MasukPearl Johnston fled to California chasing a simple life far from the chaos of her father's motorcycle club and the stepbrother whose dark eyes promised sins she couldn't afford to confess. For two years, she built a safe existence with Ryan. Until Ryan shatters her illusions with a cruel truth: their entire relationship was a lie. Forced back home by her father's death, she has to face Zander daily. He doesn't give her the chance to escape again. He has vowed to stake his claim on her. The journey of finding the truth about her father's death thrusts her in danger and its that time when Pearl realises that the hardest thing is not craving her step brother but loving a man who is willing to burn the world for her.
Lihat lebih banyak“ Let's break up. You are not the one for me.” The words felt like a hot slap,the weight of them landing on me, crashing my heart into a thousand tiny pieces.
I stared at Ryan,my boyfriend of two years with whom we had finally agreed to get engaged,ready to tie the knot.
“ What?” I chuckled nervously, hoping and praying that he would burst out laughing and tell me that he was only pranking me. But the serious look on Ryan's face told me that this was not the joke I was hoping it was.
“ You heard me Pearl! I don't want this anymore. I don't think I can push through when I don't even love you.”
If the first batch of his words was harsh,I don't know what to call this. After dating for two years and getting my hopes up,what did he mean by he didn’t love me? Was this some kind of a joke or something?
Was everything a lie?
“ Ryan—” I called,my voice breaking.
“ Don't give me that expression,Pearl. I agreed to date you because I thought it was fun to have someone who loves me. But now, I'm tired. I am in love with someone else and I plan to make things official with her.”
My heart trembled and I curled my hands into fists. So this is what everything was about? He was here for some fucking experience, bask in free love while finding his true love? Technically speaking,I was dating myself, fooling myself into thinking that what we had was long-lasting? That it was beautiful and perfect?
My tears threatened to spill but I pushed them back,met his gaze with a weak smile.
“ Alright. Good luck.” I said, stood up, turned around and walked away.
Today was supposed to be perfect. Ryan had called me earlier to meet him at our usual cafe. I dressed up for that damn meeting but now, walking away in my heels,I could not help but mock myself.
Two fucking years! I gave two years of my life to an asshole who didn't deserve it? Everyone around me said that Ryan was not the right man for me. Only I insisted that he was a good man because apparently, I loved him.
Anyone who dared badmouth him ended up getting sidelined with me.
As I walked down the familiar pathway we would walk, holding hands and sharing icecream, a mocking smile curled on my lips.
I thought I had it all, a perfect boyfriend, a happy relationship away from the chaos called my home.
Two years ago, I left New York, my homeplace and ventured to a new city.
I had a simple dream, to live a simple life and find love, probably get married and start a family.
I don't hate New York, I just didn't like how chaotic life was there. Always living on the edge, chasing that adrenaline every day?
That's a life I was never cut for. After college, I chose to relocate. My father, Flinn was against it but eventually, he agreed.
Escaping chaos was one thing, maybe the excuse I used to get away because the real chaos came in the name of Zander, my asshole stepbrother.
He was everything I loathed yet couldn't keep my panties dry around. He was the type of man I could never commit to yet looking at him, he was the perfect object of my darkest imaginations.
His half assed grin, like he could see through me, through every dark and sinful thought I could never admit out loud never ceased to piss me off. I never concealed how I disliked him yet every time he looked at me, I could swear he saw it, that tingling desire to be held in his arms and punished like his little whore.
Coming here helped me keep my mind and lust off him. Then I met Ryan–sweet, charming and handsome of course.
I set my eyes on him and didn't bother being subtle about my interest in him.
Months later, we got together. Everything was going perfect, well, until that damn meeting happened.
After dragging my feet across the streets for what felt like forever, I stood before my small apartment. I fumbled for my keys and unlocked the door, kicking the heels immediately I stepped inside.
I pushed myself forward, my body and mind screaming for a good afternoon nap. You see, one thing I mastered after being my father's daughter is that tears don't look demure on a beautiful face like me.
I have seen and been through so much to cry over an asshole who thinks I am not enough.
If Ryan needed that satisfaction when he announced our breakup,then he will have to wait for his next target.
“ You look like a mess.” A deep familiar voice sounded from across the room. My eyes scanned the area until they landed on him.
Zander fucking Johnston, my stepbrother.
A groan left my lips involuntarily.
“ What the hell are you doing here? This is my house.” I snarled, a scorching glare fixed on his face.
He grinned, that all too familiar annoying but panty dropping, heartbreaking, smile that I know so well.
“ It's our house, technically. Our father owns it.” He fired back.
“ He is my father, not yours.” I snarled. After being raised by my dad all my life, sharing his affection with someone else, a grown ass man at that never felt right.
Exactly four years ago, my father brought home a wife and guess who else, Zander.
