Tarnished Crown (Gravestone Elite #2) by Caitlyn Dare (books like beach read TXT) 📕

My breath catches as she finds me, but when she doesn't smile as I get closer, my heart sinks.

Is this a setup?

I hate to even think it of her, but she's being controlled by Cade, so I need to be realistic. If he wants to get to me, then he knows the easiest way is through Mia.

When I'm right beneath the fire escape, she opens the window, and, without another thought, I climb up and into her room. Her floral scent hits me long before my feet meet the floor, but other than casting a quick look around to make sure she's alone, the only thing I can focus on is her.

"Fuck, you're beautiful," I whisper, taking her face in my hands and brushing my lips over hers.

"Bexley," she whispers into my kiss. "This isn't why—"

"Shhh… Let me just have a minute."

Her entire body sags, and I drop my hands to her ass and lift her. She automatically wraps her legs around my waist, and I walk us over to her bed, lying her down and continuing our kiss.

Her hands press against my chest in a pathetic attempt to get me to back off.

"Can't," I murmur against her jaw. "Addicted."

"I-I know. Me too. But I really need to talk."

I blow out a long, frustrated breath that tickles over her neck and makes her shudder. "Okay, mouse. What do you need to get off your chest?" I drop down beside her and turn her onto her side. Our bodies are only an inch apart, our noses almost touching.

She looks away from me for a beat, and I panic.

"Mia, what is it?" Wrapping my hand around her waist, I squeeze gently to get her to look back up at me.

"You can't tell anyone about this, Bex."

"Of course."

She sucks in a breath, pausing for a few minutes to collect her thoughts. "I decided to go to the Town Hall to see if I could get into the town's archives."

"Okay. Why?" I frown.

She shrugs. "I thought that maybe I could find something I could use against Cade. I don't know. It was stupid because they're all locked up, there's CCTV everywhere. I just thought…" She trails off, tears filling her eyes.

"Hey, it's okay," I soothe, wrapping my hand around the side of her neck and brushing my thumb over her cheek. "It's not stupid at all."

"My dad works there. So I went to his office when I realized it was a dead-end. But before I got there, I heard Phillip and him talking."

"Cargill?"

She nods. "I think… I think my dad might have something to do with me being Cade's prosapia."

I rear back. "W-what?"

"I didn't catch all of it, I was too far away. But I heard my name, Cade's name, and Phillip saying that my dad agreed to something and that he had to see it through."

"Shit." I sit up and let her words register in my head. "So you were never meant to be his?"

She sits up beside me, her warm hand landing on my lower back. "I don't know. It might have had nothing to do with it. But…"

"It really fucking sounded like it," I finish for her.

"Yeah."

"You need to talk to your dad."

"He's been acting weird since all of this kicked off. When I went home the other weekend, it was obvious he was hiding stuff."

"You think you can get him to talk?"

She shrugs. "He's in Phillip's pocket. If he really is involved in this, then I fear he's going to be as forthcoming with information as everyone else in this gigantic mess."

"I had a feeling you might say that." Dropping my head into my hands, I try to make sense of all of this.

Why would Mia's dad sign her up to be tied to the devil? The way she's talked about him, her childhood, he's only ever wanted the best for her.

Hasn’t he?

"I'll talk to Marcus, see if he knows anything.”

Although I'm not sure why I even suggest it. He's not exactly the sharing type. If he'd have let me into a few of his secrets earlier, I may not have been quite so blindsided by all this.

"You think he'll tell you anything, even if he knows something?" she asks, reading my mind.

"Honestly, no. But he keeps telling me that I need to see this through, so if he wants me to do that then he's going to need to give me some of the facts."

"I guess. Ugh," she groans, pushing from the bed in favor of pacing across the room. "I really hate this. And if I find out my dad let me be a pawn in this game, then…" She trails off, running out of words.

"I know, little mouse," I say, intercepting her and circling my arms around her waist.

She stops and lifts her eyes from my chest and up to my own. "Hey," she says shyly.

"Hey." Lifting my hand, I tuck a stray lock of her hair behind her ear.

Our eyes hold for the longest time, as if neither of us can believe we're really here. Alone. Our chests begin to heave at our closeness, and my cock begins to swell once more with her pressed against me and her scent in my nose.

"Did you have any other ideas for what we could do now you've got me here?"

She bites down on her bottom lip, and I only just about stop myself from sucking it into my own mouth and claiming it as mine.

Right now, I want her words. I want her to tell me what she wants.

"Mostly, I was freaking out and needed to tell someone. But I don't know who to trust anymore and…"

"Hey, it's okay. You can tell me anything, you know that, right?"

"I do, it's just so complicated, Bex. You shouldn't be here—" I tense, half expecting her to suddenly do a one-eighty and kick me out. "If Cade found out then… God. I don't want you on his radar any more than you already are. I just… I need… I don't even know what I—"

I slam my