A High so Sweet: A Dark Enemies to Lovers Romance (Thornes & Roses Book 2)

by Dani René

  The bastard is nothing more than a bully with too much money. He may run an empire, a criminal organization, but he’s nothing to me. I’m not afraid of people like him, those who think that running the world involves fear.

  It’s a lie.

  Running the world involves respect. And that is something that should be earned, not forced. Manny is the type of man who will instill fear with violence, and in that, he will convince himself people respect him.

  They don’t.

  They’re just scared.

  He chuckles, moving around the living room as he takes in the furnishings, his gaze trailing over Harris, then Finn, and lastly, Damien, who’s standing quite far out of reach of the rest of the men. His two goons that have flanked him are still in place, their hands at their front, and I know they’re waiting on his order.

  Paulo speaks next, “Manny, this girl isn’t worth the time. The effort we’ve put in is nothing compared to what we could get if we just head out and find a few new girls.”

  “I’m intrigued with this town,” Manny says before looking at me. “You own this town?” he asks while waving his hand in the air. The gesture makes me nervous, but I keep my features ice cold.

  “Our ancestors built this town,” I inform him easily. “Is that a problem?”

  The one corner of his mouth quirks with a smile. “Not at all, Mr. Thorne, not at all. I find it interesting that a girl like Kalyn would be at home here,” he tells us.

  I take a step toward him, noticing the goons flinch, their hands shifting to where I know they’re hiding their weapons in shoulder holsters. “Why is that?”

  “She’s…. wild,” he tells me as he settles into a chair before regarding me with a challenge in his dark eyes. He wants me to lose my cool. I have no doubt this man wants violence, and deep down, I want to give him that, but I know if I were to lose control, I’d end up losing Kalyn.

  If something happened to me, to her, I would never forgive myself. So, instead of biting, I smile. “She’s a lovely girl. One that belongs to me now,” I inform him coolly, only to receive a snort of derision from Paulo. The thing is, he doesn’t faze me, not when his boss is sitting inches from me. “I think it’s time to make a deal,” I say.

  This piques Manny’s interest. “Oh?” One of his thick dark eyebrows arches toward his hairline. “And what could you possibly have to make a deal with me, Mr. Thorne?”

  “I have information about your business you’d rather keep private,” I tell him. With every minute that passes, my confidence grows. Because the look on Manny’s face when I say this confirms he’s afraid. “And I have many contacts, ones that could ensure your import and export business ceases to exist.”

  It’s not a lie. Thorne Industries has been working with several shipping companies, and a few calls have ensured I have the upper hand. I don’t sit, I don’t stoop to his level; instead, I lean on the back of the chair, my hands clasped in front of me as I lock my serious gaze on Manny Lopez.

  “The girl for my silence,” I throw out onto the table, with the hopes he’ll see she’s nothing to his organization. If I were to leak the evidence, the information I have, he’ll be behind bars within seconds. I don’t flinch when he pushes to his feet, anger clear on his face. But he doesn’t strike me; he doesn’t even pull a gun out. The goons that accompanied him don’t move.

  “Do you think I like coming here and making deals with children?” His sneer makes me want to smile. I want to laugh at him, but I don’t. If I did, I’d ensure his anger would kill us all.

  “Not at all, Mr. Lopez, but you can admit to yourself when you’ve been outsmarted, perhaps not by a child, but by a man.” At my words, I push to full height, which makes me taller than him. Only by a head, but I am the alpha in this room. “Kalyn Narro is mine. She belongs to me. I don’t allow my possessions to be stolen, taken, or even sold. I trust you can understand this since your wife was once a girl you sought out without purchase.” My voice is controlled, my words confident, cool, which has Manny’s face turning beet-red. I’ve called him out. He loves the woman he married, which confirms he cannot deny me my request.

  One more moment.

  Just one answer from him, and it will all be done.

  I hold my breath.

  But then, shit hits the fan.

