Chapters (66)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Keep Reading
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sneak Peek
- Find Me
- Books by Mary Catherine Gebhard
- Acknowledgments
“I don’t know if my mom was ever a human, but I’m sure being reminded every family holiday that she was only there because he had to keep her there didn’t help. I always told myself I wouldn’t be anything like him, nothing like my grandfather. I would be loyal.” His eyes slowly found mine, burning with anguish.
Keeping me, a mistress.
I fiddled with the rose gold strand of hair I’d pushed above his forehead, taking a breath.
A secret for a secret.
“I never wanted to be like my parents either,” I whispered. “The only thing my mom taught me was how to lie. Even though I promised I would tell the truth always…it was really easy to lie to myself.”
“Why the fuck did you kiss me?” The pain strangling his voice choked my heart. Wrapped it in razor wire, cutting and bleeding.
“Grayson—” I started, but he cut me off.
“When I decide to let you come again,” he growled. “Know it wasn’t for you; it was for her.”
He dropped me like fire, stepping away so quickly I fell forward onto my hands and knees. I stared at my shadowy reflection in the glossy floor, trying to regulate my breathing, as he walked out of the suite.
“Finish your fucking food. You’re going out tonight.”
He dropped the bag of spaghetti next to me a moment later.
Grayson Crowne pretended nothing mattered, but I was starting to suspect the opposite. He would do anything for the one he loved. Move the earth. Destroy the earth.
Destroy me…
So long as it meant he got the one he loved.
Thirty-Two
STORY
The minute we got off the boat, Grayson grabbed my wrist. Behind him, his siblings exited the boat one by one as a man dressed in white—a servant—gave them a hand.
“Tonight you don’t know me, and I don’t know you,” Gray said.
I gawked. “But I don’t know anyone here!”
“Exactly. If you so much as look in their direction, I’ll start another poker game. And I’ll lose.”
My mouth dropped, but he spun from me, only to stop an instant later and look over his shoulder. “Don’t talk to anyone. Don’t look at anyone.”
“I don’t know anyone, remember?”
Grayson stared at me, a look on his face I’d only ever seen when he thought no one was looking—concern. But it quickly vanished, shook off with his devil-may-care smile, as he continued on his way to find Lottie.
I leaned against the rock, blowing a stray curl from my eye.
This place was the craziest thing I’ve ever seen. Girls dancing inside rock, a DJ surrounded by glowing water, mermaids swimming in it. Grayson had to maneuver the boat through a secret tunnel, too, until we reached this cliffside grotto encased by shimmering rock on three sides.