My hand pumps up and down and the low groan in the back of his throat is enough to set me on fire. I’ve been craving this exact moment since the second I first walked through the doors of the Carrington mansion and laid my eyes on him and finally it’s here and I know it’s going to be so much more than I ever imagined it could be.
His hand trails down my body and just as his warm finger presses against my aching clit, a sharp knock sounds at his bedroom door just moment’s before it’s thrown open and Harrison comes rushing in, not waiting for an invitation or respecting any of the sacred rules he put in place, and that could only mean one thing—something is wrong.
“For fuck’s sake,” Colton mutters under his breath. “I can’t catch a fucking break.”
“Mr, Carrington,” Harrison says wide-eyed, completely ignoring the fact that we’re just seconds from having the fuck of a lifetime. His voice shakes and the terror coming off him in waves has me forgetting everything that’s just happened in this room. Something isn’t just wrong, it’s really wrong. “You must come with me immediately.”
Chapter 32
Harrison instantly steps out of the room, leaving the door wide open and turning his back as he waits for us to dress.
I scramble off Colton’s lap and as our eyes meet, I see the wall starting to slam back down. His hand whips out and a second later, the shirt he’d just peeled off my body slams into my chest. I hastily pull it over my head as he grabs his discarded towel and covers his junk.
Colton crosses his room in the blink of an eye, he's in a pair of sweatpants with a loose tank that I’ve seen him wearing in his home gym.
He walks to the door and looks back at me, silently telling me to hurry the fuck up.
I hurry after him and he holds the door for me as I pass. I stop and turn to Harrison, waiting to see what the hell is going on. “Miss Munroe, please return to the pool house and remain there until the police have taken your statement.”
“Police?” I grunt, looking up at Colton who looks just as confused. His eyes meet mine and for a second I wonder if this has something to do with last night but Colton hardly seems like the type to call the cops and press charges. He'd prefer to take matters into his own hands which is exactly what he did. The last thing he wants is cops coming to sniff around and find out that he beat the ever-loving shit out of him and it’s not like Nic would have called …
Shit. Nic.
What’s he done? If anything, he found Jude and took care of the issue, and now someone has found the body.
Fuck. FUCK. Nic can’t be that stupid. He’s always so careful with this shit but this time his emotions are riding high. He could have fucked up.
Shit. This can’t be happening.
“Miss Munroe,” Harrison snaps, irritated. “Get moving please.”
“No. She stays with me,” Colton steps in.
“Mr. Carrington, I must advise against that,” Harrison says. “This is a family matter of extreme importance. Oceania should be sent back to the pool house to await the police’s arrival.”
“I’ve spoken,” Colton snaps. “She stays with me. Now, what is going on, and why the hell are the police involved? I should have been notified. You know the procedure for when dad is out of town. Everything goes through me.”
Harrison shoots a nasty glare my way before looking back at Colton and nodding. “Sir, of course, I understand the procedures, however, this is a timely circumstance and it prudent that we act fast.”
Colton gets frustrated with Harrison dancing around the topic and narrows his glare. “What’s going on, Harrison?”
“Sir, I think you should see for yourself.”
Realizing that he’s not going to get the answers he needs, Colton nods and allows Harrison to lead the way. Colton takes my hand and pulls me along, keeping up with Harrison’s fast, long strides. “It’s cool,” I murmur as Harrison practically flies down the stairs. “I can go back to the pool house and wait.”
“You’re staying with me,” he snaps in a tone that suggests an ass-whooping if I was to argue the point. “If this has something to do with Jude and the police have been called, then I can guarantee that you’re not safe. They’re going to take one look at you and assume that the poor girl from Breakers Flats is in the wrong. You’ll be carted away in handcuffs without even a chance to fight your case. You’re staying right by my fucking side.”
