Page 4 of Savage Hate
A third guy pokes his head over the other’s shoulder, and his eyebrows shoot up as he takes me in. He’s the most beautiful of the trio, with shaggy, light brown hair, golden eyes, and pale skin. There’s a chilling, predatory stillness about him. Something almost otherworldly.
“What are you doing here, Lennon?” the third guy asks, and my name on his lips startles me.
They must know me from high school, but I certainly don’t remember any tall, muscular, tatted guys at Ravenwood.
“You know who I am?” I ask, looking between them.
The first guy hasn’t taken his eyes off me, and his expression is now showing a mix of hatred and loathing. Narrowing his eyes, he steps off the landing so that he’s right in front of me.Too close to me.I step back, but he takes another intimidating step forward. Tall—he’s so tall. They all are. Suddenly, I’m acutely aware of the fact that I’m surrounded by three giant, strange men.
“Of course, we know who you are,” the first guy growls. “Which is why, and I mean this with all of my heart, I am asking you to get the fuck out of here.” His voice is so deep that I nearly feel it reverberating in my bones.
Before I can process his words, he turns around and slams the door in my face.
“What the hell,” I whisper, shaking my head. Just as I turn to walk back upstairs, loud, heavy metal music begins to blast through the speakers.
Great.
I’m still shaking my head as I close my apartment door behind me. How did they know who I was? Why did they seem like they hated me? I havezeroidea who they are. Perhaps I’d met them with Wright at some point? No… they weren’t the kind of guys my ex-fiancé would socialize with…
My phone pings. It’s past midnight, so I have no idea who could be trying to contact me, except…
Sighing, I open my mom’s text.
Glad you’re settled in. I’ll be back this weekend and we can have lunch together.
Her casual lunch suggestion irritates me. For one, my life is falling to fucking pieces right now. Everything I once knew and loved is in tatters. I’m broke and alone, with no job or prospects for where to live, or how I’ll afford to stay alive. Two, I’m her only child, and I haven’t seen her since my father’s funeral nearly two years ago.
Swallowing the lump in my throat, I walk to the kettle to make a pot of herbal tea. It’s not like she’s ever been the epitome of maternal warmth. She couldn’t even find time in her schedule to welcome me back to Greythorn.
In the same week, I found out the house IthoughtI co-owned with Wright is actually not my house at all in the legal sense. And all those “friends” I’d made over the last few years? Gone at the first whisper of trouble. They were Wright’s friends, after all. I didn’t exactly blame them for choosing his side.
I had nothing, and no one.
A tear springs free from the corner of my eye, and I swipe at it angrily as the floor vibrates with the bass of the heavy metal.
Fuck this.
Fuck all of this.
Coming back to Greythorn was a terrible idea.
three
Silas
I disguise my shaking hands by jamming them into the pockets of my jeans. Nodding my head to the ridiculous music, I look over at Damon and Jude, who are casually playing a game of cards on the reception desk. Ignoring them, I walk over to the window, taking another sip of beer and watching the summer mist begin to cling to the town square and the park in the middle of it all.
Lennon Rose.
I never thought I’d see her again, but there she fucking was, in all her gorgeous glory. Because holy fuck, she definitely grew up. I suppose I did, too. But Lennon? Tall, blonde, probably a little too thin—which explained the bags under her eyes, and the fact that she was back in Greythorn. Her voice… it brought back memories of our time at Ravenwood Academy, and the last time I saw her at the graduation party.
Last I heard, she was going to marry some rich fuck in New York. I was looking forward to never seeing her again. My life was here now, despite the haunting memories.Despitehow she’d tainted and tarnished my adolescence. I’d left Boston against my will, but I’ve made do since being back, discovering that Greythorn was never the issue–Lennon Rosewas the issue.
But now she was here to shit all over everything, just like she always did.
I can’t help the fury that roils under my skin at the memory of graduation night, because fuck her, and her perfect legs, and her perfect tits. Double fuck the delicate, heart-shaped face and the long, shapely legs.
But no.
