Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 49388 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49388 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 247(@200wpm)___ 198(@250wpm)___ 165(@300wpm)
He tilts his head to the side, and his tongue toys with his lip ring for a moment as he considers his answer.
“Because you do.”
“How would you know what I want?”
The corner of his mouth lifts, and the silver piercing glints with promise.
“Because I can see what’s locked inside that pretty little head of yours, Grecia. You want my dick deep inside you, but you’re scared that if we fuck, you’ll never want to be with another man.”
“You’re such an overconfident asshole, Tarian. Your delusional if you think I’d be so obsessed with you that I couldn’t move on,” I bite out as I push my hands against his chest. “I’m not like those other girls.”
The moment my palms land on his body I realize I’ve made a mistake. His heat sears me. It feels as if I’m a live wire with electricity shooting through every nerve ending.
He tilts his head to the side and smirks. “I think you’re the one lying to yourself.”
“Fuck you, Tarian. I told you I was here for you as a friend.”
He shakes his head and chuckles before stepping back and allowing me to rise from the chair. His gaze falls to my bare thighs, and he watches as I move away from him. A spark of something in those blue depths has me stopping to see if he’ll apologize, even though I know he won’t.
A girl can dream. Can’t she?
“You’re cold and heartless.” I remind him of something he once said to me. “That’s a fact.”
“And I’m calling you out, Grecia. My family is fucked up, and here you are wanting to bounce on my dick. Don’t deny it. I can read you better than any book,” he tells me.
Anger burns in his stare, and I realize this isn’t about me and him, this is about whatever he’s read on the laptop.
He’s projecting his rage for his mother onto me. And that’s not something I’m willing to accept. I understand what it’s like to have fucked up parents. I get what it means to have family you’d rather run from than deal with. But I refuse to surrender to an attack for something I had no hand in.
“Listen to me, Tarian Calvert,” I grit through clenched teeth as I take two steps toward him, only stopping when his body is flush with mine. “You’re a fucking asshole, and if you think I can’t walk away from you, then you’re sorely fucking mistaken. You may have been born into a shitty family, but so has everyone else in Tynewood. Me, Ares, Etienne, even Dahlia and Rukaiya. Do not ever, and I mean ever, project your bullshit onto me.”
Spinning on my heel, I make it to the door before he starts to speak.
“I…”
I still at the sound of his voice. I wait for him to say something more, to utter words that will make me stay, but after a long moment of silence, I walk out the door.
Time for me to go home.
Thane’s going to have to let me leave.
CHAPTER 13
TARIAN
Fuck.
Fuck.
Fuck.
This is such bullshit.
Slamming my hand on the desk, I pull out my cell phone and hit dial on the number I’ve been avoiding for months. I should’ve called earlier, but I needed to figure shit out on my own first.
“Tarian,” Philipe’s voice comes over the line.
I can hear noise in the background. Philipe owns two nightclubs, one in New York, the other in Los Angeles, and he travels between them often. The clubs are legitimate, but what happens out of sight of the partygoers is something he’s never shared with us. All we know is that Philipe has friends in the Italian mafia, and the nightclubs attract high-society clientele, especially those who have the money to spend on drugs, weapons, and anything else the Nostra can import.
“What can I do for you?” he asks me as I hear a door click shut, and I’m sure he’s just walked into his office.
I know I’m disturbing him at work, but I need advice. I would’ve asked Ares and Etienne, but they won’t understand. Only Philipe will be able to help me. As the oldest son of Abner Lancaster, he was meant to become the leader of the Sovereign, and even though he gave that honor to Ares, his younger brother, Philipe will always be the Head Crown.
“I need your help with something,” I tell him. “I can’t ask Ares and Etienne. They don’t know what happened before Thane left Tynewood.” Running my fingers through my hair, I tug on the strands, reveling in the bite of pain.
“I didn’t think you’d want to revisit that period in your life ever again.” Philipe sounds less than ready to help, but I need him. He’s the only one who knows what I went through.
Philipe is the Head Crown, whether he likes it or not, so he has to help me under the code we follow. Any Crown in need of assistance in any way, whether it’s personal, legal, or even illegal, can go to the Head Crown for help, and his request can’t be denied.