Page 10 of Consume Me

“Then you should have stayed the fuck away if you don’t want to be here with your family.”

“That was the plan, but apparently, you couldn’t let it go.”

While I don’t feel physical pain, I am not exempt from the emotional kind. I’ve been tipping from one extreme to the other, and trying to control those two sides leaves me destitute.

“Blake, please take a seat.”

I nod at Cassandra and take the seat next to Mia.

The moment I sit down, her sweet scent of amber and orange blossom hits my nostrils. Fisting my hands at my sides, I regret coming back with a vengeance.

Eight weeks. That’s how long I got to experience freedom without the clutches of the Family. Yet here I am, back again to protect them at whatever cost. I don’t need their friendship to do that. That has been tarnished, and nothing could restitch it.

“Why didn’t you tell us, Ma’am?” Celine asks her mother.

“Because I wasn’t sure he’d return.”

I wasn’t either. I came back for one reason: to ensure Mia’s safety.

“We have been worried sick,” Celine says, her midnight blue eyes boring into mine.

“I’m a big boy. I can take care of myself.”

She squints at me. I won’t pretend anymore. I am what I am: half human and half experiment.

“You’re going to move back in, living together on campus,” Cassandra says, brooking no argument.

“Cheers to the happy family,” I say, my voice ringing with sarcasm as I hold up an invisible glass.

“I can’t believe your fucking nerve,” Kaden says, and I lean back, crossing my arms.

“Let’s get one thing straight. I came back for one reason—to fulfill my duty. I am not here for forgiveness or our fake friendship.”

“Fake?” Abigail screeches, her doll-like features twisting in hurt.

Dane glares at me so hard it wouldn’t surprise me if he shot a fireball my way. Kaden jumps up, slamming his palms on the table.

“And whose fault was that?”

“Enough,” Cassandra says, ending our bickering.

A member of the estate staff serves me a plate of food, and I offer a thank you. The salmon on a bed of steamed vegetables looks scrumptious. This is the best meal I have had since I left, and I’m going to enjoy it.

Silence falls around the table. Only the cutlery grazing on the plates sticks out in the tension-choked air.

I feel the chains again wrapping invisible cuffs around my wrists and ankles. It is what it fucking is. Once I help Cassandra eliminate whatever threat looms, I will vanish again.

Mia takes small bites. Everything about her is delicate and feminine. My hands tremble with the urge to indulge in her. I’ve always wanted what I shouldn’t.

“I want to talk to you about some more changes,” Cassandra says, patting her mouth with the linen napkin. “To avoid a future battle for power, I’ve decided that you will take the surname Arison when you marry.”

They all look at each other, and Cassandra continues, “This is the only big change I will make in my time as matriarch.”

“So that means we can’t take our partner’s name?” Abigail asks, looking at Cassandra, then at Dane.

“No.”

“Why that name?” Hunter asks.

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