Page 3 of Love, Hate, Love

“Leah, I should get going,” my brother said, drawing my attention back to him. He let out a low sigh, his relief valve working overtime.

“Yep. Have a good trip.” I didn’t smile. We were all too far along for false pretenses. I couldn’t pretend Monroe hadn’t just dropped me off in the depths of hell and was now about to climb out and take the ladder with him.

He gave me a fast hug and whispered, “It’ll be over before you know it.”

The last time he’d used those words was when he was convincing me to climb through a patch of poison ivy because he’d been too lazy to walk around. It hadn’t been good then, and it would be even worse now.

Not to mention he was hugging me. We didn’t hug it out. We were more the hitting variety of siblings. If he was hugging me, I was about to die, and we all knew it.

He gave me a last pat on my back before hightailing it out of there. I stood there, listening to the sounds of his steps on the gravel like it was a funeral dirge. The car door shutting sounded like a gunshot hitting my heart. I watched the taillights disappear and forced myself not to chase after his car like a flea-ridden dog abandoned on the side of the road.

“You plan on moving, princess? I don’t have all night,” Kade said from the porch.

Yep, I was truly screwed.

Chapter2

Leah

My new wardenstood on the porch, his eyes burning up my form. I ignored him for a few more seconds. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was too stunned by my new reality to move, or because my heels had become permanently stuck in this damned gravel drive. If questioned, I’d swear it was to prove I wouldn’t jump to his command.

I lifted a foot, the ground making a little popping sound as it finally let go of my heels. Seriously, he couldn’t get this shit paved? He’d clearly come into some money.

I made my way to the porch, grabbing the suitcase my brother had forgotten as soon as he spotted Kade. I was under no illusions that this man would carry it for me. I shot him a look, making it clear what I thought of his manners.

“You’re not here on vacation, princess.”

Princess. He just loved saying that. I’d been doomed to that nickname the second my mother decided to name me Leah. I’d begrudgingly lived with it, but it had never annoyed me as much as it did coming from this man’s lips at this moment. He’d never used it when we were younger, because he’d known how I felt about it. Now he was using it for that exact reason. He might as well have poked me in the eye.

I walked the final few feet, dragging along my rolling suitcase, whose wheels were also rebelling over the gravel. By the time I got to the porch, my suitcase looked as roughed up as I did.

I glanced toward the front door of the house, wanting to get this torture session over with and find my bed. The past twenty-four hours had felt like a fifty-round bout with Mike Tyson.

Kade shook his head. “You don’t go in there unless you’re invited by me, which won’t happen.”

“Don’t worry. I’m not looking to spend any more time with you than necessary.” Claustrophobia or not, prison would’ve been better.Hellwould’ve been better. I’d spotted some new buildings on the property, so it wasn’t like I’d be stuck in a tent or something.

He turned and headed down the length of the porch, assuming I’d follow. I did because I had no other choice.

A breeze blew, dousing me in his scent. I had to stop myself from breathing deeper like a dog sniffing for scraps. He’d always smelled this good. It had been like his pheromones were concocted to tug at my insides and draw me in like a stupid, hormonal teen. I was older now and refused to let his smell suck me in again. I’d stamp out those feelings fast, even if I had to yank out my ovaries.

Farther down the porch, he opened another door.

“This is the only room of this building you are allowed to enter, and only when I’m present.” He pointed to my suitcase. “You can leave that out here. No reason to bring it in.”

He walked into an office that was overflowing with paperwork. It was piled high on every surface that lined the room. Someone needed a secretary, or an assistant. Even a few baskets or another filing cabinet.Something. I felt like the entire place was on the brink of a paperwork avalanche that might bury me alive. How did he function in here?

“Is there a problem?” he asked.

I jerked my gaze back to him. “Why would there be? You can run your business however you deem fit.” I didn’t hold back the judgment in those words. I’d never been the type to take a punch and not swing back. Being stuck here wasn’t going to change that. Being stuck in prison probably wouldn’t have either, so my odds of living through the next year were probably better here.

He watched me for a second, his face unreadable, before he took a seat behind his desk, letting the dig go. So far I’d score this round as a draw.

“Sit,” Kade said, like I was his dog. At least he pointed to a chair and not the floor.

“I’m fine,” I said, refusing to give up any points. We were still at a draw, but sitting would cost me. Even if my feet were killing me, I was not losing this first round. It set the tone for the rest of the fight to come.

I glanced at the top of his desk, which was one of the only areas not stacked a foot high with paper. A gossip rag sat front and center, withThe Devious Debutante Dodges Prisonin big, bold letters.

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