Heartless Hero (Crowne Point 1)

cket. Abigail said I broke her heart, but she left me. She ditched me after taking me in and making me think I belonged somewhere, finally. For no fucking reason. One minute she was kissing me, the next I was gone.

I’d remember the day forever. When I learned I was being sent away, I figured a few thousand miles was nothing.

I’m going to California, Abigail.

Good. Don’t ever fucking talk to me again.

Then she slammed the door.

She’d made me feel safe, she’d made me feel like I could let down my walls, and then she’d gutted me.

Anger rose hot and acidic up my throat.

“I don’t know what the hell you think happened, Abigail.” I tossed the bracelet on the stand. It landed with a clack. “But you abandoned me.”

Fifteen

THEO

The Crowne family jet was just one of many they owned. It was over $500 million, paid for by Crowne Industries, and used mostly for shit like this—holidays. Every summer after the Fourth of July they went on vacation, ending with a few days with their grandfather in Switzerland. It used to be Abigail’s favorite time of the year; now she looked at the massive plane with melancholy.

A pang of guilt hit me.

“You’re late,” Tansy said, arms folded, standing at the foot of the grand staircase leading to the open doors of the plane. The ocean was a steely-blue line beyond the emerald manicured lawn and tarmac that was the Crowne Hall landing strip.

Abigail sighed, not bothering to explain herself, following her mother up the steps.

Inside, Gray had already kicked up his feet, remote in hand, video game on one of the many razor thin televisions inside the plane. Next to him, a girl sat, hands in her lap, eyes down.

Abigail zeroed in on her, jaw dropping like she was going to do a classic Abigail outburst, but then Tansy stepped in the way.

“I’m sure I don’t need to worry about you this time,” Tansy said, eyes thinning to a glare. Abigail closed her mouth, nodding, and Tansy headed to the master bedroom in the back, where she would take a cocktail of pills and wake up when we landed.

I briefly wondered what had happened when I was away to make Tansy say that.

Abigail sat down, eyes on the girl next to Gray. Though she was vaguely familiar, she didn’t look like Gray’s usual conquests, with their professionally blown-out hair and even more blown-out lips. Nearly every inch of her cocoa skin was covered in fabric, from her wrists to her neck, like she’d stepped out of the Victorian era. Her curly hair was done up in a bun, but stray spirals fell in a halo across her face.

For some reason, Abigail fumed.

“Did she break your heart too?” I asked.

Abigail flinched, then turned her attention to a huge round window. There were many like it on the plane, letting in bright-white light. I drummed my fingers along my knee. Sunlight was an ethereal line along her profile.

I knew I should let it go. She was just trying to get under my skin the way I’d been getting under hers.

“How exactly did I break your heart?” I prodded.

Abigail stood abruptly, not bothering to look at me. I quickly followed. She walked past Gray playing his video game. Gray yelled when she blocked his view. She walked through the dining room, past Gemma on her phone and Horace picking something out of his nail, until she reached the bathroom.

She held the door open, glare sharp. Behind her vanity lights were hot white and a marble countertop held every assorted accoutrement the rich could possibly need.

I placed my hand on the doorframe. “What the hell do you think happened? What story have you been telling yourself?”

“I have to pee.” She slammed the door in my face, forcing me to jump back.

Abigail was in the bathroom for an hour, until Gemma knocked to be let in. I leaned against the opposite wall the entire fucking time, grinding my teeth.

“What did you eat?” Gemma yelled, slamming her fist.