Tough Shit (Rejects Paradise 1)

My eyes bug out of my head and I find myself clutching his hand even tighter, terrified of being taken away. I see it happen all the time in Breakers Flats and I refuse to be one of those statistics. “But I didn’t do anything wrong.”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s just how things happen around here. Jude’s family will go to extraordinary lengths to hide their son’s indiscretions, no matter how fucking wrong they are. They’d rather drag an innocent woman through the mud than their reputation.”

“Just like they did with that blackmail video of Jude raping that poor girl.”

Colton’s gaze snaps to mine. “How did you …” he cuts himself off with a heavy sigh, deciding that now isn’t the time to figure out how I could have found out one of his many secrets, but it won’t take him long to work out that Nic would have been the one to share it with me. “Look, it could be something else entirely but whatever it is, you don’t speak to the cops without me there, got it?”

“Yeah, got it,” I grumble, hating being spoken at but keeping my mouth shut and deciding to fight him on that later.

We reach the bottom of the stairs and Harrison turns to the right, heading down the hallway that I’ve only ever gone down while looking for Charles’ office.

I feel the tension rolling off Colton in waves and as Harrison comes to a stop in front of the familiar door, Colton eyes him down. “What’s the meaning of this?” he questions. “You know you’re not to be in dad’s office while he’s out on business.”

“Sir,” Harrison says, ignoring his stab and eyeing me again, clearly not pleased that I’m still here. He looks back at Colton. “You need to prepare yourself.”

Colton’s face scrunches in confusion but he doesn’t get a chance to ask again before Harrison twists the door handle and pushes the door wide.

Colton steps through and I follow behind but come to a startling stop as I crash into his Colton’s strong back. A sharp gasp comes tearing out of him as he pulls me behind him, protecting me from whatever secrets this office holds.

My hand presses against his back and I try to prepare myself for what I’m about to see, but nothing can prepare someone for this.

Charles Carrington lays over his massive mahogany desk staring up at the ceiling, his eyes wide and terrified as an old silver dagger protrudes from his chest.

Blood is soaked through the dress shirt he’d worn to the party and is pooled over the desk and puddled on the marble floor beneath.

My heart begins to race as I take in the intricate design on the dagger, the exact same as the one that ended my father’s life. Flashbacks cripple me, walking into my small family living room to find my dad laying on the ground, drenched in blood with an ancient, intricate designed silver dagger pierced through his chest.

How can this be happening again? It can’t be the same dagger. It was taken away by the cops, locked up in evidence, and never to be seen again.

My breath comes in short, jagged gasps as the need to run sails through me, but I don’t. This isn’t my father who’s just been murdered, it’s Colton’s. What would he think of me if I was so weak as to run?

No, I need to endure the memories and stand by his side, the same way I wish someone had done for me all those months ago. Remembering the pain, the grief, and devastation I felt, finding my father like that has my hand slipping back into his, letting him know that whatever he needs from me is his and he instantly clutches onto it like a lifeline.

“He’s dead,” Colton murmurs beside me, looking like a lost little boy who’s just found out that the world is a dangerous place. The need to say something sails through me, but the shock of seeing Charles and that dagger has me unable to find words and I feel as though I’m failing him.

“Sir,” comes from Harrison as he discreetly steps into the office. “He is. From what we can gather, this happened as recently as the early hours of this morning. I need to know how you want to proceed?”

Colton’s head whips around to Harrison. “What?”

“This is yours now,” Harrison replies, sweeping his hand around the room. “You are the head of this family. The Carrington fortune is yours, the businesses, the assets. Everything. From this moment on, you are being watched by your competitors, your family, and the people who would do anything to take it all away. Your father has been preparing you for this moment all your life. How you respond to this is how you will start your reign as the wealthiest heir this town has ever seen. What you do from now on matters. Every move, every step, every mistake.”