Dirty Little Secrets (Kings of Bolten 1)

I reached out for him, and he pulled me into his arms and planted a kiss on my lips which sent butterflies careening recklessly through my body.

“Be happy, OK?” he whispered, cradling my face.

“Is this the last time.?”

“I think it has to be, princess. There’s a lot of shit going on. Just. . .remember what I said, OK? Be safe.”

I nodded, my chest aching at the realization this was over before it had even started.

“For the record, I’ve never been so happy in my life as I’ve been in the short amount of time I’ve had with you. I’m sorry,” he said thickly. “I’m just not a good guy.”

“I’m not a good girl,” I murmured back.

He gave me a gentle, sad smile. “You’re the best girl, Bianca.” He pressed his lips to mine again before Aubrey urged us to hurry.

I stepped away from him, feeling sick to my stomach.

“When you get the chance, princess, run. Far and fast.”

I nodded at him, not questioning it. He was a lord. Clearly he knew something I didn’t.

“Don’t fucking look back.”

I paused at the doorway, my heart hurting because this felt like the end of something that could’ve been epic. He stared back at me, despair on his face.

“Come on, Bianca.” Aubrey grabbed my arm and pulled me away.

Fallon never looked away.

And then the door closed, sending tears down my cheeks as Aubrey tugged me quickly down the hall.

Thirty-Four

Levin

Bianca crossed her legs as she sat down on my bed three days after she’d disappeared on Vincent. I’d listened to Vincent read her the riot act after he’d found her. Much to his credit, he’d called me instead of Dom. I assumed he just didn’t want to fuck up anything.

I wasn’t surprised it had only been a few hours before Bianca had gone back on her word. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind she’d run off to meet with her mystery guy.

Knowing that only pissed me off.

“Are we going to watch a movie?” She looked up at me, a hopeful expression on her face. I fucking hated how innocent she always looked even when I knew her sexy ass was plotting something that would piss us off.

“No,” I grunted, leaning against my dresser. I hated that she was in my room. My place was big, but it felt tiny whenever she was there. Like I couldn’t breathe. Like I couldn’t get far enough away from her penetrating stare.

She frowned. “What the hell are we going to do all night? Dom said you had to keep me company tonight, and since you didn’t want to be in my room. . .” Her voice trailed off for a minute. “You can’t lean against your dresser all night.”

I can, and I will.

She rolled her eyes and pushed her shoes off before getting to her feet and padding over to her backpack. Hungrily, I watched as she bent over in her tiny uniform skirt and rifled around before she straightened up with two bags of unpopped popcorn in her hands. Wordlessly, she stuck them inside my microwave.

Night had fallen not too long ago, and Dom and Vincent had run out to take care of something for Dom’s dad. They weren’t on campus, leaving the babysitting to me, despite me pleading to trade spots with Vincent and go do whatever Dom’s dad needed. Hell, I’d rather be ripping heads off people right then than be stuck in my room with Bianca.

My stomach gave a soft gurgle as the smell of buttery popcorn filled the air. Bianca rummaged around in my apartment-sized fridge for a moment before pulling out a small bottle of apple juice and raising her brows.

I grunted but said nothing.

I’d noticed her drinking apple juice lately at lunch. I didn’t know what had possessed me to pick some up out of the vending machines earlier, but I had, and now she was looking at me like I’d saved her damn life.