A Kingpin Love Affair: The Complete series(19)
“He’s never called me. I mean he has, but it’s been months, Teg. Months. I really feel like Isabella might be the one thing he needs to set him free of whatever it is that’s holding him back. I don’t know why. Call me crazy if you want, but I feel it in my heart.” There was sadness in Bree’s voice that caused my own heart to ache. She cared for her brother—that much was true.
There was a small pause, Gia and Taylor’s sounds filling the silence before Tegan responded. “Hey, I don’t think you’re crazy but listen to me. He has his own reasons for hurting. Just like you did, Zerro did, Devon and even I did. We all deal with things differently. Izzy, she’s something special for sure. Neither one of them may see it, but she is already changing him. The Jared we have seen these last three years would have never invited us over. He would have left her here and not cared. He cares for her even if he doesn’t want to acknowledge it. They are two broken people, just like all of us were.” Tegan paused briefly before carrying on. “Just remember, two broken people have the power to bring one another together, or they have enough power to take everyone and everything out. Destruction. Mayhem. Even love rests in their hands.” Tegan spoke far wiser than her age as if she understood what true brokenness really was.
I turned my back against the wall, my hands clutching my chest. The way they spoke told me they had pasts, they had walked somewhere in the darkness all on their own. I didn’t know how they came to be or where they were from. They could’ve had the same upbringing as I had or worse. Just because they hid their pain better than me didn’t mean they weren’t hurting.
“You’re right. I just hope the light I see inside of Isabella can pull Jared from the darkness that has surrounded him. If she can’t, then I don’t think there is any saving him.” Bree sounded so defeated that I could feel the sadness as it seeped into the room. It was then I wondered what had caused Jared so much pain.
What caused him to push everyone he loved away?
Chapter Ten
Jared
Music blared from somewhere inside the house, the beat causing the front door to vibrate as my mind wondered what exactly Bree and Tegan had done to Isabella. Had they transformed her? Had they caused her to lose touch with the reality of her dreams that plagued her?
Without another thought, I unlocked the front door and pushed through it. Rihanna’s S&M instantly rattling my eardrums. Isabella was nowhere in sight, so I closed the door quietly behind me and headed further into the house. The music grew louder as I got closer to the hallway. I was just about to head toward my bedroom when a blur formed before me as her body slid right past me. My eyes were still directed to the floor, to the pair of sock covered feet before me. Then they were gliding up her body, taking in the fact that her legs were bare.
Completely f*cking bare.
Holy. Fucking. Shit.
They were tan and smooth—and long, and… Fuck! Was I drooling? I wanted to grab one and wrap it around my waist as I caressed the silkiness of her skin.
A squeak filled the air as she noticed me, yet my attention was still on her legs. By the time I made it up to the hem of the shirt she was wearing, which happened to be mine, I was panting. Ready to f*cking devour her in every way imaginable. She looked up at me innocently, her cheeks growing a shade darker than usual.
“I didn’t…” She stumbled over her words, which just caused my dick to grow painfully harder. “I mean, I did know what I was doing, but I didn’t…” She attempted to talk again only to mumble the last bit of her sentence. She looked timid, maybe even a little afraid, but still there was a look of lust in her eyes that had me wondering if she was as innocent as she played herself out to be.
I cleared my throat before talking, knowing she would be able to tell from my voice that I had a desire to taste her, to touch her, to bring every single dream I had ever had about her to life.
“Why are you wearing my shirt, and why the f*ck were you in my bedroom?” I covered the need with anger because there was no way I could allow her to burrow herself any deeper into my life, my feelings or my f*cking head.
“I just wanted…” She looked lost for words, and suddenly, I started to feel like an even bigger dickhead. I had treated her like shit since she arrived, and though it was for her own good, I needed to cut the shit. I needed to be protecting her and making her feel safe. With all she had been through, she deserved a sliver of happiness in her dark life.
“I’m… I’m f*cking sorry. Okay?” I ran my fingers through my hair, sighing. I wasn’t sure what the hell I was supposed to say to her to make her feel better. Apologizing wasn’t really my thing. I knew this was wrong—I knew that Zerro picked the wrong person when it came to her. She needed more than I could ever give her.
“Okay. I just saw a girl in one of the shows on TV that I was watching with Bree and Tegan earlier. She wore her boyfriend’s dress shirt—not saying you are my boyfriend but anyway, she danced around the house. I just didn’t know you were coming home so early. I’m really sorry.” Her words were so sincere, I could almost feel myself cracking. I wanted to cradle her, to protect her in ways I shouldn’t.
“No. No, it’s all right. I just…” Just what? What was I going to come up with? Another excuse for why I was being a dick? I mean, I couldn’t just come out and say ‘I want to stick my cock deep in your *.’ God no. That would be just crude. “I just wasn’t expecting it is all. It took me by surprise. I haven’t ever had a woman wear my clothing before.” My body was acting of its own accord as I took a step forward, coming into her space. I drank in her scent and the way her body reacted to my own as my fingers reached out to push a lock of her dark hair out of her face.