They find strength in their vicious comments. I’m almost certain that if I were to see them face to face, they’d fake a smile and attempt to be friendly. I’m about to close the app when a message pops up in my inbox. I shouldn’t answer, I shouldn’t even look at it, but curiosity gets the better of me.
Tapping the icon, I gasp at the name that greets me—FinnT. It can’t be him. But when I tap on the profile, it is indeed my future husband. I’ve scrolled through his profile before, careful not to heart one of his photos, so he doesn’t know I’ve been stalking him.
When I open the message again, I read his words.
You’re up late princess. Shouldn’t you be getting your beauty sleep?
I wonder if he’s trying to goad me. When we met at the graveyard, he didn’t seem interested in talking to me. He was polite, but there was ice in his tone. I ponder my response for a moment before I tap out a reply.
Beauty sleep is only for those who need it.
I have a feeling he thinks I’m like all the other girls who show off their perfect side. Maybe he knows I’m hiding pain behind the smiles and the filtered images. Maybe that’s why he seemed aloof when we met. If I’m going to spend the rest of my life with him, I would want him to feel something for me, something other than disdain. Maybe this is the way we’ll connect.
Like I thought, a perfectly poised princess. I wonder… Is there a humble core to the over-confident veneer?
His question confirms my suspicions. He thinks I’m like every other influencer out there. I’m far from over-confident. I was taught to never show weakness, so I don’t. But I can’t trust him to show him the real me. Not yet.
It will take time, but when I finally arrive at his home, Finn will find out I’m nothing like the profile he’s clearly been stalking. A small smile tugs at my lips when I think about him scrolling through my photos.
Never judge a book by its cover, Mr. Thorne.
I hit send and shut off my phone. I’ll leave him with that to ponder for a while. I should get some sleep. Once I slip under the covers, I close my eyes and nuzzle into my pillow. This will be the last time I sleep in this bed. And starting tomorrow, I’ll be in an entirely new home, with a new family.
And I’m not sure I’m ready.
3
FINN
My frustration from last night has kept me up. I couldn’t sleep, and as the sun rises on another day, I’m tense. Stalking into my attached bathroom, I turn on the shower and strip off my sweatpants. The moment I step under the spray, I close my eyes and drop my head forward. The pinpricks of warmth massage my shoulders and neck, but it does nothing to ease the tension that’s taken a hold of me.
I shouldn’t have messaged her last night, but as I scrolled through those perfect photos, I couldn’t help myself. I’m angry at the world, but more at my father, who’s forcing this on me. I should go to London, let Cassian deal with the princess when she arrives, but that wouldn’t be fair to my brother.
I may be a dick most times, but I love my family. The question is, can I love a girl I’ve only just met? No. There’s no way I can do this, and she’s… special. There’s something about her that intrigued me when we met. It was as if she was hiding behind a mask. Her gaze locked on mine, but in those dark eyes, I recognized demons. The same darkness that she may find resides in Thorne Manor.
I reach the kitchen to find it empty, and I’m thankful for the reprieve from people. The house is generally busy with staff, but today, it’s as if they’ve left the house to the ghosts that dance down the hallways in the witching hour. I grab a mug and set it under the drip, flicking on the button, I wait until the machine stops.
“I didn’t think I’d see you awake so early.” His voice comes from behind me. The voice of a ghost that has haunted my every waking minute, and one that has appeared in my dreams since we first met seven years ago.
“I didn’t think you’d be in the house,” I tell him as I turn to face the boy who became a man before my very eyes. My father would call him the help, but he isn’t just staff. And that’s what dad, nor my brothers know. I’ve kept it a secret for so long, I don’t know how to be anything else to him than a hidden truth.
His black hair is buzzed short against his scalp. Smooth, tanned skin is darkened with ink from his shoulders to his wrists, and the one on his neck that matches a dying rose, reminds me of why he got it only a year ago. It was when I told him we could never be public.
His lips are perfectly pouty, just like Zaria’s. His silver eyes pierce me as he watches me for a long, silent moment. They hold so many secrets. Even mine. He’s never forced the issue about us, and he hasn’t ever given me an ultimatum. But he has watched me traipse in and out of this house, as well as every fucking party with a girl on my arm. And even so, he never once acted as if he was jealous.
He came to me at a time I needed someone. My brothers were always there for me, but I needed a distraction. My mind craved something more, something darker. And that’s when Jarred Beaumont walked into my life and brought his demons to play with my own.
“I needed to see how you’re doing after meeting your wife.” There is a biter edge to his tone I’ve never heard before. His eyes shimmer with unsaid emotion. My chest tightens involuntarily because I wasn’t expecting it to hurt. I’ve had my heart broken before when I lost Eloise. She was my best friend, and I loved her more than I ever expected to. When she died, I lost myself. Nobody knows the truth of what happened to her. They blamed Creed Haven, my brother Damien’s best friend. But it wasn’t him. He took the fall for something that was never his doing.
“She’s not my wife,” I finally bite out as I clench my teeth. My jaw tightens when the corner of Jarred’s mouth tips upward. He stalks into the room, making a beeline for me. When he reaches the counter where I’m standing, he leans forward, his face in mine, our mouths inches apart. The heat of him blazes across me, and his lips part on a sentence shocks me.
“She will be, and when you’re fucking her one day, I know you’ll be thinking of me.” He steps back after delivering the truth in a harsh whisper.
“Jealousy doesn’t look good on you, Jarred,” I tell him, attempting to school my features, and I pray it works. I don’t want him to be angry with me. This isn’t my choice. If I could decide, I’d tell my father that I’m bisexual. I wouldn’t hide the truth because I want the world to know I’m in love with Jarred Beaumont, but I can’t. Not when I know what Father will do, he’ll send Jarred away.
“And lying doesn’t look good on you, Finn,” he sneers as his top lip curls with disgust, and the glint of his lip ring sparkles in the light that shines from the kitchen window. It bathes him in a soft, yellow glow, which only seems to make my little monster shimmer with intent. “Perhaps I should leave.” His words are low, nothing more than a breath, but I feel them right down to my soul, as if he’s taken a blade and stabbed me right through my core.