Page 66 of Temptation
I’d never seen him, but something told me that he wasn’t behaving like this just because of our family name. Dylan signed the paper and took my bag without looking at me, without talking to the officer, and marched toward Kane and Rowan, the glare never coming off of his face.
“Dylan,” Rowan started, but Dylan cut him off with his murderous eyes.
“Not now.”
“But—” Kane tried.
“I said, not now.”
He pulled me outside into the cold air. As soon as I saw the person standing outside, the gasp escaped me, and I prepared myself for the worst possible outcome.
“Ash,” I whispered, seeing him at the bottom of the stairs, waiting for us.
The expression he wore matched Dylan’s, and the grip Dylan had on my hand increased; bruising me, as if he was punishing me for Ash’s presence here.
“I thought I told you to leave, Crowell,” Dylan thundered.
“And I told you to fuck off, Dylan,” Ash counterattacked, still standing in the same spot.
“Guys, guys, guys.” Rowan positioned himself in front of Dylan, pulling his attention from Ash. “We all need to talk, and we need to do it now. Like, right, fucking now. Your pissing contest can wait, but this can’t.”
“I have nothing to say to him,” Dylan announced loud enough for Ash to hear, and I had enough of this.
I pulled my hand away from his and took my bag from his grasp. He threw that angry glare at me, but I glared back. Men, fucking men. None of them asked me what I wanted. Not one of them asked me if I was okay after today.
Nobody asked if I wanted to leave or stay, and worst of all—they knew what was going on. They knew who was behind this, and they were keeping it to themselves.
Without a second to spare, I started walking down the stairs, passing next to Ash who followed my movements like a hawk, and toward the parking lot where Kane’s Mercedes G Class was parked.
“Skylar!” Dylan called out. “Where the fuck are you going?”
“Far away from the two of you. If you can’t work together and talk like grown-ups, then I don’t want to see either of you.”
“Moonshine.”
“Don’t.” I glared at Ash. “Kane! Start fucking moving. I need answers and I need them now. You two can follow, or you don’t have to. At this point, I don’t give a fuck.”
I turned my back to them again and stopped once I reached Kane’s car. Footsteps sounded behind me and I knew they all followed, but I didn’t dare look at them. If I did, I knew I would crumble, and the events from the day would catch up with me.
The last thing I needed right now was to crumble.
“Where are we going?” Kane asked as he unlocked the car and opened the door for me.
“The cemetery,” I answered and sat inside. “We’re going to the crypt.”
13
ASH
I hated him.
I hated the way he looked, the way his eyes lingered on Skylar, and the way he thought that he could just march in and order us all to do whatever the fuck he wanted. I hated Dylan Blackwood with renowned passion and standing here in the middle of the crypt staring at him was not helping.
His blond hair was disheveled, as if he kept running his hands through it, and his tall frame towered over Skylar. But those eyes—I hated his eyes as well. How was it possible that one person could look both hot and cold? And why was my dick stirring in my pants seeing him standing next to her, wanting to break him?
Fucking shit.
That night in the catacombs didn’t happen so long ago, but it felt like an eternity had passed since I last saw him, and it wasn’t long enough. It wasn’t long enough for me to stuff all these feelings that were trying to overwhelm me.
