His Greatest Pain by Jenika Snow Page A

smiling, holding his hand tight.
    “So,
I wanted you to come here today so you could see I’m serious about making this
work with you, and that there isn’t anything left that I’ve hidden from you.”
She was the only person that knew every little detail about himself .
Even Toby hadn’t known the extent to which his father
had abused him, and certainly not after he moved and changed schools and they
didn’t talk again until they were in their twenties. “I’m an open book to you,
and it’ll always be that way.”
    The
room was silent for a moment. “And that’s all of it, every piece of myself bared.” He hadn’t meant to say that all out loud, but
it had just come out, and he honestly felt better about himself. Maybe coming
here in the first place, and then bringing Lauren here hadn’t been a bad idea,
or something he’d just done to bring her closer and show Lauren he was serious
about making himself better as a person.
    The
idea of coming back again, making sense of why this had all happened to him,
and how he could make himself not be so angry, and not have all this violence
inside of him, wouldn’t be such a bad idea in the long run. If it helped him move
forward without covering himself in some kind of fake veneer of fighting and
anger to rid himself of his emotions, then he’d try.
    ****
    It
had been a week since Ace had taken her to talk to the therapist he’d seen, and
Lauren had never felt closer to him than she did after they’d left her office.
To hear him open up like that, tell her everything about himself ,
even though she knew it all, told her this man had so much hurt and anger still
bottled up. Of course she knew that, had seen it so many times over the years,
but she supposed she’d never truly seen how much he was hurting until he laid
it all bare for her and the therapist.
    She
was having dinner at her parents’ house tonight, and she’d asked Ace to come
with her. She wanted him there, wanted them together when she told her mom and
dad that being with him was the best thing that could have ever happened to
her. He would always be her protector, but he was also a dark knight, not the
white horse riding one that only did good and saved the princess.
    If
he were a character in a fairytale he’d be the villain. He’d be the one that
did anything to get the girl, no matter what. Ace would be the one that got the
girl in the end despite everyone rooting against him, because he’d be that
determined. And God, was she glad she was that girl.
    She
looked over at Ace who had insisted on driving, saw the way his jaw was hard,
clenched, and wondered if he was nervous. Reaching out and holding his hand,
she gave it a light squeeze. He glanced at her, smiled, but it still seemed a
little forced.
    “I
hope you’re not nervous,” she said.
    He
smiled and shook his head, but she could tell it wasn’t to disagree with her.
“Hell, if I were your parents I would kick my ass for even wanting to be with
you.”
    That
broke her heart, but then again a lot of what happened with Ace or what he said
had that effect. “They already love you, and I know that this will be welcomed
by them. Don’t sweat the small stuff,” she teased, hoping to lighten things a
bit. The truth was she was nervous, because her mom had mentioned how she
worried about her and Ace being together, even if she only wanted Lauren to be
happy.
    He
pulled into the driveway ten minutes later, and once they were out of the car
he reached for her hand and twined his fingers around hers. She walked in,
smelled something spicy yet sweet fill the air, and
her heart started pounding a bit faster. They were really doing this.
    “You’re
late, honey,” her mother called out, and instantly she felt her cheeks heat.
Glancing at Ace she saw him smirking. Yeah, they’d been late because he’d
cornered her and fucked her senseless up against a wall. Even now she was sore
between her thighs.
    “Sorry,”
she said and cleared her throat