Ruthless Empire (Royal Elite 6)

I’ve turned so soft over the days.

My phone vibrates and I sit up, excitement whirling inside me. Is it Cole?

Unknown Number: Meet me.

I gulp. That’s the first time he’s ever asked that. Is it because of what happened in the car park a few days ago? It’s a new number. He keeps changing them as if playing hide-and-seek with Papa’s team’s security measures.

Unknown Number: I’m behind the fence of your house.

Unknown Number: If you don’t come out, I’ll post a naked picture of you for the world to see.

I can call his bluff and tell him he has no such picture, but what if he does? I can’t risk Papa’s campaign or Mum’s reputation.

Tears prickle my eyes as my chest closes in on itself.

What the hell is wrong with me? Why do I find myself in screw-up after screw-up? First Cole, then the pregnancy, and now a damn stalker.

Could I be more of a disgrace to my parents?

I was always a good girl. When did I start losing myself? When did I become this damn loser who sees a failure in the mirror every morning?

Swallowing my tears, I type with unsteady fingers.

Silver: Why are you doing this, Adam?

Unknown Number: Because I love you. Remember when that bitch Elsa was bothering you? I’m the one who pushed her into that pool. For you, my love. For your beautiful blue eyes.

Unknown Number: I know you broke it off with Aiden for me. Because you’ve always loved me too.

Oh. God.

He pushed Elsa for me. She could’ve drowned and died.

I have to see him and put an end to this.

Stumbling from the bed, I run out of my room, only to be halted by a broad frame.

Cole.

We’re standing in front of my door. He’s wearing a hoodie and cotton trousers. His chestnut hair falls all over his forehead.

“Where the fuck are you going dressed like that?”

I stare down at myself and realise I’m only in a see-through oversized T-shirt with nothing underneath because I wanted to seduce this bastard.

“N-nowhere.”

He narrows his eyes on my face, then on my hand, and I subconsciously hide the phone behind my back. He snatches it away and when I try to fight him, he uses my finger to unlock it.

I didn’t even exit the chat.

He keeps it out of reach and his eyes darken with every passing second.

Damn it.

“So it was Adam,” he says coolly, with almost no emotion at all. This side of Cole has always scared the shit out of me.

I can never tell what he’ll do next — whether he’ll rage or leave. Though I’ve never seen him rage, not really.