A Death to Seek (Thornes & Roses 3)

“Who’s the lucky bastard?” she asks with a glittering smile. Grecia has known about my inclinations since we lived in the same house.

“Finn Thorne,” I tell her easily. Her eyes widen in shock. She knows all about our link to the societies, to the Thorne Haven faction. Even though I hadn’t met or seen the Thorne brothers before I got to Thorne Haven, I knew of them.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Grecia curses, “It’s like a blast from the past walking in here, Jarred.”

“Hey, you know me, why take the easy route when you can dive right into the deep end.” I shrug it off, but my stomach twists as I recall the memories of meeting Finn, falling for him, kissing him the first time. All of it culminates and hits me right in the heart. “I fucked up,” I tell her, admitting to my mistakes. “I should have told him who I was when I arrived in Thorne Haven. But I was scared he knew about the societies and wouldn’t want anything to do with someone from the Gilded Sovereign.”

“And he’s angry because you hid the truth from him,” she finishes for me, and I nod. “Well, you shouldn’t have hidden who you are and where you come from,” she tells me nonchalantly. She’s always had a level head dealing with our party-animal ways. Even being around all the males of the Sovereign, Grecia being the only female for so long, she’s become something of a therapist to us.

“I know. I knew it the moment I looked into his eyes the first time and realized I loved him.”

“Loved or love?” She challenges in that way she has. It’s why I came here tonight. I needed someone to hit me across the head with something fierce. A bucket load of common sense.

“Love. I’ll always love him,” I tell her. There is no lie in my words, and she won’t find any in my eyes either.

For a long moment, she watches me. Her stare penetrating those walls I’d built when I left. I never wanted to see them again because I knew my darkest secret could never be forgiven, but sitting here with her, I realize that they love me unconditionally. She does. Ares, Etienne, Philipe, and Tarian. All of them are my brethren and I ran from them, instead of stepping up to take my place in the Society.

“You need a big gesture,” she tells me, as if I should’ve figured it out on my own. “You can’t just apologize and hope this will work out.”

I sip the sharp whiskey that burns on its way down my throat. “And what exactly would you propose I do?” I ask, meeting her stare.

Grecia sits back and ponders my query for a long while. Even though I try to come up with something, I just can’t figure out what I can do other than asking him to fucking marry me. But he’s already engaged, so that wouldn’t work. I could buy something for him, but that’s not feasible because the bastard can get anything he wants with his own money.

And then Grecia says, “Give him something he can’t get for himself.” And I know exactly what it is I’ll give him.

17

FINN

Every day that has passed since we got back to Thorne Haven, I’ve gotten more and more anxious. It’s almost been a week, and I haven’t heard from Jarred. Thankfully, Zaria has been here to distract me, but I can tell she’s getting more depressed not knowing where her mother is.

My father has kept me busy with work, so I haven’t seen Zaria all day. The only thing I want right now is to get lost in her, to forget about everything. But when I walk into the room, I’m stopped dead in my tracks as what I find.

“What are you doing?” My voice is rough, anger surges through me like a violent storm raging against anything that’s standing in its way. My nerves are shot. I don’t know how I’m going to get through the next few days, let alone the rest of my life. Everything I thought about Jarred was a lie. He knew exactly what he was doing when he came to Thorne Haven. Leaving him in Tynewood was the least of my worries, though, because now, Zaria is sitting in the dark and I can tell she’s been crying.

“Nothing,” she mumbles, but as she pushes to her feet, she stumbles. My hand shoots out quickly to catch her, and her body molds against mine. This isn’t the first time we’ve been close, her curves against my solid frame, but the way her head tilts back and her dilated pupils find mine, I realize she’s drunk.

“Tell me what the fuck is going on?” I bite out, frustration and anger, once again, taking hold of me. Emotions aren’t new to me; I tend to have them consume me at times. When I found out about Jarred’s lie, I saw red, my blood burned with the deceit of what the unfaithful bastard did.