by Ashley Jade
“That’s not gonna work. Not only will it make him suspicious, but he’s supposed to be giving me a phone today, remember?”
Those blue orbs darken as he closes the distance between us. “I don’t like it.”
“I’m not over the moon about it either, but it’s part of the plan.” I open my closet and pull out a jacket. “Ready?”
“Not yet.” He holds up a black object. “I want you to keep this on you at all times.”
“What is it?”
He presses a button and a blade snaps up. “A knife.” He gestures to the curve. “See that angle?”
I nod.
“It’s specifically designed to do some damage. If he ever hurts you again, I want you to use it. If anyone hurts you, I want you to use it. Understand?”
“How am I supposed to conceal a knife?”
He grins as he pulls something lacy out of his pocket. “This should do the trick.”
Chapter 32
Eden
“This shouldn’t take long.”
If I wasn’t so nervous, I’d laugh. Most of the week has already flown by without a hitch, but today’s the debate.
Something Cain excels at.
And even though I know Damien can hold his own, I don’t want Cain to blindside him. And by blindside—I mean get Damien so riled up he beats the crap out of him…again.
I’d be a lot less worried if they didn’t have to be holed up in a conference room together. However, it’s tradition for the two candidates to be secluded without any distractions for a few minutes prior to a debate. It’s supposed to make it easier for them to clear their heads and focus.
I can feel Cain’s stare boring holes into us as Damien plants a soft kiss on my inner wrist.
The small teasing smile on Damien’s lips makes it clear he’s doing it intentionally to get a rise out of Cain.
The debate hasn’t even started and already it feels like I’m standing in the middle of one.
“Some things never change,” a woman behind me drawls.
“Go away, Katrina,” Margaret snaps.
I have no idea who this Katrina woman is, but if Margaret hates her, I’m a fan.
Katrina takes a sip of the drink she’s holding. “Someone’s bitter they aren’t the cat’s meow.” Her eyes ping pong between Damien and Cain. “Or should I say dogs.” Her gaze cuts to me. “Fighting over a bone.”
Margaret scowls. “Don’t make me call security.”
Katrina rolls her eyes and holds her hand out to me, ignoring Margaret’s threat. “Hi, darling. I’ve heard so much about you. That article in the newspaper didn’t do you justice, though. You’re even prettier in person. It’s almost uncanny.”
Beside me, Damien tenses. Across from me, Cain’s jaw tics.
Raising an eyebrow, I shake her hand. “Thanks, I think. And you are?”
“Katrina. I’m Cain’s high school sweetheart.” She winks at Damien. “And Damien’s—”
“I screwed her in a shed once,” Damien declares.
Yeah, not such a big fan now.
“Technically it was twice. But who’s counting?”
“How’s your stepdaughter?” Cain spits.
Katrina flutters her eyelashes. “Oh, didn’t you hear? She’s been found. Turns out she went to Vegas with a couple of girlfriends.” She crinkles her nose at him. “It completely slipped my mind.”
“Probably because you’re a lush,” Margaret chimes in.
“Careful, Margaret. My husband is the assistant district attorney.” She looks at me. “My condolences by the way.”
“Tha—”
“My father’s the governor,” Margaret squeaks.
Cain pinches the bridge of his nose. “Now that we know everyone’s family tree, can you excuse us?” He gestures to himself and Damien. “We have a debate to focus on here.”
Damien’s pupils harden. “I’m ready when you are.”
Anderson, who’s getting sweatier by the second in his corner, approaches us. “Debate starts in fifteen. You’re supposed to be in conference room A.”
Damien looks at me. “Are y—”
“Don’t worry about her, sugar,” Katrina says. “I’ll keep your girl company during your little debate.” She winks at Cain. “Or is she your girl? Do you two keep a schedule?”
“Thanks for the offer, but I’m good.” I give Damien’s hand a squeeze. “I’m gonna go grab a seat. Break a leg.”
“Smart thinking, honey,” she calls out. “The last girl who got between them ended up dead.”
Chapter 33
Damien
“So, pray tell, what have you got planned for us this evening? Another one of your riveting speeches?” Cain quips as we enter the conference room.
“Not sure,” I counter. “I was thinking a little blackmail and murder?” I rub my jaw. “You know, the usual…for you.”
He snorts. “Please. If you haven’t said anything by now, it’s because you don’t have the balls.” A peculiar gleam lights his eyes. “Or perhaps it’s something else.”
He wants a reaction from me, but I won’t give him one. Instead, I lean against the wall with my hands in my pockets, silently watching in amusement because he’s about to make a fool of himself.
I know Cain better than anyone.
I valued him when I shouldn’t have.
I pitied and loved him when he didn’t deserve it. So much I hated myself for it.
But even more than that—I’ve studied him intently.
Cain Carter is a brilliant man. He’s a master at sensing what people need and giving it to them when it suits his needs. Which makes him incredibly clever and charming when he wants to be.
But the emperor has one fatal flaw. A blind spot that everyone else but him can spot from a mile away.
His obsession with himself…and getting what he wants.
