From the pages of the book…

Tears slid down my cheeks as I sat on the bed, holding my pillow tight to my chest while biting on it so no sound would escape my mouth.

I couldn’t show them how desperate I felt in that moment. After I stormed off, no one came after me, not that I expected it. I knew my dad; he was like a hawk.

Waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

“What are we going to do, Brochan?” I whispered, hating myself in that moment. I should have never started a relationship with him. My father had the tendency of ruining the lives of the people who didn’t agree with him.

But that was back in Seattle. He didn’t possess such power here. We just had to hold strong for the night, and then everything would go back to normal.

A clinking sound coming from the window snagged my attention and I looked at it, wiping away my tears. Then the faint sound echoed again, and I jumped from the bed, recognizing it.

Someone was throwing rocks at my window.

Quickly sliding it open, I leaned over the windowsill and saw Olivia and Donovan arguing just as he was about to throw another rock, but he stopped right in time. It would have hit me in the face.

Olivia raised her phone, pointed at it and then at me, and I understood. I reached for my phone and accepted her call. “Girl, are you alive? You weren’t picking up your phone!”

Panic coated her tone, and I quickly reassured her. “As much as I can be in this situation. It’s bad.”

She paused and then glanced up before sharing a look with Donovan who must have listened to our conversation as well. “What are they saying?”

“They’ll let him go if I leave with them right now.”

She gasped, and Donovan cursed, taking the phone from her. “Hey, babe. Listen, I went to see Brochan. He’s fine and Duke won’t keep him longer than twenty-four hours. In fact, the whole town is on your side.”

I gripped the phone tighter in my hands. “How is he?” I should have never doubted this town; they stood by their own.

“Fine, but he insisted I tell you one thing. Do not agree to anything. Just pack your stuff and meet him.” My brows furrowed, because we never discussed running away from my house, but in the current situation, what choice had my father left us? “Where?”

“Beaty Mountain. We will help you guys out until your dad stops doing shit.”

“Okay. So I should go there now?” The clock showed twelve in the morning, so it meant he had another sixteen hours to go. “I’ll be there by seven tomorrow morning.”

“Sure. And, babe? We all love you. Just hold on.” He then stood right under my window and murmured, “We will be here to help you get down. Your dad isn’t allowing anyone to see you either, so this is our only chance.”

“Of course. Thank you, guys. I love you!” I thanked heaven and the stars for such good friends in my life who stood beside us through anything.

“Always. We have to go now.” Olivia took the phone again and told me, “Just wait until tomorrow. And don’t cry, pretty girl,” right before hanging up as they jogged away before anyone could see them.

Once they were out of my vision, I sat on the floor, resting my forehead on the wall, and gulped air into my lungs.

Everything would be all right.

By tomorrow, all this would be like a bad dream.

But tomorrow became the beginning of the nightmare.

Island, United States

July 2019

Emerald

“Hey, you’re up early,” Marcy greets me cheerfully, catching the key from my hands easily. “I think you came back after midnight, and now it’s barely eight in the morning. Couldn’t sleep?” she muses.

I plaster on a weak smile, nodding. “Something like that. I’ll probably be late today.”

She wiggles her brows, leaning closer. “You’ve met one of the island’s hot guys?” she jokes, laughing lightly, but it dies on her lips as my cheeks heat up.

The curse of redheads is that most of the time you can’t hide your freaking emotions, because the skin tells everyone everything. “Oh.” She blinks again. “Anyone I know?” Her demeanor changes from friendly to lightly guarded, and it makes me feel even more like shit. She has a crush on Micaden, and I just had sex with the guy last night.

More like today, if we’re going to be technical about it. But it’s a one-time thing—granted, a one-time thing that bordered on insanity when the real world ceased to exist… but nevertheless a one-time thing.

Marcy shouldn’t be worried. “No. And there’s no guy,” I assure her, hoping she won’t try to put her pretty little nose into my business.

Before she can fish for something else, I wink at her and quickly run to the door, exhaling in relief. Or that’s the excuse I give myself anyway, because the real truth is too embarrassing to admit.

I can’t face Micaden, not so soon, not after everything. What does it say about my self-respect if I slept with the guy who has been nothing but an ass to me? Granted, he saved me three times, so he had points there, but still.

The sun shines brightly in the sky, and for a second it blinds me. My eyes water and I scrunch them. Huffing, I put on my sunglasses and walk toward Eve’s place.

The town is not much different at this time of the day than it was yesterday, but still I’m in awe of the serenity of it all.

Taking the headphones from my pocket, I hook them around my neck and am about to press on my playlist when the shadow looming above me halts my movements.

First, I meet a muscled chest, covered in a black shirt, and my gaze travels up to the fire tattoos gracing the tanned neck, then to the strong jaw and striking silver eyes that drill their stare into me. All this is accompanied by blue hair that is pulled back in a tight man bun. The man cocks his head, studying me from head to toe.

Simply put, the man is strikingly handsome, but the aura of lethal danger around him negates his looks. I step back, fear sweeping through me, because there’s no one else on the sidewalk but us. “Sorry,” I say, shifting to the side, but he does the same with me. I move to the other side, thinking that maybe he wanted to evade me too, but he follows me again. “I would like to go there.” I point behind him, but he stays silent, still not moving.

He doesn’t try to touch me or do anything, yet panic slowly creeps in on me. What does he want?

