Page 41 of King of Hearts

His eyes flared with need, but it wasn’t the same kind of need he’d had when he watched me walk toward him in the pool. This need was something deeper, something that had a beat and a thrum, like it was tied to him, inside his chest, under his skin. “I want you to ask me why.”

I wouldn’t. That would be dangerous, and I’d never do anything to endanger him.

“You’ve made it obvious. I’ll be gone tomorrow,” I replied evenly then walked past him, up the stairs, and shut myself in my room.

I heard something land against the wall downstairs before I turned off the light and climbed into bed.

Chapter Sixteen

The rain just kept pouring,and with it my mood soured into an emptiness I had never experienced. I’d never worried about another person like I had tonight…I’d never sat feeling helpless and afraid that someone I cared about was hurt…or dead. Even through everything I’d endured growing up, I had never been afraid in this way.

She had no idea what she had fucking put me through.

Her first few calls that afternoon had gone to voicemail because I was in another interview with a hockey team from New York. That meeting went similarly to the others: no team on the east coast would touch me. So, it was all a colossal waste of time. I was in a shit mood after that and went for a drink. I hadn’t wanted any company or anyone to talk to while I stewed over the defeat.

Moving out of the area was becoming the only viable option, and yet…the thought of leaving just…fuck. It was only her that kept popping up in my head every single time I’d go through the reasons I didn’t want to leave. Not my family or my friends…just her, and that pissed me off even further because of the shit she had pulled with Holden and the ultrasound appointment.

She didn’t want me.

Yet somehow, I wanted her.

No matter how hard I had tried to keep her at bay, to keep this from happening…she was still there, and then she wasn’t. I had tried to call her back and repeated that goddamn cycle for hours. I drove to her parents’ house and forced Charlie to look up her location, knowing he had tracking on her. That didn’t work, and I wasn’t sure why Charlie kept glancing over at his wife with a look that should have told me more than it did.

It was as if they’d expected this. Taylor’s mom sipped her coffee like she hadn’t a fucking worry in the entire world. All she said was, “She’ll turn up.”

And fuck her, but of course, in the end she was right. There Taylor was, in a robe, looking comfortable and at home in my house, and then she told me Holden wasn’t in the picture and all I wanted to do was fuck her, sink my dick so far inside her she’d never forget where it was she belonged. I wanted to ruin her the way she’d ruined me, because, like a thistle in the palm of a lion, she’d dug into my heart, into my flesh and bone, wreaking havoc on my entire existence. Anger like I hadn’t known surfaced, forcing the words out of my mouth, the decision that had to be made.

When I asked if she wanted to know why, I was fully prepared to explain that it was for her attempts at stealing my heart. I wouldn’t tolerate it. I wouldn’t. Not from her. Especially her.

But she hadn’t asked, so this feeling just festered in my chest. I needed to talk to her, tell her I cared for her, but fuck, she was so duplicitous…I didn’t like that I cared for her. I hated myself for it. It was the greatest weakness I could have, and I had it, but she wouldn’t offer to help relieve me of it. She was probably already packing.

I sat up, still shirtless and in my boxers, suddenly needing to know that she was still in her room, still home. We had to talk about this shit before she left. She needed to know why this had ended, and she needed to realize it was all her fucking fault. She’d ruined this. She’d made me fall for her, and I refused to. I couldn’t afford to. I was leaving, and that was important to remind her about too.

I left my room, noticing right away there was light coming from downstairs…which meant Taylor must be up or had gotten up and left the light on. She never usually left it on…but then, I had essentially kicked her out. Had she already left? Two fast steps down the hall and I heard a sound, a thudding of some kind from below, followed by a slap and a woman’s cry.

I ran.

My feet moved too slow along the carpeted floor, and I cursed the fucking house for being too big. Trailing past Taylor’s room, my gut twisted as I realized her door was open and her bedroom empty.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

What was going on?

I heard muffled screaming coming from the living room, and from over the railing I saw the backs of at least three men, wearing the same jackets I’d seen on that man talking to Taylor outside the school.

“If you knew, értékes, why am I here?” a man yelled in a thick European accent.

Silently, I ran toward the office, skimming the backside of the staircase and, more importantly, avoiding the men in the living room. I ducked in, kept low, and crawled under the desk, flicking the silver switch my cousin had pointed out. I had no idea if he had been telling the truth, but it was worth a shot. About six inches from the switch was the 9mm gun kept in place by a Velcro strip. Pulling it free and ensuring it was loaded, I carefully shifted back to the hall. I moved to the right, away from the living room, so I could ensure there weren’t any more men I didn’t know about, then I carefully minced back toward the living room.

Another slap resonated from the room, forcing my feet to move faster. My heart kept even pacing as adrenaline and fear burst through me at sickening speeds.

The back of the room was littered with men standing shoulder to shoulder, holding silencers. There in the center of the room was a tall man with blond hair that was slicked over, little pieces falling into his face. He wore a white dress shirt and a gunmetal grey suit with a long overcoat, and there on the floor, gripped by her hair, was Taylor.

Wearing a thin nightgown that barely covered her ass, she grimaced in pain at the hold on the back of her head. She didn’t seem surprised…which meant she had been expecting this.

“Nincs mondanivalód?” the man in the middle asked, leaning his face into hers.

“Baleset volt,” Taylor replied through clenched teeth.

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