Page 106 of Insatiable Park Avenue Prince

“What? It’s true. Kelly’s not stupid.”

“He’s also right here,” Preston said under his breath. “Jesus, West.”

West shrugged. I could feel the tension rolling off Kelly in waves, and couldn’t help but wonder if it was about the article or what West had said before.

I turned to Harry and held up my phone. “Can you get rid of this?”

He nodded. “On it.”

“Good,” I said, then turned back to Kelly and grabbed his hand. “You come with me.”

THIRTY-FIVE

kelly

I COULD FEEL my annoyance bubbling under the surface and tried like hell to bank it as I followed Donovan into his bedroom. The last thing I wanted was to end this weekend on a bad note, but West’s comment about that asshole Atticus seeing Donovan’s birthmark up close and personal was on a loop in my head.

It was ridiculous, I knew that, to be jealous of a guy that Donovan clearly hated. But no matter how much I tried to tell myself not to care, the idea that someone like that snake had been anywhere near Donovan when he was naked really pissed me off.

When the door shut behind me, I turned to see Donovan leaning up against it, an apologetic look in his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and pushed off the door. “Atticus is such a dick, always looking for a way to feel good about himself. Even if he has to use someone else to do it.”

The comment was so specific that it was obvious this wasn’t the first time Atticus had used Donovan in particular, and that turned my rage homicidal.

“What do you mean?”

Donovan reached for one of the hands I had balled into a fist and gently released my fingers. “About?”

“What do you mean this isn’t thefirsttime he’s used someone? I’m guessing he’s pulled some shady shit with you before?”

“I mean, yeah, but it was a long time ago.” Donovan let out a sigh. “I just hate that he’s trying to fuck with this, us.”

So did I. I hated even more that it was working. I wanted to be cool about it, pretend it didn’t bother me. But the fact that he’d run his mouth aboutDonovanbeing in those scenes with me really got my blood boiling. I didn’t care what happened to me. I’d signed up for that job. Donovan, however, had signed up for me.

“Tell me what he did.”

Donovan frowned. “You already read what he—”

“Not today. Back then. What did he do to you?”

Donovan shook his head, scrunching his nose up in that way he did when he was nervous or trying to think of a way out of something.

“It was nothing, really.”

“Donovan.”

“Okay.” He put a hand on my chest, giving me an imploring look. “But you have to remember, this was a long time ago.”

“Define ‘long.’”

“About a year.”

I grunted. One month. One year. Hell, one decade wouldn’t be long enough for me. But I also knew how unreasonable that was and decided to move on.

“So, what happened?”

“Well, we’d been seeing each other for about three months. Our parents set it up, actually. They knew each other through Elysium and— Anyway, um, it was good at first. He went to a different school, so it was exciting when we got to see each other, and then he met my friends.”

---