Ruthless Empire (Royal Elite 6)

But here I am, trapped with him in Papa’s office.

Sure, I can go outside. I can open the door and run again, but that will look cowardly and I’ll never do that.

Taking a deep breath, I slowly turn around and see Cole for the first time today, like really see him, instead of pretending to while I avert his gaze.

Cole sits on the edge of Papa’s conference table, reading from a book titled The Rule of Law by Tom Bingham.

The dark blue suit pants mould to his muscles and tighten at his strong thighs with his sitting position. He’s only in a white shirt and a black bowtie, the jacket lying neatly on the chair beside him.

His chestnut hair that has darkened over the years is styled back, showcasing his forehead and the sharp lines of his face. His green eyes fall on me as his lean fingers hold the book — fingers that were inside me a few weeks ago. Fingers that brought me to a height I’ve never experienced. Fingers that —

No.

That was a mistake. We’re siblings now. A family. That nonsense will never happen again. It’ll destroy my parents’ careers and even Helen’s.

Cole and I are over.

Completely, utterly over.

And we didn’t even start yet.

“There you are.” He smiles, and it’s flat, bland, almost menacing. “Were you avoiding me or was I imagining it?”

“Imagining it.” I fold my arms, adopting my firmest, most unaffected tone. “Why would I avoid you?”

“I don’t know. It might have something to do with how you ran away from me the last couple of weeks.” He flips a page, even though he’s not reading. It’s like he’s absentmindedly keeping up with his usual pace. “You do realise you can’t avoid me forever.”

“As I said, I wasn’t.”

“You’re such a liar, Butterfly.” He strokes his fingers over the edge of the book. I want to look away, but I can’t. It’s like he’s cast a spell on me and now all I can think about are his fingers and my thighs and —

Focus, Silver.

“Why would I even need to lie to you?” I raise my nose. “You give yourself so much credit, Cole.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

“I came to search for Aiden. We have pictures to take.”

He remains silent for a beat too long, watching me in that unnerving, quiet way that makes me want to snap out of my skin or hide underneath the carpet.

Cole has always had that effect on me. I’ve denied it, I’ve run away from it, but it doesn’t disappear.

Just because you don’t look under the bed, doesn’t mean the monster isn’t there.

He is. Waiting. Biding his time for the right moment so he can come out and play.

The only way to escape is to never, ever look. I w

as so close to breaking my own rule that day in my room, but it won’t happen again.

“He’s obviously not here.” I turn to leave.

“You’re running away again.” His calm voice stops me in my tracks.

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are. Word of advice, never give me your back.” In a second, he’s behind me, his hot breaths tickling my skin. “I’ll take it as an opening to attack.”