Page 109 of Heart Sick Hate

Echo pushed past that barrier. She used her golden eyes to see right through. She witnessed every rotten inch of my soul and asked me for more.

She hasn’t said she loves me yet, but I hold onto that hope in her eyes. The softness she only ever shows me. How she hands me her body because she doesn’t know how to say the words out loud.

It’s terrifying, I get it. I’m scared of loving her too. It’s a weakness, and those are dangerous. If there’s one thing I learned from my father, it’s to not let anyonehold something over you. That’s how enemies win. How empires fall.

But I’d burn to the ground for that girl.

I walk into my father’s house, and each time I do, it feels emptier. This place is as hollow as his soul.

His staff bustles around, cleaning and polishing unused tables and furniture. There are so many of them and only one of him, so I can’t imagine how they keep busy, but they’re good at pretending. My father is a lot of things, but he’s not cheap. And he pays them well.

A few nod at me as I walk past, while the others pretend not to notice. Some faces are familiar, others aren’t.

I make my way to his office and find Adam standing beside the desk with his arms around Lakeyn. Her blonde hair is nearly white in this dark room, much like the shade of Echo’s on one side.

Every sight.

Every thought.

I circle back toher.

Lakeyn is smiling, and I’m not sure what my grumpy brother could have possibly said to draw that reaction, but it lights her up from her cheeks to her eyes.

She’s too sweet for him. Nice in the kind of way that others use against them. It’s no wonder he’s overly possessive and practically a stalker. Sometimes its necessary.

Darkness drinks light.

Purity is chased by ruin.

It doesn’t matter that I’m not religious. I read enough of the Bible to be clear on temptation. The forbidden thingsare what we want the most. And all it takes is one taste to be lost forever.

One kiss from Echo’s lips.

One moan vibrating in her chest.

One statement—I want you.

When Adam spots me, he relaxes his grip on Lakeyn and gives her a kiss on the temple.

She glances over, her honey eyes darting between us, before she tips up and kisses him on the lips.

Adam isn’t an affectionate person. He doesn’t even shake hands unless it’s a necessary part of a business transaction. But Lakeyn brings out another side of him. And something about how she trusts him makes me hope I can too.

Rhett might be Dad’s favorite in some regards, but Adam holds influence over his finances, and nothing means more to dear old Dad than money.

“I’ll see you at lunch.” Adam squeezes Lakeyn a final time, before letting her go.

There might as well be an invisible cord pulling as she walks away from him because his entire demeanor changes. Any warmth snuffed out the moment his girlfriend disappears through the door.

Girlfriend.

I’ve never wanted one. Never understood the point of committing myself to a single person. But fuck, I would love to make Echo mine.

Adam circles the desk and drops into the large leather chair, sitting back, relaxed as ever. “You wanted to talk.”

The confidence I wear when I’m standing in the ring before a fight is the same he projects in his five-thousand-dollar suit. Miles apart but common ground. Calmness in our own element.

Ruthless in our own ways.

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