  31

  Kalyn

  Tension hangs heavily in the air. I should never have fought my way out of that goddamned room. Watching things unfold before me, I’m scared. I’m more afraid of something happening to Cassian than to me. The men circle him, but he stands his ground. Finn and another man stand off to the side.

  Paulo looks worse for wear, and I can’t imagine what they did to him. His face has clearly been punched one too many times. His eye is swollen, along with his lip, which looks cracked. Blood coats his face, and yet, in all the turmoil, there’s a smirk curling his lips.

  I didn’t think I could ever hate someone. But looking at the man I agreed to marry to ensure my family’s safety, the emotion bubbles in my gut. When one of the men, dressed in a dark shirt with a black suit, pulls out a gun, a gasp tumbles from my lips unbidden, causing every pair of eyes in the room to turn to the cracked door.

  “Kalyn,” Cassian whispers, my name drenched in regret when he sees me. I shouldn’t have left the room. When I found the door unlocked, I thought Cassian wanted me to explore. I didn’t realize they were meeting right here, in Thorne Manor.

  “Is this the little bitch that’s caused all the trouble, Paulo?” The man with the gun questions, amusement clear in his tone as his eyes crinkle at the sides. I’m not sure who he is, I’ve never seen him before, but my guess would be this is the cartel leader that Cassian mentioned.

  “Talk about her like that again, and I’ll fucking kill you,” Cassian bites out as rage drenches his threat, but he’s not in any position to threaten. Even though he’s not bound or hurt, there’s no doubt the man in the suit is in charge here.

  He chuckles, glancing over at Paulo before looking at Cassian. “We may be in your home, boy,” the stranger says. “But I came here to get my man back. The whore can do whatever she wants; it seems anything with a dick will please her. Or do you get her high as well?”

  Seconds later, all hell breaks loose as Cassian’s fist makes a crunching noise when it meets the face of the man who’s insulting me. Shots are fired, but I can’t see if anyone has been hit with the bodies all moving in different directions. Suddenly, a pair of arms are wrapped around me, and I’m being dragged backward, a scream escaping my mouth.

  “Shh, Kaly,” I’m told as a hand slams over my mouth. The heat of whoever it is cocoons me, but the panic in my gut still twists with worry. I’m practically thrown into a room that I can only guess is a home office.

  Spinning on my heel, I find the deep blue eyes of Damien Thorne glaring back at me. “What… What are you doing?”

  “Saving your fucking life. What is it with women who can’t stay in their rooms?” he grits out as he rushes from the room and pulls the door shut behind him. Seconds later, I hear a click. In the distance, there’s crashing glass, more shots being fired, and shouts from a myriad of voices.

  Looking around the room, I race to the set of glass doors that lead to the garden but find them locked without a key in sight. Frustration blooms in my stomach as I watch for something, anything to happen in my line of sight, but all I hear is the violence of men fighting for me.

  Cassian should never have brought that man here. He should never have taken Paulo prisoner and tortured him. I should’ve never come back to Thorne Haven. I started all this, and I need to put a stop to it.

  With my mind made up, I make my way to the desk, which takes up half the damn room. I pull open the drawers but find nothing of significance. Only paperwork. No keys. “Who doesn’t keep spare fucking keys?” I bite out in frustration after slamming the next drawer shut.

  A loud thud against the office door has me yelping in surprise, and I quickly move to hid
e under the heavy wooden top. Pulling the desk chair closer, I try to keep my fear from escaping in soft gasps when the door swings open, the hinges barely holding onto the heavy mahogany.

  “Where the fuck is she?” the deep voice of the man who Cassian punched has the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.

  “Leave it, Manny.” Paulo’s voice is clear. “She’s not a threat. She’s nothing more than a junkie looking for a new man to offer up her fix.” For the first time since I’ve met him, I’ve never been so happy at Paulo’s insult because it just might mean this man will give up his search for me.

  “Are you sure about that, Paulo? I mean, she’s brought enough shit into your life.” There’s a dark threat in Manny’s tone as he speaks to Paulo. I wish I could see them, but the desk is closed in the front, which means I’m safe, but I can’t tell where they are in the room.

