Page 170 of Wicked Promises (Fallen Royals 3)

“Do you forgive me?” I ask again, slower. Darker. I run my finger along the top edge of her jeans, grazing her stomach.

She responds well to my darkness. It makes me think that maybe I succeeded in my mission to make our edges align.

“I do.”

I smirk, dragging my finger lower. I dip into her jeans, past the hem of her panties.

“See what it feels like?” I ask.

She bites her lip, staring at me. She puts her weight on the railing and lets her legs fall open.

Fuck me.

A door above us bangs open, and she leaps up, smacking her forehead.

“Ow.”

I chuckle, grabbing her hand and tugging her down the stairs. “You forget you were in a fight earlier today?”

“Easy to forget,” she mumbles. She trips over her feet, nearly bringing both of us down.

“That’s it.” I scoop her into my arms and push through the door onto whatever the hell floor we made it to. I hit the button for the elevator with my elbow.

“Kiss me,” she says.

I inspect her face. She seems better. But maybe I should just check…

She grins, reading my mind, and pulls my face toward hers. And the rest, as they say, is history.

39

Margo

The last two days have been a whirlwind. I’ve been kept at home with the Jenkinses, and Caleb hasn’t left my side.

Claire is going to juvie.

Masters and Carver worked together and found a property in Aunt Iris’s name. It was a condo in an older part of Brooklyn. Inside, they found my mother. She was surrounded by her past. A near-identical replica to the house I grew up in.

She admitted to conspiring with Lydia, who first got her addicted to drugs and then used that power against her. Drugs were the reason she cheated on Dad, and the reason Lydia then felt a responsibility toward her.

This is all second-hand information from Detective Masters, who called me down to deliver my statement and sign it.

There’s a certain sense of shame that comes with finding that out. Knowing Lydia was desperate to avenge the daughter she was forced to give up…

I set the pen down and meet the detective’s gaze. “So, what now?”

“Our team is serving warrants as we speak. I expect an arrest to happen any day now.”

I swallow. Good.

“And my dad? Tobias admitted to killing Benjamin Asher.”

That’s another thing. The Jenkinses know, unequivocally, that my dad is innocent. It wasn’t just me saying it anymore—it was the police admitting it. The state. The county.

The district attorney, even.

While I wanted a family to want me… I think I’m getting something a little different.

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