Michel/Striker by Alexandra Ivy, Laura Wright Read Free Book Online

she’d been voted off the island.
    “I tried to leave.”
    His expression was stripped of all emotion, his body clenched with a tension that hummed in the air.
    “Why?”
    “It wasn’t one thing,” she admitted. “It wasn’t just a growing realization of how many lives were being destroyed.” She started to lift her hand only to drop it when he instantly reached out, as if to prevent her thumb from reaching her teeth. This male might very well break her childhood habit. Or, more likely, drive her to drink. “And a fear.”
    “A fear of what?”
    “Of what they intended to do with my research,” she said. She wrinkled her nose. Her fights with Locke had been epic when she’d tried to destroy the computer files that held her research. “I tried to convince Locke that things were spiraling out of control, but he refused to listen.” She shrugged. “So I decided it was time to quit.”
    His gaze narrowed. “That’s when they imprisoned you?”
    “No.” Her features tightened. “There was only one way out of the organization, according to Christopher.”
    He frowned in confusion as he easily realized what she was implying. “You said you were a prisoner.”
    “I was. Locke faked my death and hid me in a house in New Orleans, complete with locks and a guard.”
    He gave a slow nod, his expression still impossible to read. “You escaped?”
    “No, he released me before he fled.”
    “Why?”
    “He claimed he still had feelings for me,” she said with blunt honesty. If she was caught in another lie, she knew beyond a doubt this male would never forgive her. “But I can’t be certain that he didn’t expect me to do exactly what I did. Run to the Wildlands.”

CHAPTER 4
    Michel studied her pale face, the last of his resistance crumbling beneath the stark revelations.
    Raphael had been right. Dammit. What he was feeling was more than sympathy. He truly did understand her pain. He’d suffered the same knowledge he was different from others.
    Unlike Chelsea, however, he hadn’t been alone.
    During his darkest days, he’d had a loving family and pack who’d supported him. Without them he might very well have turned out to be a bitter recluse who cursed a fate that had left him crippled.
    “Do you believe me?” She interrupted his dark brooding, her expression defensive.
    Michel heaved a deep sigh before giving a grudging nod of his head. “Yes.”
    “Well, don’t leap for joy,” she muttered. “You might hurt yourself.”
    He lifted a hand to rub the short stubble of his hair. He could continue to act like an ass, or he could admit the truth. It was the way she squared her shoulders, as if preparing for one of his scathing retorts, that made his decision for him.
    Shit. He’d done enough damage.
    More than enough.
    “It’s…” He struggled for the words to explain his behavior.
    “Complicated?” she mocked.
    A humorless laugh was wrenched from his throat. She had no idea.
    “When I first caught sight of you I was stunned,” he told her.
    She wrinkled her nose. “You made it clear what you thought of me.”
    “No, I didn’t.” He held her gaze. Odd. He’d assumed his pride would take a beating at his confession. Instead he felt nothing but a surge of relief. “Not even to myself.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I saw you only hours after you arrived. I was dazzled by your beauty.” He frowned as she reached to cover her scars. Stepping forward, he brushed aside her fingers so he could frame her face with his hands. “Stop,” he commanded in stern tones. You’re beautiful. A few scars will never change that.”
    Her eyes widened, a heartbreaking vulnerability shimmering in the emerald depths.
    “You hate me.”
    He flinched. Her words felt like a knife slicing through him.
    “As I said, I saw you and I felt like I’d been hit by a truck,” he insisted, his cat purring as the scent of autumn spice saturated the air around him. “Then Raphael told me you’d been working for