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Once all the messages are transferred, I open the first one, which I can see is addressed to my uncle. There’s nothing of importance in the communication, other than to inform him that the sender has made contact with Abner.
I knew I recognized the number as soon as I saw it, and when I finally meet Grecia’s questioning gaze, I admit, “Hilary Durand may have left Tynewood, but she’s not given up on winning back her son.”
“Etienne doesn’t want her in his life. He told her?—”
“One thing you have to learn about our parents, Grecia, is that they’re not the kind of people who like to be told what to do. Unless it’s Abner giving the orders, of course.”
“So, you’re telling me that Hilary intends to return to Tynewood?”
I’ve no doubt Etienne’s mother will eventually go back home, but I have a feeling she might need my uncle’s permission first. Hilary Durand has some skeletons in her closet, and I’m pretty sure Thane knows them all. He’s probably holding something over her. It’s how he likes to operate.
“Thane is planning something,” I tell Grecia as I meet her gaze. “And I have to find him before he carries out whatever the fuck it is. My intuition tells me it’s not going to be good.”
Grecia nods, and pulling the laptop toward her, she scans the rest of the messages while I grab a refill of coffee. I take a moment to observe her. I watch as she draws her bottom lip into her mouth and locks it between her teeth while she focuses on the screen. Then she sighs, and her lips pout, full and pink, and I imagine them wrapped around my dick. My blood turns hot as it races through my veins. It’s a sensation I’ve been fighting for months whenever she’s close.
I’ve known Grecia for most of my life, but the physical response I have to her now started when we first went to college. Whenever we were in the same room, I’d find myself staring at her until Ares or Etienne would shove me and ask if I wanted to have a go at the Birchwood beauty. I would always deny any interest and tell them they were full of shit, but deep down, I knew I was burying the burning need that sprang up each time she was near me.
As the daughter of one Crown and the stepdaughter of another, I know Grecia’s life hasn’t been easy. Greg Birchwood is nothing short of an army sergeant in the way he rules his household, and Leonard Harding, her stepfather, is an asshole of note.
When Greg left, Leonard swooped in and made a play for the beautiful Geraldine Birchwood. Even I can admit Grecia’s mother is stunning. After she married Leonard, though, that’s when all the shit started. Kelli, Leonard’s biological daughter, has never got along with Grecia, and whenever they’re in the same room, they’re at each other’s throats.
Grecia glances up and catches me staring at her.
“What?” she asks as she sits back and folds her arms across her chest, revealing more of her cleavage and intensifying my desire.
I’m sure she loves taunting me. When we were back in Tynewood, it was easy to walk away and forget she existed. But now she’s here all the time, within my grasp, and it’s getting more and more difficult to ignore her.
Shrugging, I slowly sip my coffee.
“Nothing,” I eventually respond as I stand up and make my way to the door that leads to the balcony.
Stepping outside, I focus on the sun rising above the distant horizon. My headache is easing, thankfully. The early morning sky is a strange mix of colors, graduating from the dark blue of night to a deep orange that’s illuminating the world.
As I stare at the sea, the water shimmers, blue and clear, reminding me of my mother eyes. When I was growing up, everyone told me how much I looked like her. Now all I want to do is forget the resemblance exists.
The pain of learning my mother had died was excruciating for me as a young boy, but the agony of seeing her alive again, almost ten years later, was far worse. She faked her own death so she could be with my father’s brother, a man I hate. A man who was meant to be my guardian but left me to fend for myself.
I can’t begin to comprehend why she did it, but I wish she’d never come back. If she’d died in that car accident, I wouldn’t have to deal with this pain in my chest every time I think about her living, breathing, and loving Thane.
It turns out my uncle is even more ruthless than Abner, and he’s convinced the world owes him everything.
A cold shudder races through me at the thought of Thane being named a Crown and having to sit at the table with him. I know it’s what he wants. The rules have changed since we took our seats as Crowns of the Gilded Sovereign, but Ares, Etienne, Philipe, and I will never willingly give Thane that honor.
I’m nowhere near as fucked up as my uncle, but the fear I could one day turn into a tyrant like him is one of the reasons I’m wary of taking an active role in the secret society.
I still don’t know the full story, but without getting his hands dirty, my uncle managed to ensure I was left parentless, or so I thought until my mother reappeared, alive and well.
My uncle returned to Tynewood, expecting there would be a place for him in the Sovereign, but he hadn’t banked on me taking my rightful seat at the table. I know he wants what I have. He wants a Crown, but he fucked that up when he got rid of my father. He should’ve killed me, instead.
When I finally track my uncle down, I’m going to make sure he gives me every single bit of information I need, and after he does, I’m going to make sure he pays for what he did to my father.
As a Crown, I know if I need help, I can call on Etienne and Ares, even Philipe. But as much as I want to be with my brothers, I can’t. Not until I finish what Thane’s started. This is something I have to do on my own.
Glancing over my shoulder, I find Grecia watching me, and I’m reminded I’m not completely alone.
I left Tynewood because I needed space, but when Grecia followed me out here, she gave me something I wasn’t expecting—solace. I may not have taken the next step and slept with her, but it doesn’t mean I don’t want to, and I’m not sure I’ll be able to resist her for much longer.
Every time my gaze locks with hers, a magnetic spark passes between us, and I can’t stop the filthy thoughts that run through my mind. But there’s a line I’m trying not to cross with her, so instead, I lose myself in the company of other women, night after night.
