Page 24 of Theirs to Rule

By that point, I was hungry. I headed back downstairs and made my way to the kitchen, grabbing some yogurt and fruit. Like I’d told Dante, I needed to start moving on with a life without Kage, and since Dante wasn’t here to make me soup, sandwiches or spaghetti, I needed to feed myself. Unfortunately, I picked at my yogurt listlessly, my mind too tangled to care about eating. The longer I sat there, the more my hurt and shock began to fade and the more my anger began to build.

I remembered every fucking thing Kage had done and said to draw me in. To make me believe I was special to him, and soon I was seething. I wanted to go to the hospital. To confront and scream at him. Only the thought that he wouldn’t be alone—that he’d be with his family or worse, that Daniella would still be with him—stopped me.

The front door creaked open, and I tensed. I put down my spoon and waited as footsteps echoed in the hallway, growing louder. I forced myself to breathe, to stay calm, but my nerves were on edge.

Suddenly, Ty walked in.

Chapter 12

Camille

To my shock, Ty didn’t greet me. He barely looked at me. Instead, he headed straight for the coffee maker. I stared at him in disbelief, waiting. Waiting… He didn’t say a goddamn word to me. He acted like I wasn’t even in the room.

"What, no ‘hello’? No ‘where have you been’? No ‘are you okay’? Well, I’m just great. How about you, Ty?"

I knew my sarcasm wasn’t going to help anything, but I couldn’t help lashing out. He looked well-rested; I was envious, after the shit I’d been through. Ty glanced at me, his expression unreadable.

“Still nothing?” I fired back.

When he didn’t answer, I thought back on all things that had happened to me since I’d last seen Ty. The chase with Officer Davis, yes, but even before that: Davis telling me the gold bar Ava had supposedly stolen from me had been found in Ty’s stuff. Now, I had no reason to trust that Davis had been telling the truth and every reason to believe he’d been lying, but in my hurt and frustration, I blocked all that out. I wanted a reaction from Ty. It was like I couldn’t deny myself this – I wanted him tolash out at me, I wanted to feel something. Dante had been so kind and gentle with me, but there was a part of me that craved punishment for letting myself believe for even a moment that Kage could have been serious about me.

“Maybe you already know I’m not fine. Maybe you know Officer Davis tried to kill me because you and Silas and Davis were working together. That’s the only way you’d have my gold bar, right?”

That got his attention.

“What the hell are you talking about?” he shot back.

“Officer Davis told me they found my gold bar in your stuff,” I said. “What, you’re a thief now, as well as a murderer?”

His features twisted furiously, and he strode toward me.

“I don’t care what Davis said,” he growled. “I’mnota thief. But you’re right. Iama murderer. You sure know how to pick them, don’t you, Swan?”

The heat of Ty's anger washed over me like a fever. My emotions were all over the place. I’d wanted to bait him, to make him feel as crappy as I was, but now I was crumpling under a wave of guilt. Had I really just reminded him that he’d killed someone in that car accident?

“Fuck this bullshit,” he growled. “You won’t have to worry about me being around anymore because I’m moving out.”

I stared at him in shock. Those were the last words I expected to come out of his mouth. It didn’t matter that I was already planning to move out, too. All I could see was him leaving me behind.Again.It left me reeling. Despite the tension and arguments between us, I didn’t want him to go.

So I did the only thing I knew to do. Squashed what I wanted and pushed him further away.

“Of course you are,” I scoffed. “Because that’s what you do best, isn’t it? Run away when things get too hard.”

He remained silent. The scars on his face seemed more prominent, as if blood was pumping through them. He was angry and trying not to show how much my words were getting to him, but I wasn’t done yet.

“I’m right though, aren’t I? That’s what happened in Italy. You ran because you felt something for me. And it scared you. And you were too much of a pussy to face it!”

There. It was what I’d been thinking but it was the first time I’d said it quite that bluntly. I didn’t know if it was true, but I wanted to believe it was. The words hung in the air between us, and I half-expected him to just brush them off and pretend he’d never heard them at all. Instead, Ty stepped forward, backing me against the wall. I swallowed but held my head high.

“Not everything is about fear. People have facets. Sometimes they’re shitty ones and sometimes people do bad things. I’ve done them. So has Kage. Dante too. And you know what? You’re like a fucking mirror, reflecting the bad in everyone. I mean, who the fuck would want that?”

My hands clenched into fists by my sides. “Fuck you,” I whispered, his words cutting through me like a knife. “You want to leave, then leave. The sooner you’re out of here, the better.”

“Fine,” he snarled back at me, pulling back and stalking towards the door. All at once, the reality of the situation crashed into me – no, I couldn’t let him slip through my fingers. I couldn’t let him leave me the way Kage had. My emotions, already dangerously close to the surface, got the better of me.

I lunged for him and caught his arm. His head whipped around, eyes shocked as they met mine. For the briefest moment, I was overcome by the need to plant my lips against his and beg him to stay by my side.

“Don’t go,” I blurted out, before I could stop myself. “I... I need you, Ty. Please.”

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