My eyes bug out of my head and I find myself clutching his hand even tighter, terrified of being taken away. I see it happen all the time in Breakers Flats and I refuse to be one of those statistics. “But I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“It doesn’t matter. It’s just how things happen around here. Jude’s family will go to extraordinary lengths to hide their son’s indiscretions, no matter how fucking wrong they are. They’d rather drag an innocent woman through the mud than their reputation.”
“Just like they did with that blackmail video of Jude raping that poor girl.”
Colton’s gaze snaps to mine. “How did you …” he cuts himself off with a heavy sigh, deciding that now isn’t the time to figure out how I could have found out one of his many secrets, but it won’t take him long to work out that Nic would have been the one to share it with me. “Look, it could be something else entirely but whatever it is, you don’t speak to the cops without me there, got it?”
“Yeah, got it,” I grumble, hating being spoken at but keeping my mouth shut and deciding to fight him on that later.
We reach the bottom of the stairs and Harrison turns to the right, heading down the hallway that I’ve only ever gone down while looking for Charles’ office.
I feel the tension rolling off Colton in waves and as Harrison comes to a stop in front of the familiar door, Colton eyes him down. “What’s the meaning of this?” he questions. “You know you’re not to be in dad’s office while he’s out on business.”
“Sir,” Harrison says, ignoring his stab and eyeing me again, clearly not pleased that I’m still here. He looks back at Colton. “You need to prepare yourself.”
Colton’s face scrunches in confusion but he doesn’t get a chance to ask again before Harrison twists the door handle and pushes the door wide.
Colton steps through and I follow behind but come to a startling stop as I crash into his Colton’s strong back. A sharp gasp comes tearing out of him as he pulls me behind him, protecting me from whatever secrets this office holds.
My hand presses against his back and I try to prepare myself for what I'm about to see, but nothing can prepare someone for this.
Charles Carrington lays over his massive mahogany desk staring up at the ceiling, his eyes wide and terrified as an old silver dagger protrudes from his chest.
Blood is soaked through the dress shirt he’d worn to the party and is pooled over the desk and puddled on the marble floor beneath.
My heart begins to race as I take in the intricate design on the dagger, the exact same as the one that ended my father’s life. Flashbacks cripple me, walking into my small family living room to find my dad laying on the ground, drenched in blood with an ancient, intricate designed silver dagger pierced through his chest.
How can this be happening again? It can’t be the same dagger. It was taken away by the cops, locked up in evidence, and never to be seen again.
My breath comes in short, jagged gasps as the need to run sails through me, but I don’t. This isn’t my father who’s just been murdered, it’s Colton’s. What would he think of me if I was so weak as to run?
No, I need to endure the memories and stand by his side, the same way I wish someone had done for me all those months ago. Remembering the pain, the grief, and devastation I felt, finding my father like that has my hand slipping back into his, letting him know that whatever he needs from me is his and he instantly clutches onto it like a lifeline.
“He’s dead,” Colton murmurs beside me, looking like a lost little boy who’s just found out that the world is a dangerous place. The need to say s
omething sails through me, but the shock of seeing Charles and that dagger has me unable to find words and I feel as though I’m failing him.
“Sir,” comes from Harrison as he discreetly steps into the office. “He is. From what we can gather, this happened as recently as the early hours of this morning. I need to know how you want to proceed?”
Colton’s head whips around to Harrison. “What?”
“This is yours now,” Harrison replies, sweeping his hand around the room. “You are the head of this family. The Carrington fortune is yours, the businesses, the assets. Everything. From this moment on, you are being watched by your competitors, your family, and the people who would do anything to take it all away. Your father has been preparing you for this moment all your life. How you respond to this is how you will start your reign as the wealthiest heir this town has ever seen. What you do from now on matters. Every move, every step, every mistake.”
I look up at Colton and watch as his gaze darkens. He soaks up every word Harrison says and as his hand slips out of mine, I feel the world crashing down around me and combusting into flames.