He shrugged, seemingly unbothered by my words.
“ I am still waiting for a fucking answer. I made myself clear that I didn't want anything to do with New York so why come here?” I snapped, my annoyance bubbling again.
“ You need to come back home.” Zander announced, his expressions suddenly turning grim.
For a moment,
I am stunned but I manage to recover, ready to lash out.
“ Dad needs you to send him off. He is no more.”
Pearl By the time night fell, the air felt different. Thicker almost, like the world itself knew something was about to shift..Zander didn’t say much on the drive over. Hell , he didn't say anything at all. The only thing I got was one hand on the wheel, the other resting on his thigh, in a manner that was calm and controlled. Too controlled if you asked me. I watched him in the dark reflections of the window. He didn't wear any teasing smirk this time, and there were no suct edges either. Just a steely expression I just knew couldn't mean anything good. When we pulled up, the building looked the same as it always did, but tonight it felt like a courtroom,or more accurately, a battlefield.Inside, the atmosphere was tight. Conversations were low and clipped the minute we walked in. Men stood in clusters, shoulders squared, with tension humming beneath the surface.The moment Zander walked in, the energy shifted. Spines straightened,voices dropped, and eyes followed. They focused
Pearl By the time I got back, my hands were still shaking. I didn't even realize they were shaking till I got back to the cabin. My hands weren't vibrating visibly, nor was it dramatic, but it was just enough that I had to curl them into fists before pushing the door open.Like that wasn't enough, my mind was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. I wasn't one to exaggerate, but it was a miracle how I'd even arrived safely. The thoughts of everything that had gone down with Vienna clouded my mind so hard that I couldn't focus on anything else. Zander was already inside. He wasn’t pacing, he wasn’t on the phone, and hry wasn’t pretending to be casual either.He was standing near the window, arms folded, staring out like he’d been waiting for a storm to arrive.When the door clicked shut behind me, he turned. His eyes went straight to my face.“What happened?” he asked. The personality of his that liked to tease me was gone, and there was no softness in his voice. Just pure undil
Pearl The first thing I noticed when Vienna finally stirred was the sound. It sounded like glas scraping against wood. It was slow, careless and even though it scraped against my ears, I did my best to not let my discomfort show. I had been sitting in the chair across from her for almost twenty minutes, watching the rise and fall of her chest just to make sure she was actually breathing. The house still smelled like stale alcohol and something sour beneath it, fear, maybe.Her eyelids fluttered open.For a split second, confusion passed over her face. Then memory crashed in, I saw it happen. It was in the way she'd tightened her jaw, and the flicker of something haunted behind her eyes.She didn’t look at me. She reached for the bottle instead.“Don’t,” I said immediately. “You've had more than enough already.” She paused but didn’t withdraw her hand.“I need it,” she muttered, her voice rough from sleep and liquor. “Just let me. I'll take one gulp, and that's all.”“You don’t.”
Pearl I woke up feeling deliciously ruined.Every inch of me hummed with the memory of his hands, his mouth, down to the way he’d taken his time like I was something worth savoring. My thighs ached when I shifted, my hips protested, and even the inside of my lower lip was tender from how hard I’d bitten down on it, but that wasn't even the best part. If I got the chance,then I was going to do it all over again. Zander’s arm was heavy around my waist, his chest warm and solid against my back. He slept like he did everything else, fully committed. One leg tangled with mine, and his face buried in my hair, which showed that he was possessive even in sleep.I allowed myself one quiet second to just exist there. Then I carefully began the extraction process.Slowly, inch by inch, I lifted his arm and slid out from under it. He grumbled something low and unintelligible, tightening his grip once before I froze. I waited, counted to five when he settled, and then I slipped free.The room
Pearl I was a vibrating wire of nerves and leftover lust, and you just had to believe me when I said it wasn't a nice feeling. The second Zander’s footsteps retreated down the hall and probably behind Vienna, I scrambled away from the door, my mind racing faster than my pulse. I had maybe sixt
Chapter 57Pearl The silence in my bedroom was thick, heavy, and smelled like the best kind of trouble. I was curled into Zander’s side, my head resting on his chest as his heart rhythmically thrummed against my ear. For the first time in forever, my brain was quiet. I had no worries about the p
Pearl I woke up to a body that felt like it had been through a beautiful, carnal war. Every time I shifted under the silk sheets, a new ache bloomed, like a delicious, throbbing reminder of exactly how Zander had spent the night claiming me.Call me crazy or whatever, but I actually smiled at th
Pearl The air in the kitchen was so thick with tension I could practically feel it sticking to my skin. Zander stood perfectly still, his chest rising and falling in heavy, ragged hitches. He looked like a man standing on the edge of a precipice, fighting the wind that was trying to shove him over
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