Coldhearted Heir (The Heirs 1)

A server rushes to our table and begins to wipe up the mess.

“What happened here?” Fallon asks, having just entered the restaurant.

My head snaps up. “Jase spat his coffee everywhere.”

“His fault,” Jase croaks before he coughs.

Fallon and Hana sit down, and Hana asks, “What did you do?”

“Me?” I give them an innocent look. “Nothing.”

“Bullshit,” Jase coughs. Pointing his finger at me, he says, “Hunter was just about to tell me about his second kiss with Jade.”

“What?” both the girls gasp. Fallon scoots closer to me, “When did this happen? Tell us everything!”

I let out a chuckle, but it quickly fades when I think of the disastrous kiss. “It… I… I fucked up.”

All three of their faces instantly sober up, and they all stare at me until I admit, “It was the night I got a little drunk at Studio 9.” I drop my eyes to the table. “We got into another fight, and then I lost my shit and kissed Jade.” When I only get silence, I glance up. They’re just staring at me, waiting for more. “I forced the kiss on Jade.”

Fallon’s the first to react. She darts in my direction and slaps me upside the head, and then Jase follows up with punching the shit out of my shoulder.

But my eyes go to Hana, and when she drops her eyes from mine, and a sad look settles on her face, I feel like dog shit all over again.

“I didn’t mean for it to happen,” I try to explain.

Hana just nods, not looking at me. She begins to get up, which has me darting out of my chair. I grab hold of her arm before she can walk away.

It’s grown quiet in the restaurant, and I know everyone can hear our conversation when I say, “Don’t walk away. Please. Let me explain.”

Hana lets out a sigh and glancing at me with a trembling chin, she gives in and goes to sit down again. I take the chair next to hers and pull her into a hug. “I’m sorry, Hana. I had too much to drink that night, and I know it’s no excuse. I feel like shit.”

“It doesn’t matter how you feel,” she mutters. When her eyes meet mine, there’s a world of pain in them I didn’t expect to see. “It only matters how you made Jade feel. She was supposed to be safe with you, and she wasn’t.”

My heart begins to beat harder. “I get a feeling we’re not talking about Jade and me.”

Hana quickly drops her gaze from mine and whispers, “We are talking about you.”

Anger ripples over my body, and breathing speeds up. “What happened, Hana?”

She keeps staring down, and then her eyes drift close. The distraught look on her face knocks the air from my lungs.

Jase’s eyes are glued to Hana, worry darkening his features.

Fallon wraps an arm around Hana’s shoulders, and pressing her head to Hana’s, she whispers, “Did something happen?”

Hana just nods.

I’m going to kill someone.

“Tell us,” Jase demands, his voice as dark as the emotions wreaking hell inside of me.

“I can’t.” Hana looks up at us, a pleading look on her face. “I’m dealing with it. Things are just hard right now.”

“Did something happen with Tristan?” Fallon asks.

Hana quickly shakes her head. “No! No, he has nothing to do with this. You can’t tell him anything.”

“Did someone hurt you?” Jase asks, still on the warpath.

“No.” Hana shakes her head, then lets out a miserable sigh. “Forget about it, please.” She brings her eyes to me. “Did you apologize to Jade?”

Deciding to back down for now and to not push Hana to open up, I nod. “We made peace after it.”

“At least something good came from it.” Hana tries to smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.

I pull her to my chest and giving her a hug, I whisper, “I’m here whenever you need to talk. But please tell me if someone is hurting you.”

“No one’s hurting me,” she murmurs against my ear. I just got upset on Jade’s behalf.”

I know she’s lying to me, and it’s something I’m not used to. The four of us don’t keep any secrets from each other.

Suddenly Jase shouts, “The show is fucking over, everyone! Fucking nosy fuckers.”

It’s seldom Jase gets angry, but when he does, it might as well be pouring fire and fucking brimstone.

“Why are you yelling?” Mila suddenly asks.

Jase gets up and giving her a dark scowl, he snaps, “Fuck, not you, too.”

“What did I do?” she gives him a shocked look.

Knowing things are about to get totally out of control, I dart up and wrapping my arm around Jase’s shoulders, I drag him out of the restaurant.

“Calm down,” I whisper as I steer him toward the trail behind the restaurant, so we’ll have privacy.

He shoves me away from him, and then his angry gaze burns on me. “Hold up.” Tilting his head, he asks, “You forced yourself on Jade?”