AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Awe, look at you trying to be her knight in shining armour. She isn’t as fragile as you would like to think.”
“Fuck you,” I seethe.
“No thanks, I’m good.”
“You did always like D’s sloppy seconds,” Ryot laughs, and Cyrus goes stiff.
“Don’t worry, Ryot, I like yours too,” Sax says with a wink. Both Ryot and Rogue stand. I won’t stop them from killing Sax, god knows he deserves it.
Cyrus jumps up from her spot. She stumbles over her own feet and laughs at herself before tripping and landing next to the smouldering fire.
Ryot and Rogue circle Sax while he slings insults at them, and I leave them to deal with my cousin.
“Are you drunk, little creature?” I ask, looking down at her sitting in the dirt. She looks up at me with her big blue eyes.
“Leave me alone,” she slurs, dusting her hands off. I step back and watch as she tries to stand up again, she must have been using Sax to keep herself stable. I didn’t realise that she was drinking, or I would have…fuck if I know what I would have done.
My patience wears thin, and I step closer, pulling her from the ground like a damn rag doll, and she makes zero effort to help me. I manage to pick her up and cradle her to my chest, she grabs my shirt and fists it, resting her head against my chest. I expected her to fight me, yet her eyes are closed and her breathing is evening out.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Cuyler says. “He has something on her.”
I nod and walk away, of course he would have something on her, I’m not a fucking idiot. I let Kelby of all people convince me that she fucked my uncle and why else would she be working with my father. Her father is rich as fuck, she doesn’t need money. Her inheritance would shit all over mine.
I was going to exile her and turn everyone against her because that is what my father would be expecting. Why make any of our lives harder and play into my dad’s hands. I never lose. And I don’t plan to start now.
The only way I can get rid of Sax is to play his damn games. After all, he is a Briar and learned from the best. I just need to figure out what the fuck he wants. Surely it can’t all be about coming back to this shit hole.
Cradling her in my arms, I walk slowly back to our dorm. She whimpers in her sleep, I wish I could take away all of her demons, knowing that would be bringing back a guy from the dead and losing her, but the selfish part of me loves that she is broken. A girl like her doesn’t need to be sheltered from this life, she is stronger than she realises.
The building is empty as I walk through the lobby, the lift opens as soon as I push the button, and I step inside.
“Please don’t leave me,” she whimpers, curling herself tighter into my chest.
“I don’t think I could even if I wanted to,” I whisper, and it’s the damn truth. Less than an hour ago, I was more than willing to turn everyone against her, even the few friends she has made here, isolate her, let her sink back into a shell of the person that she has become, and for what, my ego? I think she is just as petrified of feeling as I am. She wanted to use me as a shield, being involved with me meant she didn’t have to think about her life back home.
For me I like playing games, I always have, it’s been a way to pass the time while I’m under my father’s thumb, yet for a brief moment, I was willing to throw it all away. But maybe I don’t have to, maybe I could have the best of both worlds, and if I’m lucky enough, I can get rid of my cousin while I’m at it. He doesn’t want her, he doesn’t like commitment or responsibility. Sax is very much about Sax.
More than anything though, I need her to tell me what my father has on her. It’s how our family works. Blackmail. Yet my feelings for Cyrus throw all logic out of the window. I wanted to believe that she slept with my uncle, I wanted to believe that she was paid to use me. It would be easier to believe, because why would a girl as perfect as her want me?
Chapter Thirty
Cyrus
The smell of bacon wafting into the room makes my stomach rumble, and a dull headache forms. Drinking last night was so stupid, but when Cuyler invited me, I just thought why not? It was so easy to just fall back into the habit of being that girl, the one who just lost her soulmate, whose father declared he wanted to marry his girlfriend who is barely older than I am, the emotional wreck that I have tried so hard to overcome.
Pushing the covers back, I notice that I’m no longer in the clothes I wore last night. I remember sitting next to Sax, but the fire felt too close, and I could feel the heat against my skin. The small bang was enough to send me into a spiral.
I lift the shirt to my nose, and I’m immediately overwhelmed with the smell of Diesel, but why would he bring me home and make me change? I drop my face to my hands and run them over my face, the pounding in my head escalating. I hope this isn’t another game he is playing to one up his cousin. I’m a damn pawn, and if Malcom didn’t have my future in his hands, I would disappear and not look back. I didn’t have anything to live for before moving here, each day was just following the motions of waking up and going to sleep at the end of the day, but I can’t lie and say I feel the same anymore. I will be forever grateful to Diesel for making my heart race again, to know that a feeling like that is possible again, and the friendships that I have made that make life worth living and have made me see a future is possible. It might not be the one that I had planned for, but it’s one Zeke would be proud of me for.
I stand from the bed and Diesel’s shirt falls to just below my ass, at least I’m covered enough to use the bathroom. When I walk through my bedroom door, I don’t expect Diesel to be standing in the small kitchenette, shirtless, humming away to a Justin Bieber song of all things, cooking bacon.
He doesn’t see me slip past him, but I use the toilet and head back out, sliding onto a bar stool while I watch him. I wonder where all the others are. It’s rare that Diesel is alone, he normally has at least one other person with him.
“I can feel you staring at me,” he says still with his back to me.
“No one ever accused you of being ugly,” I throw back, not wanting to really admit that I was in fact staring at him. He turns to face me with a plate in his hand.
“I made you breakfast,” he says, and I eye him sceptically, Diesel Briar does not do anything from the goodness of his heart. He holds the plate out for me to take, and I raise a brow at him and take a good look at the plate.
