Page 131 of Savage Vicious Heir: Part Two

Me.

“Not yet,” he admits. “But I will be.”

“Have you talked to her?”

His mum.

The one person he thought might help him in all of this.

He finally confessed that she never offered her support. That he lied because he didn’t want me to worry.

“There’s nothing to say. She made her choice, and it wasn’t me.” His icy gaze moves over my shoulder, and my heart breaks for him.

“Elliot.” I palm his cheek, coaxing him back to me. “I love you.”

“Love you too, Red. So fucking much.” He lowers his face and brushes his lips over mine. Once. Twice. Teasing me in the best kind of way.

I try to get closer, to deepen the kiss and take what I want, but he hovers out of reach, a faint smirk tracing his mouth.

“Are you trying to drive me wild?” I ask, a little breathless.

“Always.” He winks, and I swat his chest.

“Are you sure about this?” I ask, the air turning thick around us.

“What’s that, Red?” he asks. Teasing.

Deflecting.

He’s been doing a lot of that over the last two days. Trying to distract me. To reassure me that he’s okay.

But I see past his act.

Elliot’s future might have been decided for him by a man he hates but sometimes it’s better the devil you know, and I can’t help but worry that if Elliot gives it all up—SCU, moving on to the next chapter of his life with his best friends—he’ll regret it one day.

“Don’t,” I said. “Don’t do that. Not with me. If you still want to go to university?—”

“I don’t.”

“But—”

“Look, I know I’m not good at this. At talking about shit and letting you know where my head is at, but let me be really clear about this… I choose this.” He lowers his head to mine, trapping me in his intense gaze. “I choose you,” he says with unwavering conviction.

“You think I want to be away from you for a year while you resist your exams? Not going to happen.”

“I just don’t want you to end up regretting anything.”

“The only thing I regret is not standing up for myself a hell of a lot sooner.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“Because I had no reason to…” His fingers slide into my hair. “Until you.”

“I hate that you’ve had to endure them.” I wrap my arms around him and pull him closer.

“Good thing I don’t have to anymore then,” he says, stealing another kiss.

Someone wolf whistles and Elliot tenses.

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