Shattered Legacy : A Dark Bully Romance (Gravestone Elite Book 1) by Caitlyn Dare (red seas under red skies TXT) 📕

cock swells once again at her closeness, and I wish I could take her away from all of this, away from him, and just keep her for myself.

"You too, little mouse."

I push my tongue past her lips and I just start to lose myself in her once more when a knock sounds out around the room like a gunshot.

She jumps away from me as if I burned her, and pain wraps around my chest at her move.

"You need to go," she hisses.

I look around the room at a loss for how that’s supposed to happen while someone—probably the devil himself—is standing at the other side of the only door.

"The window." She points at it as if I don't know what one is.

Before I look over, I take her in for a second. All the color has drained from her face and her eyes are wide, like a rabbit caught in headlights.

"You're serious?"

"The fire escape is right there, you won't plummet to your death."

"Great," I mutter, shoving my feet into my sneakers and making my way over.

"Who is it?" I ask as I pull the curtains back to see she's right about the escape.

I lock that little nugget of knowledge away for later, because it's the perfect way to get to her unnoticed in the future.

She rushes over to the door and presses her eye to the peephole.

"A-Annabel."

She gestures for me to hurry up and I throw open the window, pissed off that it's come to this, although I knew it would.

I shouldn't even be here, let alone doing the walk of shame after the night before.

With one last look at her, I throw my leg out the window and climb to the small platform beside it.

Mia quickly closes the window behind me, but I don't go. Instead, I watch her reflection in the mirror in her room as she smooths down her hair and pulls the door open.

I expect to see Annabel's blonde hair flounce into the room, but instead, all the air rushes from my lungs when Kingsley steps inside, his face hard, clearly pissed off that he was made to wait.

She lied to me.

After everything that just happened between us. She lied to me.

My stomach plummets.

I know I'm only torturing myself, but I can't take my eye off them as he takes her chin in his hard grip and slams his lips down on hers.

Pain shoots from my chest as I watch the girl I'm falling for kiss another man.

No, not just another man.

Him.

My stomach churns and bile burns its way up my throat, yet I still don't move.

It's not until he walks them out of sight that I'm released from my frozen trance and am able to jump over the railing, landing on my feet on the ground below. Without looking back, I take off running across campus, but when I get to my building, I don't bother going inside.

Instead, I climb into my car and speed out of the parking lot.

I don’t have a destination in mind, I just know that I needed to get away and attempt to clear my head.

Mia has me feeling all kinds of things that I know I shouldn't, especially when she's promised to someone else.

I think of my mom and my biological father. Is this how it happened for them? Have the two of us just condemned ourselves to lives full of deceit and lies?

I slam my hand down on the wheel, the frustration getting the better of me.

She’s not mine.

She can never be mine.

All we’re going to do is cause each other more pain by carrying on this charade, by pretending that we can have everything we want.

I've already taken something from her that I shouldn't have. And if he finds out… I shudder at the thought. Cade is already gunning for me. I can only imagine how bad it will get if he knew I took her v-card when it should belong to him.

My fingers tighten on the wheel as I picture him sliding his tongue past her lips and claiming her.

Could he smell me on her?

Was my scent still in the room?

Does he know?

My stomach is awash with nervous energy and fear for my little mouse when I pull up to a house I haven’t seen in a while.

I shouldn't really be surprised that this was where I'd end up. I like torturing myself, after all, and I've just left one car crash behind only to walk into another.

Killing the engine, I sit back, staring at the house that was my home for almost all of my life—well, until I was banished from town and cast aside as if I never existed.

I blow out a breath and push my door open. Mom’s home. Her car is in its usual space, along with the housekeeper’s.

My hands tremble as I try to contain the storm that's threatening to erupt within me, and I swing the front door open and step inside. The familiar scent of jasmine hits my nose, but where it once made me feel safe, content, I no longer feel anything.

"Hello?" I boom through the silent house.

Movement erupts from upstairs, and in a few seconds footsteps race toward the stairs.

"Bexley? Oh my goodness. Bexley!"

Mom flies down the stairs at the speed of light before she crashes into me, flinging her arms around my neck and squeezing me tight.

I don't return her excitement. Instead, I leave my arms by my side and wait for her to get her fill.

"I've missed you so much," she sobs against my shoulder. I refrain from pointing out that if she never sent me away like an unwanted pet then she wouldn't have to miss me, but at this point, my leaving Sterling Bay seems like the least of my issues.

Finally, after long minutes, she pulls back and wipes her tear-coated cheeks.

"Oh it's so good to… your face," she says in horror as she attempts to frown, but her Botox stops most of the movement in her face.

My bruises are mostly gone now, but there's