Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 100493 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 100493 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 502(@200wpm)___ 402(@250wpm)___ 335(@300wpm)
She flashes me a double-sided smile. “I—”
“There you are!” Atlas breaks the conversation.
Elea’s eyes fly up to her son as he leans into me. “Come. I have to show you something that I think you might want to see.”
Every muscle in Elea’s face tightens before she nods, dismissing us.
Fucking Atlas and his stellar timing as per usual.
“Very well,” she says, shooing us away. “I won’t stop you kids.”
I ease out from under his touch as he smiles at his mom. “We’ll see you for dinner.”
My chair scrapes against the floor when I push back, and before I can put enough distance between us, Atlas catches me around the waist, leading me down the hallway.
Instead of opening the doors to my room, he pushes through the black pair beside them, and Asher fucking Jameson hits me before I even cross the threshold.
His scent is everywhere.
A billiards table sits at the center, a large TV hanging on the opposite wall. The whole room is soaked in tobacco and spice.
Atlas closes us inside. “What’d she tell you?”
I keep walking until I reach the billiards table, sinking the eight ball with my knuckle. “Nothing. She showed me baby photos of you and Asher.”
I turn to face him, crossing my legs at my ankles.
This room is almost a replica of mine. Only with emerald walls and a wrought iron staircase spiraling to a second floor.
Like every other room in this mansion, it boasts at least one floor-to-ceiling glass wall that takes in the view of the backyard. As if the person living inside it always needs reminding that he’s cold.
Ha!
“Leave, Atlas.” Asher’s order cracks across the room.
Speaking of cold.
Asher rounds the table until he’s close enough that I can count the pale stripes in his irises.
My lungs grow heavy as neither of us blinks. Is it always going to be like this between him and I? So fucking tense?
Atlas coughs once. “Ah, I don’t know if this is safe.” He shifts his weight near the door. “You sure neither of you are going to kill each other?”
Asher’s lip twitches. “Undecided.”
I shrug. “Probably.”
Atlas sighs before the door clicks closed.
I never give Atlas enough credit. Clearly, he’s trying his hardest to keep his brother alive. And even me… sometimes.
Asher searches my face, dragging his tongue over his lower lip. “Venom, whatever am I gonna do with you?”
I say nothing.
He takes another step and my eyes drop to the waistband of his sweats.
“—and I don’t mean that,” he deadpans.
I snicker, lifting a brow. “Amusing that you think I might.”
Even his jaw looks harder, like he spent the whole year grinding his teeth while thinking up new ways to kill me.
But there’s a flicker behind the scowl he wears every time I walk into a room. He hasn’t managed to bury it beneath all that hatred. Yet.
I’m guessing it’s the very thing keeping me alive.
He leans in, until his mouth is at my ear. “Might? Bet if I touched you right here.” His hips arch into me. “You’d be wet enough to change it into a would.”
He steps back. “Are you done with the lies?”
“What lies?” I answer, annoyed at the betrayal of my voice.
“Yeah. What I thought.” He turns, gesturing out the door. “You can come back when you’re done hiding shit.”
“What about your lies, Asher?” I snap, the fresh news about Parker sitting right at the edge of my brain.
Only, I can’t betray Elea. She didn’t have to give me what she did and I don’t want to punish her by being a snitch.
He shrugs, unfazed. “I never lied to you, Ivy. I remember specifically trying to tell you something right before you pulled that trigger.”
“What happened to you?” I whisper again, but as the words leave my mouth I already know the answer.
Me. The answer is me.
Betrayal fills his face, and for the first time, he lets me see it.
How am I supposed to win back his trust if he’s only ever going to see the girl who killed him?
He kicks away from the desk and crawls closer, winding my hair around his finger. “I hope you’re wearing your best mask, Venom—” he lowers his voice until the air around us thins. “—Because you’re gonna need it.”
He lets the strand of hair fall, turning his back to me. “Get out.”
CHAPTER
FOURTEEN
ASHER
I’ve barely hit the first few steps when I hear Mother’s voice.
“Asher.” She steps from the alcove beneath the stairs, arms crossed tight over her chest.
Here we fucking go. I’ve faced down avalanches that scared me less.
I halt mid-step, hand gripping the banister. “Late for you to be wandering around, isn’t it?”
She doesn’t smile.
I imagine she’s more pissed than even I give her credit for, but that’s on her. No one told her to come. In fact, we purposely tried to keep her away. Away from it all. But mainly away from Ivanya.