I wasn’t about to beg him to let me make a fool of myself. Humiliation heated my cheeks, chasing away the lust.
He pinched the bridge of his nose then looked up at me and growled. Growled. Like I offended him. “Goddammit, you’re infuriating.”
I pointed at my chest. “Me? I’m infuriating?”
“You’re fucking right, you are.”
I sat down on the stairs and met his eyes. “You ask for a chance then run when I offer it. I thought you wanted this. And it’s pretty obvious you do,” I said, eyeing his erection. “So, how, exactly am I infuriating? Please, Your Royal Highness, enlighten me.” I spit his title as if it burned my tongue.
“Why the hell am I even here?”
I lifted one shoulder in a careless shrug. “Because you heard I suck a good di—?”
He cut me off, nostrils flaring as his eyes grew dark. “Jesus. Is this all just one big joke to you?”
“No. It isn’t a joke. It’s my life. And I really wish you would just make up your mind what you want from me so I can do it, and you can leave me the hell alone.”
“What I want from you? You invited me here. Remember? Am I some sort of consolation prize for your little game? Let’s fuck the prince to piss off the king?”
Him? He was the consolation prize? Seriously? He came into the kitchen. He licked my finger. He asked for a night, and I was giving it to him. What the actual fark. Was he mental?
He laughed when I didn’t answer, and the fury behind it frightened me. “God, you’re just like your father.”
My father has nothing to do with this.
I stood up. “Is that supposed to be an insult?”
“What do you think?” he asked, his voice wickedly calm.
I stepped off the staircase, leaving us toe-to-toe and eye-to-eye. Well, eye-to-chest… He wanted a fight? Bring it. “I think that’s rich coming from someone who doesn’t even know me… or my father.”
It was a guess—hopeful, maybe. Wrong, probably. He acted like he had no idea who I was or what his family had done. Now, I was sure that’s exactly what it was—an act.
Sutton stood tall, driven by an unseen force hellbent on destroying me if I let it. “That’s where you’re wrong, Katarina. I know exactly who the fuck you are. And Matteo Bellizzi might have been a good father, but he was a piece of shit for a man.”
Everything stilled. The earth came to a screeching halt. My heart stopped, and I gasped for air. He used my full name. Finally, the truth came out. I should’ve known it wasn’t as simple as boy meets girl, boy wants girl, boy chases girl. Nothing with the Thorne family was ever simple. At least now I didn’t have to be disappointed that the prince hadn’t lived up to his name.
“Take it back,” I said.
He stood silent and sinister, his sharp gaze threatening to cut me open then watch me bleed.
The room started spinning. My ears rang loud, and my breath felt tight in my lungs. “Take. It. Back,” I repeated, louder this time.
“You’re trying to tell me you didn’t know what kind of man he was? That you had no idea what he did? Was he really so skilled at lying that he even had you fooled?”
“Get out!” I shouted, shoving his chest with my palms. I might as well have shoved a brick wall because he didn’t budge.
“You think the reason you have nothing is because of my father? Wake up, sweetheart. You’d have nothing without him.” He emphasized my as if all this time I’d been blaming the wrong father.
Sutton Thorne was a liar.
“I said get the fuck out!”
I no longer cared about his title or that he could throw me on the streets or toss me in jail for yelling at him this way. I wanted as far away from him as possible.
As if my silent prayer had been answered, Keaton appeared in the doorway. “What the hell is going on?”
“Get him out of here,” I spit out.
“Oh, look who it is,” Sutton said, cocking his head. “Loverboy came to save the day.” There was no emotion in his voice—no fire, no anger, just… nothing. But the possessive look in his eyes was all-consuming.
“The staff heard yelling, so they called me to come check it out.”
“How convenient,” Sutton deadpanned.
“Did he hurt you? Did he lay a finger on you? Did he fucking touch you?” Keaton asked.
A newly revived thrill glinted in Sutton’s eyes as he threw his back and laughed. “This is brilliant.” He looked at Keaton now. “Aren’t you going to ask if she touched me too?” he asked as he adjusted himself through his pants. His erection was still very evident, but he didn’t seem to care.
Bile rose in my throat at the realization that I had actually touched him there.
“I think this conversation is over,” Keaton said, his jaw clenched.
“Oh, this is far from over.” Sutton’s glare softened when he turned to me and shook his head. “You know, for someone who spends so much time in this library, maybe you should read shit that actually matters.” He nodded toward the second-floor balcony. “You could start with the royal records for the last five years.”
He walked out of the room, and Keaton followed.
“Keaton!” I yelled down the hall. Sutton went one way. Keaton went the other. Neither one of them bothered looking back. I clutched the edges of my dress between my fingers. “Keaton,” I shouted again before sinking to my knees and giving in to the tears that had been fighting to flow. Keaton never looked back.
Sutton did.
Eight
I never said I wasn’t fucked up. I was haunted by demons. Not the kind that woke you in the middle of the night and stole your screams. The kind that stole your soul, wrapping it in darkness and sucking you in until you were gone, and only emptiness remained. I was almost there. I was damn near empty.
Was Katie’s father a piece of shit? Absolutely. Did I want some makeshift Prince Charming galloping in on his size fourteen boots to save her like he was the hero and I was the villain? Fuck no. A member of my father’s guard was not about to storm in and treat me like a common criminal, as though I’d been out of line. I did nothing wrong. I spoke the truth, a truth she needed to know so she could stop hating the world and playing the victim. Everything in my gut told me not to trust Katie, but seeing her so broken and knowing it was because of me twisted me up inside. It was like her heart had been yanked out and shattered across the marble floor, and I almost ripped open my chest and handed her mine just to stop the pain.
But that would never happen because handing your heart to the enemy was suicide. And there was no mistaking that Katie was my enemy. Now that I knew the truth, now that I’d said my piece, maybe my mind could stop obsessing over having her. I just wished my body would get the memo.
I laid in bed staring at the galaxy of stars painted on my ceiling. Cool, smooth sheets kissed my hot, naked skin, and the moonlight glittered and danced from wall to wall. My cock twitched at the memory of her tiny hand stroking my length. It took every bit of willpower I possessed not to press into her hand and let her rub away the ache that she gave me. Then bend her over the couch and make her come until she cried.