  “Yes. She was nothing more than a distraction. We could’ve got some good money for her at the auction, but there are a million more girls out there, most of them virgins, and you know how much those assholes will pay for a pure beauty.”

  His words should hurt, but they don’t. Not anymore. I’m done allowing him to add to the pain in my heart. I have to close my eyes and pray he can get through to his boss, or I’m a dead girl.

  “Fine. Let’s get out of here. Those boys aren’t going to stay down for long with what we gave them. Get the men,” Manny orders, and I hear footsteps retreat.

  I’m about to move out of my hiding place when I hear a shuffle, which has me holding my breath once more. A few clicks, and then his voice comes loud and clear. “If you so much as utter a word to the police, I will come for you and your little boyfriend. I’m not scared of him.”

  I don’t reply.

  I can’t.

  Words fail me, but tears stream down my cheeks. I’m almost out of this. I’m almost free, but the price Cassian had to pay was steep. If he had never claimed me as his, this would never have happened.

  But then again, Cassian Thorne is stubborn. If I tried to walk away, he would never have let me. Not when he had so many questions as to what I did that night, why I did it.

  Footsteps ring in my ears as they near me. He stops inches from where I’m kneeling before he grips my ankle and tugs me toward him, lifting me to my feet. A scream is wrenched from my throat, but Paulo is fast.

  I take him in then. Missing teeth, swollen eyes, and a busted lip. They really did a number on him. A sinister smile curls his lips as he looks me over.

  “You weren’t even a good fuck,” he tells me, but I know everything he says is meant to hurt me. “One last high for me,” he says before I feel the pinch in my arm.

  For a moment, he just watches me, but then he chuckles when my knees wobble and slowly give out. Paulo releases his hold on me, inadvertently dropping me to the floor.

  “Oh, and by the way…” He stops a few feet away from me before he glances over his shoulder. “I’ll make sure your little red-headed friend is nicely seen to. She seems like the type of girl I could actually marry.” I know he’s saying it to hurt me, but my heart is cold.

  By the time I release a breath and lean back against the wooden surface of the desk, I’m shaking. Glancing over the top, I find the office empty. My heart leaps into my throat, and I move slowly to where Damien dragged me from, only to find Harris waking up from whatever they did to him. Damien rushes into the house from the back garden, his gaze immediately landing on Cassian slumped in a chair.

  When I reach him, I find a needle sticking out of his neck, and my breath catches.

  Shit.

  Shit.

  Shit.

  Harris and Damien move quickly as they lift Cass.

  “They’re fucking gone,” Finn grits as he re-enters the living room and realizes his brother is out cold. “What the fuck?”

  “I ran out after Manny; it seems Paulo had something up his sleeve,” Damien says, his eyes locked on Cass. I settle on the sofa beside him, noting his breathing is shallow but calm. I’m not sure what the hell Paulo gave him, but it must’ve been strong.

  “I’ll call Dr. Hoxton. He can come to the house to check Cass out,” Finn says while pulling his cell phone from his pocket. “Perhaps easier than trying to explain what happened to someone at the hospital.”

  “Good idea,” Damien affirms before settling into an armchair, but his blue gaze never leaves his brother. They’re close, always have been. And it fills my chest with love watching them together.

  My head is spinning from whatever Paulo injected into my veins, but my concern is with Cassian. I take his hand and settle in. I’m not sure how long he’ll be out, or how long it will take the doctor to get here, but I’m not leaving his side.

  And as I lean into him, my eyes flutter closed.

  32

  Cassian

  The Past

  The end of the day has come too soon. But then I recall what’s about to happen, and I’m thankful I’m ready to get out of here. School may be over for me, but Kalyn has another year left before heading off to college.

  That thought doesn’t sit well with me. I made a vow to myself to wait until her eighteenth birthday to tell her how I feel. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my parents, it’s that once you make a promise, you don’t fucking break it. And I don’t intend on breaking mine.

