Total pages in book: 98
Estimated words: 95144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95144 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 317(@300wpm)
Melanie turned to me and gave me a look I’d never seen before. Never once in our time together had she been angrier than she was right now, with fire in her eyes and my body as the kindling. She was still for a second before she pushed off me and got to her feet.
I was cold the second she was gone.
Then she shook. Shook hard. Shook like she didn’t know how to channel so much rage.
She made her move. Her palm slapped across my face so hard that an audible smack echoed across the grounds. It was packed with more strength than I would have thought her little body could ever produce. The blow had so much momentum that it made my head turn slightly. The sting was profound the second her palm collided with my face. “Don’t talk about my sister like that, asshole.”
When I turned back to look at her, my eyes were filled with surprise.
There was no remorse on her part.
Melanie marched back to the estate, her legs moving quickly because she wanted to get away from me as fast as possible.
I watched her go and didn’t follow. My hand rubbed my cheek as I glanced at my brother, who looked completely shocked. But I brushed it off and dropped my hand because I didn’t regret what I’d said. “Kinda liked it.”
When I went to bed, she wasn’t there.
I undressed down to my boxers then checked the bathroom and the closet.
She was gone.
I went down the hallway into her old bedroom and found her there. She was in bed with the sheets pulled to her shoulder, facing the window with her back to me. Her breathing told me she was wide awake but trying to pretend she was asleep.
I knew her better than she gave me credit for.
I approached the bed and stood over her, watching her inhales increase because she knew I was there, standing over her, staring her down. My hand went to her arm and gently pulled her toward me.
Her fire obviously hadn’t died down because she twisted out of the hold instantly. “Don’t touch me.”
I continued to stand there, waiting for her to turn and look at me.
She didn’t.
I didn’t apologize.
I went around the bed to the other side, so she would be forced to look at me.
Her eyes narrowed in anger. “Leave.”
I grabbed the top of the sheets and pulled them down.
When I didn’t obey like usual, she sat up. “I said, leave.”
I got into bed beside her and pulled the sheets to my waist. “No.”
In complete bewilderment, she just stared at me, unsure what to do next now that her power had been taken from her. Then she kicked the sheets off and got out of bed. “Fine. Then I’ll go.” Her feet hit the rug, and she marched off.
I followed her.
She looked back at me in the stairway, her eyes vicious. “Stop it.”
I kept going.
She went into my bedroom and shut the door in my face. She locked it too.
That was cute.
I stepped back a couple feet then slammed my body against the door, breaking it clean off the hinges. I stepped inside and ignored the debris underneath my feet.
She looked at the door then my face, her eyes wide in disbelief.
I walked toward her. “Where you go, I go. So pick a fucking bed.”
Her blue eyes were livid. Her chest rose and fell with her deep breaths. The anger was too much for her to process, and she had no idea what to do with it. My behavior had never instilled this level of rage, and her loyalty to her sister was the only explanation for it. “I want you to leave.”
“No.” I stepped closer to her, ignoring her fury and approaching without caution.
Smoke was practically coming out of her ears.
I stood in front of her. Stood over her.
She reverted to her previous behavior and slapped me again.
I turned with the hit, aroused when I should be furious. She’d never been disobedient. She never displayed the qualities I despised. But when she did, I liked it.
“Don’t talk about my sister like that again.” Her eyes shifted back and forth as she looked into mine, her anger still rampant as if that last slap still wasn’t enough to cool her rage.
I didn’t understand why it mattered what I said. I spoke the truth. Melanie was beautiful, and Raven was garbage. She knew it, even if I never said it again. But I gave her what she wanted. “Alright.”
Her anger dimmed. “Apologize.”
“No. I meant what I said.”
Now it flared up again.
“You’re the most beautiful woman in the world. By default, every other woman is the ugliest.”
“You said Stasia is sexy and my sister is a pig.” She threw her arms down.
“In comparison. Stasia is a pig in comparison to you too.”