Damaged (Boys of Winter #2) - Sheridan Anne Page 0,24

true?”

Carver shakes his head. “It’s not,” he states as though it’s a cold, hard fact. “You’re fucking lying. I know you are. My father would never try to overthrow the whole council like that. Why the fuck would he? You’ve been gone for eighteen years. If that were his plan, he would have carried it out way before you got here.”

I scoff, unable to believe what I’m hearing. “I don’t give a shit what that man could have done before I got here. All I know is that he stood before me and demanded that I be his fucking yes man. But what would you know anyway?” My eyes harden and I step back into him. “When was the last time you spoke to him? You’re fucking best friends with Cruz and King, and not to mention, already a full member of the organization. Your father probably didn’t trust you for a fucking second. Especially when he realized that I knew exactly what happened to my parents. Who do you think he assumed told me, huh? Who would he have thought was the weakest link?”

I watch him, knowing damn well that I’m playing mind games, but it’s the truth. A man like Royston Carver would never trust his heir, especially one that usually has a good heart. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the reason he stayed away from Carver for so long. He was probably hoping for a son who would inherit his sick, twisted mind, and want to follow in his footsteps, but Carver is better than that, and despite how much it pains me to admit that—it’s true.

Carver lets out a sigh, his frustration increasing by the second and only reminding me how far apart we’re drifting. “You don’t think I know that? You don’t think that I spent years by my father’s side as a kid, fucking wishing that he could love me, wishing he would think that I was strong enough to one day take his seat at the table?” Carver bears down on me, the emotion pouring out of him in waves. “I was never enough, but I came to fucking terms with that. It’s no secret that he didn’t trust me, but that doesn’t mean that I didn’t know the bastard. I made it my fucking business to know every last thing about him. Now, tell me what the fuck he said to you.”

I step into him, a smirk pulling at my lips as I raise my chin and meet his hard stare. “Well,” I say, hating to be the bearer of bad news. “It looks like you failed because every last word I said is true. Your father was planning to rule and corrupt Dynasty, and you missed it.”

Guilt flashes in his eyes and I see the exact second that he decides to trust my word, but after the shit that’s gone down between us over the last few days, neither of us is ready to back down. “You killed my father, Winter,” he says, his voice dropping low as he stares into my eyes. “I couldn’t ignore that.”

My stare doesn’t waver as I raise my chin, letting him see just how far he’s pushed me. “And he killed mine,” I state before pressing my hand into his chest and pushing him backward. “I couldn’t ignore that.”

I take three long strides until Carver steps out of my cell, and keeping my eyes trained heavily on his, I pull the cell door closed between us before reaching through the bars and sliding the lock back into place, letting him see just how much he’s hurt me. I twist the key and pull it out before tossing it far down the hallway and silently watching him.

Pain and regret twist across his handsome features for the slightest second before he rights himself and takes a step back. My heart races, the pain stinging my chest like a hot knife through butter.

Carver watches me for a silent moment, receiving my ‘fuck you to the ends of the earth’ message loud and clear. Things will never get better between us. That connection we once had is gone, the fire quickly sizzling out and leaving us both in ruins.

Then finally releasing me from the intensity of his stare, he drops his gaze and walks away, leaving nothing but a broken and shattered mess behind.

CHAPTER 7

Four days. Four nights.

I don’t know how much more of this I can take. I think I’ve slept a total of eight hours since