The Duke and the DJ (The Rebel Royals 3)

"I am. This is the new world. Unless you're going for the straight hook up, you need to hang with the friends and get in with everybody first.”

"She's only here for a few days. I don't have time for that."

"What's the rush?" Spin leaned back in the chair. She crossed her arms over her chest and regarded him.

She was wearing a new t-shirt today. This one read Weapons of Mass Percussion. The corner of Zhi’s mouth quirked up a bit before he remembered her question.

He opened his mouth and closed it. Those eyes saw right through him. He felt the urge to tell Spin the truth. But the shame in his chest stopped him.

He told the emotion to get lost. He wasn’t doing anything shameful. He was trying to get to know a woman to see if they were compatible. And if it turned out they were, he would be devoted to her. His life would be spent making her happy. How could he do otherwise if she saved everything he held dear.

But Spin’s raised brow said she smelled something fishy. Before he could decide how to convince Spin that his intentions were good, a crash sounded overhead followed by a spine-tingling roar and then a heartrending cry of pain.

Zhi took off. He forgot about Parker and Spin. He had to get to his mother before that beast could do her any more harm.

He raced up the stairs, climbing to the third floor where they’d secluded him so that he could hurt no one but himself. But he always got to her. Mainly because his mother wouldn’t leave her husband alone.

Lin sat outside the door, trembling as she hesitated. She had been with the family all her life. She knew better than to go in and get between them.

Zhi’s mom was on the ground, holding a shaking hand to her face. A trickle of blood spilled through the space between her index and third finger. His father held his food tray up high, preparing to launch it at her. Zhi went for the tray.

He subdued his father. The old man balled his fists and threw some punches Zhi’s way. They were ineffective.

Still, Zhi wanted to punch the monster. He’d cost this family so much hurt, anger, pain. This was all his fault. All of it. He’d ruined so many lives with his selfish ways. And he wouldn’t have to pay for any of it now that it was coming due. The old beast deserved to hurt for his crimes.

All it would take would be one blow from Zhi. That would be enough to end it all. The former duke’s features sobered when he looked up into his son’s eyes. Like the coward he was, he cowered before his fully grown and capable son.

Zhi saw the fear in his father's eyes. But worse, he saw his reflection in his father's gaze. The sight reminded Zhi of looking up at his father while the enraged man towered over him as a boy.

No. That wasn’t Zhi. That would never be him.

Slowly, he caught his breath, but his glaring eyes never left the old man. “Mark my words, for I’ll only say this once, touch her again, and I will send you to an institution. The cheapest one with the worst reputation that I can find.”

The fear in the old man's gaze told Zhi he had heard him. That despite his memory and sense stealing disease, that Zhi would not have to repeat himself again.

With that settled, Zhi turned to tend to his mother. He searched until he found where she lay on the floor. But she wasn’t alone. She was in Spin’s arms.

Chapter Sixteen

After racing up to the third floor behind the duke, Spin froze at the threshold of the open door. From the corner of her eye, she saw the maid, Lin, trembling and shaking her head. Her once perfectly coiffed bun now dropped at her shoulder, slowly unfurling as the wisps of hair escaped capture. Instead of heeding the maid’s warning, Spin stepped over the threshold of the room.

Inside, she found a gruesome scene. There was a monster lying on the bed. Zhi towered over him, a look of pure hatred in his eyes.

It should’ve scared her. It didn’t. What had scared her was the prior expression that had darkened his features. She'd raced behind Zhi after seeing the light going out of his eyes and a look of terror spread across his face.

She knew that look. She'd seen it before. She’d felt its cold heart lick at her heels when she was a kid. So, she'd race up the stairs behind him and onto the forbidden third floor. Into a scene, she’d seen too many times before.

It was an unfamiliar face, but the expression of the monster in the bed was all too familiar. Contempt, fear, and insecurity were all scratched up in the haggard lines of his features. His eyes, so like Zhi’s, landed on her, and Spin flinched under his scrutiny. Then Zhi was there, blocking him from her view.

With the trance broken, Spin returned back to the present and the aftermath. Something had been thrown. There were shards of glass on the floor.

Her mind worked to put the pieces back together. The porcelain handle gave away the mystery. A teacup had been thrown.

The fragments revealed another mystery. There were drops of blood on the fibers of the lush carpeting. Spin followed the sanguine trail to the trembling woman.

Spin had to shake herself again. To bring herself back to the present moment. To remind herself that it was not her mother this time.

Crouching down like approaching a wounded animal, Spin made slow movements toward the woman. But there was no need for caution. She could tell the woman wasn't the type to ever lash out. She was the type to take what was thrown at her as her due. In fact, one of her delicate hands reached to pick up the cup’s handle. She halted when her own blood touched her fingertips.