There is no pedestal higher than the one Cain puts himself on…
While he pisses on everyone below.
Unfortunately for him, his pedestal is about to come crashing down.
And when it finally does, he’ll see me standing there with a smile on my face…while I watch him burn in the flames.
Slowly, he walks toward me. A man on a mission. “I still think about it, you know.”
“What’s that?”
“Our history.” He gets close to my face. “The things we used to do together.” His hand descends, stopping on my zipper. “How much you wanted me.” He smirks. “Feels like you still do.”
What he feels isn’t desire…it’s anticipation for his downfall.
The sound of him tugging my zipper down is almost obscenely loud in the quiet room. “Is this what you came back for?” Reaching inside my pants, he gives my dick a firm squeeze. “Your sick obsession with me.”
I stay silent as he strokes me from root to tip. “It’s why I let you borrow her.” He laughs darkly. “I thought maybe you’d like to share again. Just like old times.”
I keep my expression impassive. “I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m not into sharing anymore.” I trace the edges of his lips with my thumb. “I want all or nothing.”
“Is that so?” He kneels before me. “What happens after you get it? Will you concede?”
Licking my lips, I wrap my hand around the back of his neck, guiding his open mouth to my dick. “Why don’t you find out?”
Moist heat covers my shaft as he swallows me down.
I start to smile…until I see a quick flash of blonde hair through the crack in the door.
Gripping the back of Cain’s head, I shove my dick down his throat as far as it will go. When his gags turn to retches, I release him and give him a swift kick in the nuts.
“When I said I wanted all or nothing, it wasn’t you I was referring to.”
He rolls backward, grabbing his crotch. “You son of a bitch.”
“Enjoy your debate, Cain.” I step over him and head for the door. “I enjoyed mine.”
“Well,
enjoy it while it lasts,” Cain spits. “Because if I lose Eden…you lose her, too.”
“I know.”
Therein lies my own blind spot.
The curveball in my otherwise flawless plan.
Chapter 34
Eden
“Why don’t you find out?” Damien advises as he proceeds to lure Cain to his…
Holy fucking shit. This isn’t happening.
I slam my eyes shut, convinced I’m imagining things.
But I’m not, because when I open them, Cain’s mouth is still wrapped around Damien’s cock.
Mind spinning, I back away from the door. I’ve seen more than enough.
I clutch my chest as an array of feelings hit me in rapid succession, like darts to a board. Betrayal, jealousy, anger.
And one I haven’t felt since that night on the balcony. Fear.
The last girl who got between them ended up dead.
Katrina’s statement was ominous enough, but after witnessing this?
My feet move of their own accord, as if they no longer trust my head to do the thinking for me. And honestly? I don’t blame them because I’m having a hard time trusting myself after falling into their trap.
Because that’s exactly what this is. There’s no other explanation. If Damien loved Cain so much he’d kill Cain’s family…there’s nothing stopping him from doing the same to me.
Because I’m in the way. Because Cain wants me out of the way.
Jesus. Who knows? They’ve volleyed me back and forth so much it’s enough to drive a sane person crazy.
A horrifying thought hits me. What if Damien’s a jealous, manipulative liar? He was definitely threatening my therapist on that tape.
Maybe none of it was real? Oh, God. Maybe Cain’s innocent?
His assault in the bathroom isn’t something I can excuse, and I won’t…but there’s a chance I’ve been on the wrong side this entire time and assisting the wrong man.
Cain said Damien knew things about his past and was using it to blackmail him.
Before now, I couldn’t think of a single reason Cain would want to punish Damien for killing the people who abused him. It didn’t make sense.
But if Damien and Cain did certain things in the past, and Damien’s intentionally holding it against him now, while he’s running for mayor…I can understand Cain’s anger.
Damien warned me he only did things for personal gain and when it was over between us, I’d be grateful.
But he was wrong. I’m not grateful. I’m fucking hurt.
Because I made the crucial mistake of catching feelings for a man I shouldn’t have…again.
The gruesome feeling in my stomach intensifies. Damien played me like a goddamn fiddle.
Maybe he played Cain like one too? Or…maybe they’re both in cahoots with each other and they like torturing women?
No matter what it is, I don’t want to stick around to find out.
“Eden,” Damien calls out behind me.
I run faster. If I never see him again, it will be too soon.
He wants me gone so badly. I’m gone.
Damien and Cain can have each other. Or fend for themselves. Either way, I no longer give a shit. I’m out. I’m done. I’m through.
Fuck Cain. Fuck Damien. Fuck them both.
My heart will heal eventually. Or maybe it won’t. It doesn’t matter. I only need the physical organ to survive.
I won’t end up dead like that woman.
I won’t be part of their sick game any longer.
I’m a player, not a pawn.
A strong arm wraps around my waist and a large hand clamps over my mouth before I’m dragged backward.
I sink my teeth into Damien’s hand, struggling against his hold as he wrenches me through the open door of an empty conference room, then kicks it closed behind him.
It’s a straight-up brawl as we tumble to the floor. One that ends with him on top of me, pinning one of my arms to the carpet.
Too bad he chose the wrong arm.
