AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Have you?” he asked.
“Have I what?”I grumbled, not fully awake.
“You’ve heard of something called OMR?”
“I don’t know what means, but I’ve heard about it from you…I think,” I added, unsure if it was from him directly or from my eavesdropping.
“It’s made up of old money families; a few years back they brought in new money. Things started to fall apart when men like my father, your real father, and Seth took positions of power they should have never been given.”
As I woke a little more what he was talking about started to ring as familiar. “I thought that was a myth?”
“So did I. Turns out, they just like being discreet. I was lucky enough to be brought into that inner circle.”
“And?”
“We’re purging out all the weak links, all the failing corporate companies, the weak business fronts, and the families that threaten to ruin what many have worked for. Taking back control, in so many words.”
“You want power…” I mumbled, finally waking up fully.
“I already have that. This is a business arrangement. I scratch their backs, they scratch mine. It’s how all the partnerships work. The men I deal with…we are each significantly connected.”
“What does that have to do with me?” I pushed up on my elbows after he laid me on the bed.
“In regards to me? Everything.” He didn’t elaborate.
Instead, he dropped the towel from his waist and climbed into bed beside me. Surprisingly, he didn’t touch me. I stared up at the dark ceiling, trying to piece all of what he had told me together.
“Does it bother you that I kill people?” Pierce asked suddenly.
What a change of topic. I narrowed my brows in contemplation. Did it bother me?
No. If it did, I’d have flipped shit when Jason was killed right in front of me. When he came home far more than once with blood on him, and sometimes bruised knuckles. I told him as much.
“I wanted to keep you separate from all of this. Leave you some small act of kindness. You don’t need to witness everything I have, deal with the shit I deal with. And it pisses me off, because you should.”
I rolled onto my side, poking him in the chest. “I don’t know why you keep blaming me for my sister’s death. I didn’t slit her throat. I didn’t tell her to make the choices she did, and I never told her to start messing around with you. How do you know it’s not your fault?
“Do you know how tired I am of this back and forth bullshit? Tell me what it is you want from me because I don’t understand.”
He made a sound in his throat, a sound of annoyance and his own frustration. Before I could make another remark, he was above me. My hands were pinned above my head, and my body was swallowed by his. Even in the dark, I could see the anger in his eyes. His tone sent goosepimples racing across my skin and his venomous words slashed at my crippled heart.
“It was supposed to be you that night. We all thought it would be you—the young girl who had always been forgotten and shoved into the background. Who the fuck would miss her? I had your sister eating out of the palm of my hand. She wasn’t supposed to mean anything to me. She did.
“Everything went to shit because your mother was a stupid whore who let men breeze through her pussy like it was a truck stop. Cassie had to go. I couldn’t do anything about it. Sometimes you make me forget what I had with her, and I hate that.”
I tried to cut him off but he spoke over me.
“You’re mouthy, stubborn, and constantly trying to piss me off. I don’t want to like you, Rebel, but I love the shit out of you and it pisses me off. Emotions make you weak. They fuck up your judgment and cause people to make rash decisions. This life isn’t one where I can afford to let that happen.” He glared down at me.
I was speechless for once. Angry. Hurt. Turned on. I wanted to shove him away but he had my hands pinned.
“You’re…arg! Let go of me.”
He laughed, a full blown.
“Why are you doing this to me?”
“I can see you breaking, and this is the only thing I can do to help you. Hate me. I don’t deserve you. It’s better for you to hate me than to try and love me.”
“You stupid fucker; it’s too late for that.” I loathed crying.
It always made me feel weak, but I couldn’t stop the dam from bursting no matter how hard I fought to keep it together.
He kissed my tear stained cheeks, using his body instead of words. We simply couldn’t be anything other than what we were. This was the consequence for consuming something forbidden.
