Page 83 of Hateful Games

I turn around and run, slamming the door behind me.

My knees buckle as I cough and bend over to take in deep breaths. Quiet sobs rack my chest as his cruel words repeat inside my head. I hate that he reduces me to this pitiful and scared state.

A scraping noise jerks me upright.

Through my blurry gaze, my eyes connect with the bane of my existence.

Nova.

Chapter Twenty-three

Nova

“It’s bad luck to see the bride before the wedding,” Rosalie taunts as soon as the shock of me hovering a few feet away wears off. A notable tremor in her voice matching the teary-eyed state of her beautiful face.

“Pretty positive it only applies to a day before and not a week.”

“Look who’s counting down the days.” Hastily rubbing at her cheeks as if it’ll hide the evidence that she was sobbing just mere seconds ago, she straightens and aims a glare my way. “How long have you been standing here?”

“Long enough.”

“Taken stalking as a side gig?”

If it were any other circumstances, I would ignore and continue with my business. The way I did for the first three and a half years after I was back. In London, she betrayed me in the worst possible way and the only way to curb the burning hatred I truly began to harbor for her was by burying myself into building my own empire.

She was just like her father.

Uptight and conniving.

The strong urge to make her mine that I felt in London eviscerated in the wake of a single night. The flame lasting for a fleeting second before swiftly burning into ashes.

However, in this moment, I can’t pry my eyes off her.

My attention is locked on the imprints of fingers on her fair skin around her jaw. Another perusal reveals bruises forming around her right forearm. The color fresh and quickly darkening.

It makes me seethe because the room she exited immediately tells me it’s her father’s doing. The man very soon to be my father-in-law.

I’m cruel and blunt in the way I treat her but I draw the line at abuse.

Only a spineless dick would physically hurt a woman.

“Stop staring,” she snaps, bringing her hair forward to shield her arms.

Too late.

At least he hasn’t broken her spirit yet. Though now I’m wondering how long he has been secretly abusing her. I knew she isn’t his favorite child since he practically sold her to my family, but to this extent, it makes me furious for not finding that out sooner.

If you weren’t keen on ignoring and punishing her, you would’ve.

Fed up with my silence, she tries to brush past me but I grab her at the last second. Her feminine scent distracting me momentarily. The effect touching her skin has on my senses hasn’t lessened. It has turned into an addict’s withdrawal.

Because it’s not often I allow myself a taste.

“I’m not in the mood, Nova,” she sighs, defeated.

“Neither am I.” Pushing her cherry red curls away, I trace the bluish skin and grit my teeth when she flinches. “What did you do to piss him off?”

“I exist. That’s what.”

---