Damien was right about one thing, the knife he gave me is good for self-defense. The sick fuck almost looks proud as I hold it up to his neck…until it dawns on him that I have every intention of using it.
“Give me a chance to explain. If you still want to take a stab at me after, be my guest.”
“I don’t take orders from you.”
Or anyone else. I never will again.
“I know what you’re thinking. I can’t say I blame you, because I’d be thinking the same fucking thing. But I need you to listen to me.”
“No—”
He places my free hand on his heart. It’s pumping so fast it’s practically galloping out of his body. “This isn’t a trick. This thing between us, whatever it is—is real. It might not have started that way, and it sure as fuck wasn’t supposed to end up this way…but it’s the truth.”
Stupid, traitorous heart. “Start talking.”
“Cain and I became friends during our senior year of high school.”
I should stab him just for thinking I’m that dumb. “What I saw looked like way more than friendship.”
He nods. “Yeah, it was.” His voice drops. “For one of us.”
I’m not sure what to make of the expression on his face. There’s something breaking through the surface. Something I haven’t seen from him before.
It catches me by the throat when it hits me.
Pain. The kind you can’t fake. The kind I know.
“You love him.”
“I did.” He holds my gaze. “Not anymore, though. Not since he betrayed me.”
I slide the knife back into my garter. His guard is down for the first time since I’ve known him, and it’s compelling enough I’ll risk the potential consequence.
“What happened?”
He closes his eyes, it’s as if the memory was physically slashing right through him. “Cain fascinated me. Not because he had money or because he was popular. But because I felt something I hadn’t felt with a single soul before him.”
“What?”
He looks down at me. “A connection.”
Something in my chest dislodges. As much as I want to hate him and judge him…I can’t. Because I get it. We had a similar upbringing.
And when you spend your life being ignored by the person who’s supposed to provide, love, and care for you…it leaves you with a gaping hole inside.
A hole you’re equally desperate and petrified to fill. Because the fear of neglect is a living, breathing entity. It lingers in the shadows. Creeps its way into everything you do. It’s your only constant companion.
It makes sense now why Damien asked me if I believed in ghosts.
Because that’s exactly what it’s like. You walk, talk, and breathe, but you never feel. People don’t see you and you don’t see them. They become figurines made of glass. Stand-ins made of cardboard.
Touch is cold. Taste is bitter. Air is suffocating.
Because it’s all you’ve ever known. It’s what you’ve become accustomed to.
You wouldn’t know real if it hit you upside the head with a steel bat because you’ve never felt anything tangible before.
How could you? You never learned how to form a simple, basic human connection.
Until one day, the impossible happens. Someone comes along, picks you up from the rubble, and dusts you off.
They look into your eyes…and they see you. They see you in a way no one else ever has. No one’s ever tried to.
Suddenly, the world is different. Colors are vibrant. Sounds are clearer. Air is sweeter.
The dead thing in your chest starts to beat.
You’re alive. For the very first time.
Not wanting to lose that, you hold on to them with everything you have. Hell, even some things you don’t.
It doesn’t matter. You’re addicted. Obsessed. You need them like a heart needs a beat. You need them to function.
You’d do anything and risk everything for th
em. Including your soul.
Cain Carter was that person for me.
But in a strange twist of fate—it turns out he was Damien’s person first.
And now here we are…trying to put the pieces together.
Damien’s face goes slack. “I thought we were kindred spirits. He did fucked up things and had the same outlook I did. Only, unlike me—he hid it from others and wore a mask. But the only way you’d know was if you watched him closely enough. The way I did for months.”
“You stalked him?”
“I did,” he states matter-of-factly. “I was intrigued. I’d never met anyone like him before…like me before. Up until then, I was a lone wolf.” His throat bobs on a swallow. “But the more I watched him, the more the feeling in my gut got worse.”
“What kind of feeling?”
“Like he was a bomb about to detonate. The things he did…his aggression was like nothing I’d ever seen. Every day the kid seemed like he was battling an internal war. He was miserable.”
“Because of all the abuse.”
“Yeah. Seemed that way.”
My heart contracts. “So what happened? Obviously, you guys became friends…and stuff.”
“I inserted myself into his life. Katrina, the woman you met before, was Cain’s high school sweetheart. I fucked her in the shop shed during lunch. Rumors were circulating and I knew he’d eventually stumble upon us…and stumble upon us he did. They broke up shortly after that.”
“That’s…” I’m at a loss for words.
There’s not an ounce of regret on his face. “He didn’t love her. She was just another prop in his life. He wasn’t even upset.” His brows knit together. “Soon after we became friends. I figured if I could help him alleviate some of the anger he had…he’d be better off.”
“Alleviate his anger how?”
A small smile unfurls. “I think you know me well enough to answer that yourself.”
“You fucked him.”
“Not at that point. Wasn’t really my thing. Wasn’t against it—I just preferred a lot of pussy with a side of dick. I liked sharing. Specifically, watching the chick I was fucking, fuck someone else…while I fucked them. Part of it was the competition. The other part was sheer thrill and my own perversions.”
