Total pages in book: 136
Estimated words: 137326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 137326 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 687(@200wpm)___ 549(@250wpm)___ 458(@300wpm)
Her lips tremble.
A gleam appears in her eyes.
I’ve never seen Dahlia cry outside of sex. And while I crave it when I’m fucking her, right now, I want to impale myself.
But I remain silent. She needs to fuck off out of my life.
I need the peace and quiet I used to experience before she came along, and not this constant state of being on the edge of something. What? I don’t even know.
“Are you pushing me away?” she finally says, her voice low, almost weak.
Dahlia doesn’t do weak. Not even when I fuck her like a damn inhumane monster.
My cold voice is completely detached from my thoughts. “See? You’re slow, but you always get there.”
“Why are you doing this? Because I care? Because I want to make sure you’re okay?”
“Because you’re starting to get emotionally involved. I told you that’s off the table. You shouldn’t have allowed me to crush you through those idealistic, gullible feelings.”
She balls her fists even as her chin trembles. “So that’s it?”
“That’s it. You’re officially banished from Vencor. I’m done with you now.”
“Done with me? Liar. You’re a fucking liar, Kane. You’re not done with me. You’re running away because you’re a damn coward who can’t handle your emotions for me. You can’t handle how you let go when you’re around me.” She stabs my chest with a finger. “You can’t fucking handle me!”
The spot she touches burns as if she’s injecting poison into my veins.
I let the mask remain in place and speak in a calm tone. “You can stay on the team if you stop bothering me.”
And then I bypass her.
“You’ll regret this!” she shouts at my back. “I’ll make sure you regret this, you fucking asshole.”
I’m regretting it already.
But it’s better I let her go of my own volition before she’s violently snatched from me.
Dahlia Thorne is a mistake that should’ve never happened.
I was greedy for the first time in my life, and if there’s something I know about greed, it’s that you always pay.
In blood.
25
DAHLIA
Kane has made good on his promise.
He hasn’t looked at me since he ended things a little over a week ago.
Not even once.
Not even when I made sure I was in his field of vision during practice and the head doctor’s checkups and briefings.
So I matched his energy.
Kane who? I don’t even like the asshole.
If he’s going to give me the cold shoulder and erase me as if I never existed, he’ll receive the same treatment.
But I’ve been finding myself becoming irrationally angry lately, especially since Isabella came back into the picture.
I thought she’d spend the rest of the year hiding after Kane somehow made her disappear, but apparently, I was wrong.
Not only has she started showing up at the arena, using her brother as a pretext, but she also rubs herself all over Kane any chance she gets.
And he lets her.
So you know what? I’m going to make him regret it like I promised.
It’s not even about him being my way in anymore. It’s about my pride. I won’t allow that dick to walk all over me and get away with it.
I’m not someone he can simply use and then discard as if I lack any form of human emotion.
Besides, I’ve been following the Gavin, Ryder, and Hunter lead. And while I still haven’t been able to obtain Hunter’s DNA, I’ve gotten close to Ryder. Mainly because I helped him with a strain in his shoulder.
He now frequently stops to say good morning, oftentimes accompanied by a silent Hunter. Gavin is less welcoming and doesn’t talk to me, but he doesn’t glare at me the entire time either. Probably because everyone heard about my official banishment from their stupid organization.
In any case, I’m pretty sure I’ll be invited to the next party that will be thrown at Hunter’s place, if not by Hunter, then by Ryder, and that will be my chance to gather the DNA sample.
In the meantime, I pretended to need access to the team doctor’s records for paperwork, and searched for the one from September 20, but it didn’t mention anything about their ‘unknown injury.’
So I tried talking to the doctor, but I’m pretty sure he’s related to Vencor or, at least, pretty close, because when I asked about the ‘unknown injury’ entry, he said, “That’s what we put sometimes when players miss practice due to a hangover. Don’t overthink it.”
Yeah, right.
I didn’t push, though, because that would only make him suspicious.
But I’m still holding on to hope about Hunter’s DNA. If it’s a positive match, I can finally find out who hurt Violet.
In the meantime, I’m focusing on building a friendship with Ryder.
One of the perks of joking around with Ryder is him telling me about the coffee shops and bars the team members hang out in. He also invited me over once, but then withdrew it.