A Cut so Deep (Thornes & Roses 1)

“I trust you’ll look after my little girl while me and your father are gone,” Marcia Ellington says, but I don’t answer her. She’s one of those fake beauties. Everything about her is plastic, even her heart. And I know I’ll make my father see the truth, one way or another. Perhaps I can use the little rose in front of me to do it.

I’m going to kick Cassian’s ass if he allows Finn to go anywhere near her because my youngest brother is a loose cannon when it comes to pretty girls. But I can see why he would go there. She’s sweet and innocent, but far too young for me, even though I’d have her on her back in a few hours, if I really wanted to.

Even in her sweet innocence, there’s more to her, I can tell just from her reaction to my touch. Beautiful, appealing, but even with all that shiny veneer, there’s something broken about her. As if her petals could easily tumble to the ground, one by one. Wilting under the bright spotlights of fame that come with her mother’s career.

She pins me with her hazel eyes, and I can’t help but read through the glare to find something far darker than I anticipated hiding there. Something I would certainly love to uncover.

“Well, then it seems I’ll have a full car on the way back,” I tell Marcia with a sincere smile. I can’t wait to see what she makes of life in Thorne Haven.

“You will.” Marcia grins happily, swaying on her five-inch heels. I’m sure she’s had far too much of the sparkling gold bubbly already. My father should cut her off, but knowing him, he probably prefers her like this.

I don’t know her well enough yet, but I have a feeling once she’s living in Thorne Manor, I’ll be moving out. I doubt Dad will mind; he seems happy enough with his new bride.

“Can I talk to you?” Marcia whispers to her sister, but we all hear it. I can read the animosity between them as if it were a page in a well-known book. I’ve lived around bullshit like that for so long it’s become second nature to pick up on it the moment I walk into a room.

Soon enough, the sisters are gone, and I’m left with Nesrin. She looks like a deer caught in headlights when she looks up at me.

“Did you enjoy the show?” I ask, arching a brow at her.

The apples of her cheeks turn dark pink, and I can almost feel the heat coming off her. Her gaze dances along the crowd, not meeting mine. She’s shy, but still, I can see the fire burning in her gaze when it sweeps over me.

“You know, I enjoy people watching. I would love to have watched you touch that pussy that I’m sure is still tight and pure.” Another statement that has the same hue flourishing on her chest, and I’m tempted to lean in and get a taste of her flesh.

“You’re disgusting,” she finally hisses, but her voice is merely a whisper. “You do realize that I’m practically family now.”

I tilt my mouth into a smirk. “Practically and actually aren’t the same thing, Darling,” I tell her. For a moment, it looks like she forgot about our new living arrangement.

“Are you really living at Thorne Haven? Aren’t you a little old to be living at home with your father?” Her biting tone makes me hard. I can’t help it. I love a woman with spirit. Makes it so much more worthwhile when I break them.

“I don’t know about old, little sis.” I shrug as if she hasn’t struck a nerve. “You’ll soon see just why we haven’t left Thorne Manor, and when you walk through those doors, you will never want to leave.”

“Is that a threat?” she gasps in shock, her mouth falling open and her pouty lips spread into a perfect O. My mind has taken on a whole new scenario of the pretty girl who’s standing in front of me. I shouldn’t be thinking about the filthy things I’d love to do to her mouth, but my mind is on a pathway straight to hell.

“Not at all, but remember one thing, we’re all extremely close.”

“Well, I’m not living with you. I’ll be in my own bedroom or something.” She folds her arms across her chest, which only serves to make her cleavage all the more prominent. She’s slightly curvy, and the tips of my fingers tingle to touch her, to grip her hips and hold her steady, as I lean in closer to inhale her feminine scented perfume.

“Damien.” My name drips with need and want from the woman who just swallowed my load. I used her for my pleasure. That’s what I do. There aren’t any second chances, not in my world. “You disappeared on me.”