“Could you please move out of my way?” I ask, prepared to scream my lungs out if he refuses, because this already borders on dangerous. Then he does the unexpected.

He raises his hand toward me as if he wants to touch me, but before I can open my mouth, I feel sizzling energy behind me and a warmth that instantly calms me down.

I don’t have to turn to know who stands behind me, and a smile almost breaks on my face from relief.

Strong arms wrap around my middle, pressing me hard against his rigid chest, while Micaden’s scent overpowers all my senses, leaving only him in my presence and the worry about the stranger vanishing.

“Arson,” he addresses the man, and my brows furrow at the weird name. His parents had no love for him or what? Who names their kid like that?

“Interesting,” he mutters and then chuckles, giving us the once over. “But predictable.” He motions for the passing cab to stop. “Have a nice day Emerald.” He says and settles inside the car, driving away, and I finally snap from my stupor.

I push from Micaden’s arms and spin around to face him, asking, “Who was that guy?” He shifts his gaze from the moving cab to me, and I’m almost knocked backward from the intensity of his stare.

Breathe, you fool, breathe.

But all this doesn’t really help me much, because my heart continues to gallop violently in my chest.

“He is none of your concern.”

“Friend of yours, I gather.”

He doesn’t miss the sarcasm lacing my tone and his brows rise, while a slight smile pulls at his lips, but it’s quickly gone as Eve’s voice snaps us from whatever haze settles over us.

“Emerald!”

I look over my shoulder at Eve who runs toward us, wearing sneakers and a light summer dress, while her blonde locks are blown by the wind. “She’s pretty,” I murmur, grinning because she reminds me of the Victoria’s Secret models.

Next to me, Micaden shrugs. “Always has been.”

Unfamiliar feelings slip over me, prickling my skin while an inferno burns within me at his affectionate words, and the air sticks in my lungs when I recognize the emotion.

Jealously.

Unexplainable, irrational jealously that holds me so strong it’s impossible to control. “Right,” I reply and prepare to plaster a wide grin on my face so Eve won’t know what a moron I am.

His hand glides across my back, lightly grazing the exposed skin, and he leans forward to murmur right before she joins us. “You snap your teeth and bite your lip when you’re jealous. Did you know that?”

What in the hell?

And just like that, with a salute to Eve, he jogs to the other side of the road while I’m left standing speechless, because the whole situation is too surreal for me to understand.

What just happened?

The rustling of a bakery bag brings me back to the situation at hand as Eve shakes it in front of me, winking. “I’ve got your favorite bagels and know the best place to have chamomile tea.”

“Don’t you own a coffee shop?” Weren’t we supposed to meet there?

Eve rolls her eyes and hooks her arm around mine. “I want to actually spend some time in a place that doesn’t call my name for every small thing.”

I laugh and she grins, dragging me to some kind of cool place, and Micaden and the man disappear from my mind.

Micaden

“Yes?” the voice on the other end of the line beams, all cheery and shit. The fucker purposely made me wait six rings before he picked it up.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” I bark into the phone, and my high school teacher Margaret jumps as she warily passes me by on the road.

But then to her, I’m that unknown dude who moved in here a few years ago and acquired some land and buildings in this town.

“Unexpected question,” Arson muses, and I hear the flick of a lighter. The asshole is not going to burn anything here, is he? With his kind of crazy, one can never be sure of his next move. That’s why his presence makes no sense to me.

He rarely leaves his club in Brooklyn unless he needs to go to Lachlan’s mansion, but even that only happens on rare occasions.

“What did you expect?”

Another flick of the lighter, and then he says, “Something along the lines of… Don’t ever talk to her again.” He adds a possessive growl to his voice and then laughs, the sound grating on my nerves.

“Cut the shit, Arson. Why are you here?”

“I missed you?” he answers. And I pinch the bridge of my nose, praying for patience I don’t possess, and finally he exhales, leaving another longer pause. “A bird told me she’s in town.”

I freeze. “Who?” Indifference coats my voice, but we know better. He has spies on me in town now?

“Doesn’t matter, but I had to come and check.”

“Well, you checked. Now get the hell out of my town.”

He chuckles, and I regret the fact he’s not standing in front of me so I can punch him. “It doesn’t work that way.”

“I don’t need a babysitter.”

“You do not control yourself around her.” All humor leaves his tone as steel laces every word. “A man without control is a dangerous man.”

“I know what I’m doing.”

He stays silent, and I ignore the brewing sensations in my chest after last night, how her gaze and touch always remind me of the fact that she’s mine, even now.

I want to own her, want her to fixate on me so she can’t breathe without me. So in love it consumes her.

And then I’ll crush her in the vilest of ways, so she’ll experience pain that will shatter her soul.

Only then will I find the peace I so desperately seek. “You are playing with fire, Micaden.”

Smirking, I mock. “Coming from a man who kills people with it.”

“You poured oil on the fire that was almost extinguished. And I’m not sure you’re ready to face the consequences.” Before I can add anything, he continues. “But you are a big boy. Just don’t expect us to cover your ass when shit hits the fan.” As if Arson ever did anything for anyone but Lachlan.

He’s wrong though.

The fire never stopped burning, eating me alive every single day.

But I’m done suffering alone.

It started with her, but it’ll end with me.

This island once became the home of our love.

Now it’ll be a cemetery for it.