Colton strides toward the desk, his back straight and shoulders strong. He walks around it until he’s staring down at his deceased father, the dagger reflecting in his eyes. A moment of silence passes before he leans over his father and trails his fingers over his open eyes, closing them for the final time and silently saying goodbye to the man who made his life a living hell.
Something changes in him and I watch as he goes from the sweet boy I was dancing with during the party to a tortured man. In that split second, that boy ceased to exist and all that’s left behind is a shell of a man who I thought I was just beginning to know.
Colton’s hand curls around the hilt of the dagger, hiding its intricate details below his palm. His jaw clenches and he pulls it out slowly. Every inch of the silver, bloodied blade that appears has his eyes darkening further until they’re as black as night.
He looks at me and what little connection we had dissipates and burns before my very eyes, tearing me apart, just as Nic warned me he would.
He’s no longer Colton Carrington; popular billionaire playboy with a need to torture me, he’s the new prince of darkness.
Colton spins the bloodied dagger in his fingers before slamming it down on the desk, making the silver clatter and echo in my ears. His piercing stare shoots to Harrison—dark, dangerous, and lethal. “Find whoever did this,” he demands, and at that moment, he looks nothing like the guy I’ve come to know. The guy who protected me from his friend and nearly beat him to death is gone, the guy who brushed hair back off my face and kissed me as though I was every dream he’d ever had no longer exists.
This man before me is a stranger and he looks just like his father.
Cold.
Deadly.
Un-fucking-touchable.
Rejects Paradise Series Playlist
Game of Survival - Ruelle
I’m Gonna Show You Crazy - Bebe Rexha
Nightmare - Halsey
Never Tear Us Apart - Bishop Briggs
Bird Set Free - Sia
Helium - Sia
Dusk Till Dawn - Zayn feat Sia
Heaven - Julia Michaels
Graveyard - Halsey
Bad Bitch - Bebe Rexha
Love Drug - G-Easy feat Halsey
Hurricane - Tommee Profitt
Unloveable - Delacey
Power - Isak Danielson
Cruel Intentions - Delacey feat G-Easy
Not Afraid Anymore - Halsey
Unstoppable - Sia
Monsters - Tommee Profitt
Can’t Help Falling In Love - Tommee Profitt
Angel Cry - G-Easy feat Devon Baldwin
Bad At Love - Halsey
Creep - G-Easy feat Ashley Benson
In The End - Tommee Profitt
Wicked Game - Daisy Gray
Haunted - Beyonce
Gasoline - Halsey
I Feel Like I’m Drowning - Two Feet
Twisted - Two Feet
Wild Horses - Bishop Briggs
The Fire - Bishop Briggs
Killer - Vallerie Broussard
Thanks for reading!
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https://www.amazon.com/dp/B089XTWKYL
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Cocky F*ck - Rejects Paradise (Book 2)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08C4XKL1V
Author Biography
Sheridan Anne is a wife to a smart-ass husband, Mumma to two beautiful girls, twin sister, daughter, and friend who lives in beautiful Australia. Sheridan writes both romance and young adult fantasy books on a variety of topics and can be found on most days with her family or writing during naptime. To find out more or to simply say ‘hello’, connect with her on Facebook or Instagram -
www.facebook.com/SheridanAnneAuthor
www.instagram.com/Sheridan.Anne.Author
Other Series by Sheridan Anne
www.amazon.com/Sheridan-Anne/e/B079TLXN6K
Young Adult / New Adult - Romance
The Broken Hill High Series (5 Book Series + Novella)
Haven Falls (7 Book Series + Novella)
Broken Hill Boys (5 Book Novella Series)
Aston Creek High (4 Book Series)
Rejects Paradise (4 Book Series)
New Adult Romance
Kings of Denver (4 Book Series)
Denver Royalty (3 Book Series)
Rebels Advocate (4 Book Series)
Urban Fantasy - Pen name: Cassidy Summers
Slayer Academy (3 Book Series)
Tough Sh*t: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Rejects Paradise Book 1) Page 34