  Kalyn won’t be able to handle what I want with her just yet. She’s still reeling from the loss of her gran, and if I were to drop a bomb on her now about emotions and relationships, it would only send her over the edge.

  Even though she flirts, I know she’s not ready. She’s playing with fire, and if I were to give in, she’d only get burned. And the thought of her hurting makes me feel sick.

  “Hey, Cass.” Kalyn’s voice comes from behind me before she launches onto my back like a goddamned spider monkey. I chuckle at her excitement and carry her to my car with people watching. The other students have noticed our friendship, some have commented on it, but I never admit to anything.

  Yes, I do warn guys off her, but only because I know she’s too fragile right now to get into physical and emotional shit with anyone, including me.

  “What’s got you so damn excited?” I let her down when we reach my Jeep before opening the door for her.

  “Tonight,” she tells me as if that should be answer enough. But when I arch my brow, she rolls her eyes at me. “We’re doing the barbeque ribs for everyone. You promised.”

  “Shit.” I forgot.

  “Sometimes, I wonder how old you really are,” Kalyn taunts me, tangling her fingers in my hair. Even though it’s buzzed short, she still loves to tell me I have gray hair.

  “Keep that pretty mouth shut, Kaly, or I’ll cancel the ribs,” I threaten, causing her mouth to pop open, and the O makes everything south of my belt buckle throb with need.

  Jesus, I need to sort that out before tonight. She does things to me. Only a few more months, and she’ll be eighteen. It will be okay. I know it will.

  I drive her home while she changes the music a few hundred times as we make our way through the town and up to the Narro mansion. When I pull up, Kalyn sighs.

  “What’s up?”

  “I don’t know. There’s a car here I don’t recognize,” she whispers, her focus on the Aston Martin parked behind her father’s Bentley. “I don’t like when they bring friends home. As long as it’s not some shrink who’s here to try to help me,” she sneers, air quoting help me with disdain clear on her pretty face.

  “Hey.” I reach for her arm, catching her attention. “If they want you to get better, I think that’s a good thing.”

  “I’m not sick, Cassian.”

  “I didn’t mean like that,” I tell her. “But talking to someone helps.”

  “Talking to you does,” she throws back easily before pushing open the door. “I’ll see you later.” She gets out before I can say anything more as guilt niggles at me. I hate seeing her so sad. And even though I do listen
to her when she wants to talk, I’m no professional.

  But then again, who knows if some shrink can help.

  Flicking on the radio, I head home with Ollie singing “Fading Away” from the speakers. The gentle rap makes my chest tighten as I take in the lyrics. Everything he says is true, and for a long while after I’ve parked, I lean back in my seat and think about just how fucked-up life can be at times.

  By the time I head into the kitchen, I grab a beer and swig down a few mouthfuls, and I realize I want something stronger. But I don’t pour a stronger drink because the moment I get lost in alcohol, I won’t be there for her. She needs me more than I need this. I finish my beer and head upstairs.

  My phone buzzes when I walk into my room, and I pull the device from my pocket to find Kalyn’s name flashing at me. I don’t think twice before I answer.

  “What’s up, Kaly?”

  A sob from the other side has my hackles rising. I’m ready to rush out to the car if she asks me to. I’ve always been ready to save her from whatever she’s going through, and maybe that’s been my mistake, but she saved me, so I can’t turn my back on this girl.

  And even if I thought I could, I know I wouldn’t because, after all this time, she’s burrowed herself in my heart. We’re not just friends anymore; we’re so much fucking more.

  “My folks want us to move,” she whispers as pain laces her words, which only seems to lance my chest. “They’re even talking about leaving in a couple of weeks.”

  “What? No. You can’t leave. You have school.” My argument is pointless because her parents can have her move schools easily. “You can’t.” My voice falls to a whisper as I try to pull air into my lungs. It’s a struggle. The thought of Kalyn not being in Thorne Haven, not seeing her every day, it hurts, it aches.