AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You are never going to touch me again, and you are never going to bait Darien again. This wasn’t part of our agreement.”
“The agreement involves me making sure you stay away from your boyfriend. So, technically, I didn’t overstep.”
Loren glowered up at him, her vision blurring with rage and sadness and the slanted rays of the sun that were stabbing into her eyes. “I can’t wait to be done with this shit.”
A taxi slowed by the curb. The driver unlocked the doors.
“I would enjoy this while you can,” Klay said as he made for the passenger’s-side door, forcing Loren to take the back. “Because once my dad has what he wants from you, you’re all dead.”
Loren froze mid-reach of the door handle. “What did you say?”
Klay shrugged. “I mean, I wouldn’t put it past him.” He swung open the door before Loren could argue any further.
Her blood boiled as she got in the taxi.
Of course the imperator would have some sick plan for when this was over. Either she would die, or they all would.
And she would much prefer the first option.
54
Darien had been seeing red all afternoon. He’d driven the streets without purpose or direction, only stopping once to buy smokes and charge his car at one of the cristala stations in Black Alder.
It had taken everything in his power not to snap that asshole’s neck in the examination room, laughing as he did it. The only reason he’d resisted was because of Loren. But he was so mad, he knew it wouldn’t be long before he exploded. It was a good thing he was currently in one of the seediest districts in Angelthene; if he lost it on someone, there was an extremely high chance his victim would be a piece of shit who deserved getting his ass handed to him.
Time and place were everything when he was feeling…like this. And he would never hurt Loren by acting on unchecked emotions, especially not when she had clearly brought that asshole—Klay—to her appointment with her.
The more he thought about it, the more he wished he hadn’t gone to the hospital. He was probably jumping to stupid, far-fetched conclusions and was well on his way to winding up behind bars because of it.
Had any other girl done this to him, he would’ve said screw it, I don’t need you.
But Loren? Fuck, he needed her, and he couldn’t even pretend that he didn’t. He’d never been more certain of anything in his life than he was her. She was the one thing he’d finally got right.
He was ripping the car down a side road in the Black Alder District when someone called him.
Grabbing his phone out of the cup holder, he checked the screen to see an unknown number flashing across it.
He swiped right and lifted the phone to his ear. “Who’s this?”
“It’s Christa.”
Darien eased off the accelerator as the car zipped around a sharp corner, the edge of the seatbelt digging into his chest. “Whose phone are you calling me from?”
“Mine.” She spoke quietly. Darien detected a note of fear in her voice. “It’s one of my burners.”
“Do you have something worth my time?” He pushed the car faster, blowing past a semi. The driver blared his horn.
“That’s why I’m calling. Are you available to meet tonight?”
“Where and when?”
“The old subway entrance in the Financial District.”
“North or South?”
“South. Seven o’clock?” Seven o’clock didn’t give him much time before he was supposed to see Loren, but he would make it work.
“I’ll be there,” he said.
