me, Eve. You won’t like how I end things.”
“Then prove it.” she said again, steadier, edged with defiance. “I know you can’t, because you are scared.”
Scared? That’s what she called me. Scared. Me, Lorenzo Scofield The man who’s survived death, walked through fire, and stared monsters in the eye without flinching. And yet….. Evelyn Martins thinks she knows me. She thinks she can read me like an open book, like some naive girl daring to claim she understands the storm inside me. I felt strangely haunted and I hated that she did that to me.
My gaze went back to her, she stood looking into my fucking eyes with a trembling breath, heavy and shallow.
I didn’t have to answer her with words, I swung into action. My mouth crashed into hers, clutching softly on her front neck.