The Bastard (Filthy Trilogy 1)

I walk to the railing to ensure Isaac leaves, a muscle in my jaw ticcing as I watch him shut himself inside his silver BMW. My grip tightens on the wood beneath my palms with a mental replay of his words: I’m here for Harper. Get away from her before you take her down with you and all of us for that matter. Isaac backs out of the driveway and I don’t move until he’s out of sight, my certainty that Harper is now ten feet deep in something that smells dirty and dangerous, absolute.

I turn back toward the house, an icy gust of wind rushing over me. It’s nothing compared to the cold I’ve experienced in the past, during those years in the SEALs, and in too many ways, the year of my mother’s death, ending in her suicide. Gigi had been the last one to see her, the last Kingston to taunt her. Nothing about that has ever felt right to me, which is exactly why Harper’s alignment with Gigi will never be a comfortable one. I’ve accepted her reasoning, but her fucking Isaac and then me in whatever order that I might have occurred, would not be.

I’m about to open the door, but at the same moment it flies open and Harper is standing there. “What happened?” she asks.

I advance on her, shut the door and lock it and then turn her to press her against it. “Did you fuck him?”

“No,” she says. “I didn’t fuck him. He tried. I turned him down. He’s treated me like shit ever since.”

“Then why protect him?”

“Protect him?” she asks, her tone incredulous. “I didn’t protect him. I protected me and you. He's vicious. He lashes out. He competes with you and I'm not interested in being a pawn. And come on, Eric, you didn’t want me to be a pawn to

Gigi. But you’re okay with using us to taunt him?”

“If he’s uneasy, he makes mistakes. I’ll catch him making those mistakes. I’ll get you out of this.”

“It’s more than that and you know it. You want to hurt this family.”

“Yes. I do. And I could have a thousand times over. Wanting and doing are two different things.”

“Why didn’t you?”

I look skyward, that question one I’ve asked myself over and over and come back to one place. I look at her and go there now. “Because my mother didn’t want that. She protected them when they destroyed her. It was in the letter she left me. Which is exactly why I eventually left for the SEALs. I could have ruined Isaac. I wanted to. The temptation was too great. I had to leave. Every time I’m here, I have to leave. That’s why I don’t come here, but I came for you.” My eyes meet hers. “The idea of you fucking him and fucking me is not a good one.”

“I told you—no, I was never with Isaac.” Her hand settles on my chest, that small touch burning through my body, she burns through me. “I didn’t fuck him. I never wanted to fuck him and he hates me for it. Like you hate me. Princess. Already I’m her again and I can’t be her.” She shoves on my chest and tries to move away. “Let go.”

Let go.

I should. I could. I’d be smart to do just that, but that’s not going to happen. I’m not letting her go. I’m not going to walk away, and that might end up being the worst thing that ever happened to this family.

I tangle fingers into her hair and stare down at her. “I don’t hate you. I’m obsessed with you.”

“You can still hate me and be obsessed with me.”

I kiss her, my tongue licking and exploring, looking for lies that I don’t find. There’s just a moment of resistance, then her sweet, soft submission, her soft curves melting against mine, her desire moaning from her lips. I want her submission. I want her desire. I want more than I should when I know I’m headed down a deep, dark rabbit hole, but Isaac was wrong. I won’t be the death of her, but she might be the death of him because she’s why I’m staying. She’s why my mother’s letter can’t save him this time.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

Eric

Dirty. Filthy. Fucking.

That’s what I tried to make it between me and the princess, but now, here, in her foyer kissing her, I admit that it was never that. She slid right under my skin and stayed there from the moment I saw her across that pool. I don’t want to let her go, but she, apparently, doesn’t have the same sentiments right about now.

She shoves against my chest, tearing her mouth from mine. “No. No. My version of together isn’t hatred and obsession. It’s not me being a princess to you.”

“Sweetheart, I tattooed Princess on my body. I tattooed you on my body.”

“You also tattooed a jaguar on your shoulder in spite of your father.”

“That jaguar isn’t about revenge. It’s about the world being bigger than the Kingston name. It’s about not putting limits on myself. Everything inked on my body is a piece of me, Harper. You became that. You affected me.”

“You walked away.”

“Be glad I did. I might have wanted you then, Harper, but I wasn’t the same man I am now. It wasn’t our time. Now is our time.”

“And yet you came at me like I’m fucking your brother.”