A Pound of Flesh (A Pound of Flesh #1)(131)

“Do you know who my meeting was with?”

Kat frowned, shaking her head. Carter’s smile was grim. He moved forward, stopping only when his lips were by her cheek.

“My cousin,” he whispered. He stood back so he could see her face. “Austin Ford.”

A shiver ran through Kat’s body when the fury in his eyes ignited with his words. She knew her face had paled with nausea. What the hell had Austin said? Carter’s response was immediate. His jaw loosened at the same time that his hand dropped from her mouth. His left hand remained holding her, his fingers pushing deeper into her hip.

“It’s true?” Carter murmured through lips that barely moved. A small V appeared between his eyebrows as his gaze flitted questioningly over her face.

Kat took a breath. As caught off guard as she was by his behavior, she had to remain calm for both of their sakes. “Is what true?”

The slam of Carter’s fist connecting with the mahogany shelving at the side of Kat’s head echoed around the room like a nuclear bomb.

“Don’t play with me, Kat!” Carter thundered. “Don’t you f*cking dare!”

“I’m not,” she replied evenly, blinking back his angry words.

“Just a yes or no,” Carter continued darkly. “That’s all I want.”

Kat’s heart sank. Dread crept up her spine. “I don’t know, Carter. What are you asking me?”

“Austin. The f*cking …” He released a long hiss of breath, steadying himself by leaning his body against her. “He said that—that you … Did you?”

“Did I what?” she whispered.

Carter’s eyes flashed rapidly between light and dark. “Did you f*ck him?”

Kat’s mouth dropping open made an audible pop. “Sweetheart.”

“NO!” he barked. “Don’t do that. Not now. Just yes or no.” He kicked at the bottom shelf before dropping his forehead and muttering into Kat’s shoulder. “Did you f*ck him?”

Kat stood, almost paralyzed, with Carter breathing into the skin of her neck.

“Did you, Kat?” he asked again in a voice close to defeat. “Please tell me.”

Slowly, so as not to alarm him, Kat raised her hand from where it had been hanging lifelessly at her side and brought it to Carter’s face. He flinched at her touch. Not to be deterred, she persevered and eventually her fingertips were dancing lightly across his cheek and jaw.

Carter eventually looked at her, his face furious.

“No,” Kat murmured, moving her palm from his cheek, down his neck. “No, I didn’t. I didn’t.” She rubbed her hand around in a small circle, praying it would ease him.

His relief was evident only in the way his grip on her lessened. His face still held a million and one emotions and questions. He licked his lips and shifted from one foot to the other. “You didn’t?”

“Never, Carter.”

His eyes moved down her body. It wasn’t in the sexual way Kat had started to grow used to; instead, it was as though he was seeing her for the first time since he’d twisted her into the books.

“You didn’t,” he whispered finally, apparently seeing what he needed. He took an unsteady step back, releasing Kat, and stared at her in a way that made her want to laugh and cry all at the same time. He was worn and weary, having become the complete antithesis of the raging creature he had been. Kat stood up straight and made to take a step toward him.

Carter put his palm up to stop her. His eyes dropped to her feet. “Don’t,” he said with a frown. “I’m … I … Just stay there.”