Morphing_kashi’s Reviews > Mind Games > Status Update

"I don't know why you're so upset when you're the one who betrayed me," I say stupidly. "Over and over and over. And lied and lied."
"I saved your life."
"Only to send me to risk it with Otto. You're just using us. It stops here."
[..]"I am the master, and you are the minion. And I need to be free."

Because we love healthy relationships.

"I kept order in the underworld. By sealing me up, Otto created anarchy. Did I run a criminal organization? Maybe I did. But the streets were safe when I was in charge."
"They way you lied to me, and used me, and betrayed me ...it feels like a bloodbath in me."[..]
"I know." He looks away. "Justine, I have to be free."
"And the hell with everyone else?"

When you discover he was the mafia boss all along.

"You spend so much time complaining about being my minion, it appears that you've forgotten that you are, in fact, my minion, and that you really do have to obey my orders."

Our male lead and love interest, ladies and gentlemen.

"I should've had the choice."
"Choice is an illusion, same as happiness and freedom. Yes, it is unthinkable indeed that he did not warn you," she assures me. "But he is not wicked, Justine."
"I'd say trapping me in a life of dependence is pretty wicked."
"You are trapped in dependence upon oxygen and water. Is that wicked?"
"It's not the same thing."

Damn right.

"You craven parasite![..]How could you not warn me?"
"You wouldn't have joined."
"Damn right I wouldn't have joined!"
"[..]I saved your life!"
"You didn't save my life. You stole it![..]This was supposed to be temporary, and now I'm your minion, totally enslaved to you? That's not what I would have chosen under any circumstance."

Romantic interests taking away your life choices. How romantic!

"Oh, God," he says into my lips, cupping the back of my head, kissing me harder. I grab the back of his shirt and pull him closer. I want to eat him up!

What was I saying.. That didn't take long at all.

To his credit, Packard stays businesslike. He's a man who will respect my relationship with Cubby as long as I do. Which, ironically, only makes him more attractive. It doesn't matter. I'll never let Cubby go. My dream of a normal, wholesome life with him is closer now than ever.
Denial is not a river in Egypt.

"Of course not. I'm not affected by a zing." He gestures between us. "There's nothing-" He pauses. There are many words to describe this smoldering thing between us. Nothing isn't one of them.

I wonder why he wasn't affected by these "zing" waves of concentrated emotions sent his way when everyone else in the world was. It was never explained.