Deviant King (Royal Elite 1)

I study him closely, and his face doesn’t change. “Truth.”

“False.” He grins. “I like who I am.”

“Do you?” I don’t know why I think he’s lying.

Logically, he has no reason to hate being King Enterprises’ heir, but deep down, I think he… doesn’t. Not in the way everyone expects him to, anyway.

“Is it questions now?” He raises an eyebrow. “I like questions better and I get to ask first.”

“Why?”

“Because you already asked yours.”

I roll my eyes. Give it to Aiden to twist everything to his liking. “Whatever.”

He appears thoughtful for a second. “Why were you adopted?”

I should’ve expected the question, but that doesn’t make the answer any easier.

“I’m originally from Birmingham. I’ve been told there was a fire. I lost both my parents in it, and Aunt had custody of me and eventually adopted me.”

There’s none of the pity I usually get on Aiden’s face. If anything, he seems calculative. “You’ve been told. As in you don’t remember.”

It’s amazing how nothing escapes him. What’s stranger is that I want

to bare it all to him.

Aiden is dangerous, and could — would — use this against me, but at the moment, I don’t care.

“No. I don’t,” I say. “I only have fragments and little pieces. That time feels like a giant, black puzzle. Every piece is so similar, I can’t even start to gather it together. The sad thing is that I don’t even remember my parents’ faces and I’m absolutely fine with not remembering them. I’m such a horrible daughter.”

“Or it could be that your brain made a wise choice.” His voice drifts. “Sometimes, parents aren’t what they’re supposed to be.”

I want to ask him what he means by that, but his expression is closed. I doubt I’ll get anything no matter how much I push.

So, instead of poking his wound, I ask the question that’s been haunting me for years.

“Why did you decide you hated me the first time you saw me?”

I’m not going to sugarcoat it for Aiden. He was — still is — my bully. He ruined my life in RES. My body and mind might be unapologetically drawn to him, but that will never change what he did to me.

He stares down at me, but he’s not really seeing me. His grey eyes turn into a raging storm.

“You were a ghost.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

A ghost?

I was a ghost?

My head tilts back against Aiden’s chest as I study his features, searching to see if he’s joking or screwing with my head.

I should’ve known better since he doesn’t joke. At least not in this sense. His jaw is tightened and his thick lashes frame a darkened look.

“What is that supposed to mean?” I try to appear calm, but my pulse rises with every second until I’m afraid he can hear it.

“You’re not ready for what it means, Frozen.”