Ruins of Temptation (Corium University Trilogy 4)

Aspen’s eyes turn into slits, scanning my face like she is analyzing it. “Is she really?”

“Yes, she is. I’m not lying. I figured it would be best to keep an eye on her. She is somewhat of a risk, after all. I know you think she is innocent, but the fact remains, she is related to the Valentines. Quinton killed her entire family, then kidnapped and held her captive. Who is to say she isn’t going to try to hurt you?”

Aspen wants to argue, but when she opens her mouth, not a single word comes out. She knows I’m right. There is hardly anything we know about Delilah’s past.

“As long as she is not hurt.”

“No one is hurting her. I swear. She is perfectly fine and ready to start classes in a few days.”

“I believe you.” Aspen sinks back down to the bench. “I don’t know why I’m so worried about her.”

“That is also in your blood.” This time, talking about Charlotte feels more natural. It feels like something I should share with Aspen.

“Is it bad that right now I’m more interested in finding things out about the woman who gave birth to me but not the woman who actually raised me?”

“Not at all. It’s natural to want to know where you came from and why things played out in the past the way they did.”

Aspen wrings her hands nervously in her lap. “Do you remember the last time you saw her?”

I suck in a deep breath, sifting through my mind for the last memory of Charlotte. It’s all hazy, not only because it was close to twenty years ago, but I was also extremely high that day.

“I think somebody knocked at the door,” one of the guys tells me. I don’t even know his name. I let him in because he brought the good shit, and I want more of it.

“Someone go open the fucking door,” I slur, not even caring if it’s the cops or the neighbors.

One of the other guys, Tommy, I think, gets up from the couch and unlocks the door. He steps aside and reveals a woman standing in front of my door. I have to squint my eyes to see her clearly. Her long blond hair is down today, she is wearing a sunflower dress that fits her body perfectly, and she’s clutching onto her purse like she is worried someone is about to snatch It.

“Charlotte,” I croak. My mouth is so fucking dry that I can barely talk without throwing myself into a coughing fit.

“Who do we have here?” The guy next to me coos.

“That’s one fine piece of ass if you ask me,” someone else says, and the rest of the guys start laughing.

“Lucas, I need to talk to you.” Charlotte’s eyes bore into me from across the room.

“I don’t think Lucas is up for talking right now. But why don’t we have a talk in the bedroom, sweet cheeks?” Thomas grabs Charlotte’s arm and starts dragging her toward the back of my apartment.

Somewhere deep inside my mind, alarm bells go off, but my brain is so fogged up from my drug binge that the thought drowns within it.

“Lucas!” Charlotte’s panicked voice pierces through once more before a wave of high washes it away again.

I’m catapulted back to reality with the most unsettling feeling in my gut. I haven’t thought about that day in a very long time, and it’s taken me this long to realize what was actually happening.

Did she come to tell me she was pregnant? Did I let my friends rape her while I got so high I don’t even remember the rest of the night?

Fuck.

“Are you okay?” Aspen asks, concerned, her voice so similar to Charlotte’s.

“I’m sorry, I’ve got to go.” I jump up and jog out of the gym. I don’t even know where I’m going. All I know is I have to get away from Aspen. I can’t bear looking in her eyes right now, wondering if she can see the monster inside.

13

DELILAH

He’s back. I hear him moving around outside the guest room. Before this morning, I was actually going to ask for access to books or something to help pass the time, but now, all I want to do is stay out of his way.

When he held the blade to my skin, I wasn’t sure which way it was going to go. It was a tie of him killing or fucking me. It wouldn’t surprise me if he thought of both. He is unpredictable.

I glance at the shredded T-shirt in the corner of the room. Luckily, I had an extra one in here to change into, or I’d be sitting here wrapped in nothing but a sheet. A shiver runs down my spine, thinking about how he laid on top of me while I was spread out for him. I was scared, but when the cool blade touched my hot skin, I felt more than fear.