Page 145 of Monsters Wear Crowns
Instead, Kieran drove me in silence. His long black hair was tied in a ponytail, and his brown eyes focused on the road. I sat stiffly in the back seat, watching the city lights blur past. The night felt cold and empty.
When we pulled up to my building, Kieran killed the engine but didn’t move to get out. He turned slightly, his dark eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror. “You want me to come up?” he asked, his voice gruff.
I shook my head. “No. I’ll be fine.”
He didn’t look convinced. “Boss’ll want me posted outside.”
Of course, he would. Even now, Rafe couldn’t fully let go. I should’ve been angry. But instead, it just hurt. “Do whatever you want,” I said quietly, opening the door. “I don’t care.”
The lobby was empty when I stepped inside. But it didn’t comfort me. Not tonight. I made it to the elevator without breaking. Made it all the way into my penthouse without a single tear falling. But when the door clicked shut behind me, the silence felt suffocating. I dropped my bag on the table and stood there, just…breathing. My reflection stared back at me from the glass wall–rumpled, pale, eyes red-rimmed but dry.
I felt hollow.
I made it to the bathroom on autopilot. The warm water in the tub stung as I sank into it, my skin still tender from…everything. I couldn't help the flinch when I thought back to the bath I took after he…
I tilted my head back against the edge, closing my eyes. And finally, the tears came. Silent, shaking sobs that wracked my whole body. I hated myself for it. For the weakness, for the ache I couldn’t push down. But I let it happen. Because there was no one here to see me fall apart.
Except therewas.
I felt him before I heard him. That shift in the air, that subtle awareness that someone had entered the room. My eyes snapped open, and Rafe was standing in the doorway. His face was unreadable, his icy eyes locked on me.
“Rafe–” My voice cracked, but the word didn’t even make it out before I saw the flicker of regret flash across his face. I scrubbed a hand over my face, pushing the wet hair back. “I told you I needed space.”
“I know.” He swallowed hard, taking a step closer. “But I…” His voice broke. “I hate the way we left things.”
My chest ached. “Maybe you should’ve thought about that before you ra–”
“Iknow.” He cut me off. “I know, Adela. And I’m so, so sorry.”
The words hit me like a gut punch. Rafe Vaughan didn’tapologize. But there he stood, shirt rumpled, eyes filled withsomething so close to fear that it made my heart hurt.
“I’ve never felt this before,” he said quietly. “What I feel for you.” The vulnerability in his voice broke something inside me. But I wasn’t ready to forgive him. Not yet.
“Can you please leave?” I whispered, my throat tight.
He didn’t move.
“Rafe–” My voice wavered. “Please. I came back here to get away from you.” For a second, I thought he’d refuse. But then he nodded slowly and stepped back.
He paused in the doorway, his hand on the frame. “I’m so fucking sorry,” he said softly.
Then he was gone.
And I didn’t stop him.
***
RAFE
The house was quiet now. A hollow shell of everything it once was. I stepped over broken glass in the foyer, the jagged remains of the security panel still sparking faintly from where I’d ripped it out of the wall hours ago. Blood had dried on my knuckles. My suit jacket was long gone, my shirt torn, half-buttoned, and streaked with soot, ash, and sweat.
I didn’t pause until I reached the bedroom.
The bed sat untouched in the center of the destruction. The linens were rumpled–hers. Her scent still lingered on the pillows. I could almost see her there. The way she arched for me. The way she whispered my name when her walls finally came down. The way she clung to me like I was the only solid thing left in her world.
My throat tightened. Then the other memory hit. The one I couldn’t fucking push away.
Her tears. Her voice screaming for me to stop. The way she fought–not with fists, but with something worse.That look in hereyes.That terrible, hollow look that told me I had crossed a line I could never uncross.
