Page 10 of Tainted Love
I clench my jaw to stop it from dropping to the floor.Is he serious?
“I’ll give you a couple of days to recover, and then we’ll pretend like this never happened.” He pulls the door shut behind him, and I drop onto my bed in shock.
Fuck, did that seriously happen? Did he just refuse to let me break up with him?
Tears prick at the corner of my eyes, but I refuse to cry over the bastard. We started dating in high school, after growing up together. His granddad is Michael Cromwell, of Kirkland, Sullivan & Cromwell, and our granddads were ecstatic when we told them we were together. Dad was chuffed, how the two of us would continue the family legacy together. However, now I’m wondering if I was ever in love with Hunter or whether I was conforming to what was expected of me, like I always do.
I’m a peacekeeper, it’s who I’ve always been. Maya teases me about it, but my dad and granddad are the only family I have, and I don’t want to lose them.
Who knows what is happening between me and Elias, butI know whatever was between me and Hunter is one hundred percent over, whether he believes it or not.
I’M STILL SHAKEN from what happened with Elias last night when I make my way downstairs for breakfast the next morning, and I’m relieved to find the dining room empty. I feign happiness over the changes while Roberta fusses over me and serves my favourite breakfast of pancakes with yoghurt and fresh fruit. But when Elena and Attie arrive, I retreat back to my room with the excuses of preparing for uni, despite still having a month before the trimester starts.
There’s no trace of my stepbrother. No sound or signs of life coming from across the hallway. For some reason, it allows me to breathe easier. He’s so intense, it unnerves me. There’s no doubt he’s good-looking, with the way his dark curls flop over his sharp, angular face. It’s too bad his personality is so abrasive—definitely not the charming persona he puts on when he’s onstage.
I check my phone to make sure it’s not an unreasonable time in Italy before dialling Maya’s number. It rings a few times, and I’m about to hang up when she answers. It’s eleven thirty on Tuesday night there, but I can clearly hear a party in the background as she shouts my name over the music. “Bea. Give me a sec, I’ll find somewhere quiet.”
While I wait, I chew on the inside of my cheek, again wondering if I made the right decision to come home.
“Bea?” Maya’s voice calls down the line. “Oh my god, hi. I miss you so much.”
I snort. “Sure sounds like it. Where are you?”
“There was a photo shoot for Hugo Boss at Matteo’s dad’s hotel, and we’re at the after party.”
“Living the life then?”
“And loving it.” We both laugh. “How does it feel to be home? How’s Daddy Kirk going? Still as handsome as ever?”
“Ew, Maya!” I screw up my face. “Please stop calling him that.”
“Bea, when are you going to admit that your dad is a DILF?”
“That’s my dad you’re talking about.” I make a gagging noise. “Besides, I hate to tell you, but he’s officially off the market.”
“Ooh, Daddy Kirk got himself a girlfriend? What’s she like? Is she gorgeous?”
I release a deep sigh. “Not a girlfriend. A wife.”
“WHAT?!” she screeches, and I pull the phone away from my ear. “How can he get married and not tell you?”
The million-dollar question. Apparently, they got married two weeks ago, when Dad already knew I was coming home. My flights had been booked for a month, so why couldn’t he wait?
When I don’t say anything, Maya continues. “Is this like Cinderella? Has a wicked stepmother turned you into her slave while your ugly stepsisters take over your life?”
I roll my eyes at her dramatics. “Not unless my ugly stepsister is actually a ridiculously good-looking rockstar stepbrother.”
“WHAT?!” she screeches again, but this time I anticipated her reaction and held the phone away. “Rockstar stepbrother? Anyone I know?”
“Elias Vasilios.”
“Shut the fuck up, bitch! You’re lying. Elias Vasilios—as in the lead singer of Forever Summer—Elias Vasilios?”
“The one and only.”
“What are you doing on the phone to me? Elias Vasilios is living in your house. You need to be parading around in that little white Dolce bikini you bought in France, giving him an eye-full of your sexy tight booty and voluptuous rack.”
“Voluptuous rack?” I groan. “Be real, Maya. Did you miss the part where his mum is married to my dad? Elias is mystepbrother. I’m not going there. Besides, he’s an arsehole.” Even if the fucker does make my heart race every time he’s near.
