I flick my eyes to the side and the look on Xaden’s face tells me all I need to know. He set this up. He got photos of Kellan to my brother, and now Masen thinks it was me who killed him.
“I didn’t do shit, Mase! Your lies and treachery killed your best friend,” I scream in his face, then cringe when I realize everyone is recording and that shit can never hit the web or we’ll both be fucked.
“Delete that shit now!” Xaden roars. Fucking prick is willing to save me from going viral but not from being manhandled by my brother.
“You just started something you can’t finish. I'm going to let all of the men take turns on you before I get you so hooked on heroin that you’ll be turning tricks on a corner just to fund your habit, that is supplied byme.”
I harden my resolve and blank my face of all emotion as I meet his stare. “Your reign is coming to an end, Brother. When I cut off the head of the fucking snake, I’m taking his throne.” Masen’s brows draw in.
“You fucking killed him just so he would give you the location of Walter House so?—”
I cut the dense prick off. “I didn’t need him for that. I already knew where to go, remember? You and Dad locked me up there so I would take the rap for you!” I yell. His eyes widen and he increases the force of his hold on me. Tired of this shit, I do what Carn taught me and go slack, allowing his forearm to bear the brunt of my weight which throws him off balance and has him tipping forward.
His hold shifts to the left. I bring my arm up and shove him to the side, making him stumble. Before he can right himself, I grip the back of his head and slam it into the lockers. I use my grip on his hair to turn him toward me, then release him and deliver an uppercut to the underside of his jaw that has him roaring in pain. I’m not done. I strike out and kick him right in the dick. An agonizing cry of pain erupts from him as he drops to his knees. I spy Darren stepping forward, then snap my head to the side to shoot him a scathing look.
“Give me a single fucking reason, Parker, and I’ll drop your ass right beside my brother.” He steps back and drops his gaze to the floor. I focus back on Masen, who is cupping his cock and whimpering like a little girl. I loom over my brother, loving the shift in power and being above him. He tips his head back and sneers. I crouch down in front of him and beam at the weak bastard. “I want you to hear me clearly. I am going to say this once. I am coming for this family. I am coming for the Cosa Nostra. And I’m coming for you! You are not my salvation, Brother. You are a part of what I’m here to take down and take for myself. The only difference between you and them is it’ll hurt to watch you fall. But it won’t stop me.”
I push to my feet and turn on my heel to face Xaden who stands there with his arm wrapped around a seething Maddison’s waist. He looks like a thunderstorm ready to erupt and wreak havoc on the Earth.
I say nothing as I stalk past him. I ignore the whispers and looks from the others as I make my way to my first class. It’s about damn fucking time that I embrace who the fuck I am, and today is that day.
I’ll no longer be a victim to Xaden’s mind games. I won’t allow him to use the hold he has over my body against me. I need to lock my feelings for him down and remember he is the enemy, just like my father and Masen. I drew a line in the sandand showed them that I am now a contender in this war. When we come for them and cut off their supplies, they won’t have to look far. They will know it’s me that dared to fuck with them and that notion is exhilarating.
I feel strong and for the first time in a really long time, I actually feel hopeful that I will be able to get my life back and be free of all the deceit and backstabbing from both sides.
By the end of the day I’m exhausted and ready to get home and sleep, but then I remember I have a shift at the library. I drag my feet the whole way to work and wish I could have had the day off, but I need the money. Halo told me I need to always hope for the best but expect the worst and if this plan blows up in my face, I’m going to need money to run.
Harper calls out and waves to me as she climbs in the back of her Uber. I wave back and silently brood that she gets to go home while I’m stuck here. At least when I finish tonight I don’t have to catch a ride or walk. Carnage said that I could use their car and they would pick up a new one today. He didn’t even bat an eye at forking out more money for another car, he just said it so casually, making me think these brothers must be well off.
When I step inside the library I slow to a stop and frown. The lights are off and there isn’t anyone here. Maddy isn’t behind the desk. I purse my lips and walk through the stacks of books, inhaling the musty scent and wishing I was born into a different family so I would be able to go to college and learn how to restore the old stories in the back office, breathing new life back into them.
I knock on the office before I push it open thinking Maddison might be in here, but the room is dark and empty.
“What the fuck,” I breathe out. “Maddi—” The remainder of her name dies on my tongue when I feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. My shoulders droop and I exhale in tiredness.“I’m not in the mood for your shit. Where is Maddison?” I grit out in an angry tone.
I stiffen when I feel him plaster himself against my back. I don’t move. There’s no point trying to escape, he’s blocking the exit. He reaches around and grips my throat. I close my eyes and will my body to side with my mind and not give into how good it feels to have his hands on me.
I know what he did and I’m disgusted by it, but I can’t shut off how alive he makes me feel. God, have you ever looked at the sun because of how beautiful it is, even though you know it will burn your eyes? That’s how it feels with Xaden. I know I’m going to get burnt, yet I can’t fucking look away.
I can’t allow him to fuck with my head any further. He’s already under my skin and that makes fighting against him so fucking hard. For him, killing me would be as easy as breathing, but for me… I would hesitate.
“No one’s around to hear you scream now, Tink,” he says in a gravelly tone that sends shivers down my spine. He’s the fucking devil. He’s pure evil and he doesn’t hide it. He’s a nightmare dressed in a glorious package to lull you into believing he could be a dream. Xaden Devlin is malicious, cunning, cruel and down right cold, but I can’t stay away from him and that’s a fucking problem.
My mind and body are at war with each other.
My body craves him, longs for the next time I’ll feel the heat of his flesh pressed against me and how fucking good it feels to have him inside me, claiming me and marking me as his.
My mind is screaming for me to push him away, tell him to fuck off and that I hate him.
When he bends down and brushes his lips against the shell of my ear, I whimper. I feel him smirk and hate that he gets the satisfaction of knowing what he does to me.
“Looks like you have been keeping things from me, Tink?” He may have whispered the words quietly and tried to veil them as seduction, but I know him. I hear the underlying threat in his tone.
I swallow and attempt to pull out of his hold, but stop when his grip tightens. “I want to leave,” I say quietly.
“And since when do you think I started giving a fuck about what you want?” There it is, the monster I knew was simmering just beneath the surface.
“Let me go,” I grit out.
