Breaking You (Blackthorn Elite 2)

Revenge. I’ll get my revenge, but first, I need to get some information on her. Find out what will make her disappear as fast as she came here.

2

Harper

With the back of my hand, I wipe some sweat off my forehead as I finish unpacking the very last box. Finally. It took me long enough. Then again, considering I moved my entire life without having any help, I guess I didn’t do so bad after all.

My one-room apartment is small and shabby, but it’s mine. By one room, I don’t mean one bedroom, plus a kitchen, and a living room. No, I mean one room all together, and no, it’s not a huge space either. It’s only ten by fifteen square feet. It’s a little better than a jail cell. My bed is in one corner, while a desk and chair are in the other. Next to the entrance door is a tiny kitchenette with a two-plate stove, a mini-fridge, and a microwave.

The only other room that is part of the apartment is the attached bathroom, which is just big enough to hold a sink, a shower stall, and a toilet. Did I mention the tiles in that said bathroom are green and pink? Yeah, I know, disgusting.

I’ve put everything into unpacking over the last couple of hours so that I didn’t have to think about the events of earlier today. Shivers wrack my body as I recall the darkness in his eyes, the hate that pulsed just below like lava bubbling up to the surface. I could feel it, it coated the air, making it hard for me to breathe.

“I’m going to break you, crush you until you’re begging me to take mercy on your pitiful body.” His words wash over me, playing on repeat in my mind like a never-ending song. Moving away from the box, I sag down onto my bed, the mattress squeaking as I do.

Warren is here. I don’t think that reality has sunk in yet. And he hates me, really hates me, and I don’t understand why. What have I done to him? The last time I saw him, we were sixteen, and I was in the back of my parents’ car driving away from his family’s mansion. For years, I wondered why he never said goodbye, how he could go from caring about me so much, to despising me in the blink of an eye.

I thought maybe it was the fact that I was the maid’s daughter, but that never seemed to bother him. Maybe he changed his mind? My parents always warned me, told me that we would never work out, his family had money, and mine had nothing. I didn’t listen. I loved Warren, and I thought he loved me. Pfft, what a lie that was.

Seeing him today awakened feelings in me I’ve tried to forget for years. In fact, I’ve tried to forget him altogether, but I never could. I tried to date but never made it past a first kiss. That’s usually when I realized that the guy wouldn’t ever measure up to Warren.

I kept waiting for that spark, that excitement I used to get when kissing Warren, but it never came with anyone else, and I’m not sure if it ever will. Which means I’ll never feel that spark again since Warren clearly has no interest in ever being with me again. I don’t know why, but that bothers me. I shouldn’t still want him, but I do. Like a moth drawn to a flickering flame, I don’t care about burning, if it gets me a little closer to him.

Absentmindedly, my hand comes up to my face, and my fingers brush over my chin, where he touched me earlier. The skin there still tingles, like he has left a part of himself behind. Branded my skin with his touch. The thought sends a rush of euphoric need through me. I still want him, even though I shouldn’t.

Shaking the thought of him away, I roll over and reach under my bed, feeling around for my special box. When my fingers touch the smooth edge of the shoe box, I grab it and pull it out.

Still halfway hanging off the bed, I open the lid and look at my small but diverse collection of dildos and vibrators. The miniature purple one has always been my favorite. It’s small but packs quite the vibrating punch. And that’s what I need right now. Something that will kick Warren right out of my mind and make my toes curl in the process.

With a smile on my lips, I place the vibrator next to me on the bed. Lying flat on my back, I shimmy out of my yoga pants and panties, kicking them both to the floor when they reach my ankles. Falling back onto my pillow, I reach for Roger, that’s what I call my little purple friend. I can already feel the tension easing out of me.