Insatiable (The Edge of Darkness, #1)

by Leigh Rivers

I asked Kade’s mum if she could put me on the visitation list to see Tobias, and tomorrow morning, I’ll be sitting down with him – the psychopath I used to study religiously. Every article, every documentary, even the leaked interview with him from the day he was arrested – I poured over it all, fascinated by his mind and the way it worked; the way his eyes, devoid of anything, darkened whenever Aria Miller was mentioned.

“Mani pārdod seksam un nāvei, lai aizsargātu visus, kurus mīlu.” Kade leans into me more, raising his other hand between us to tuck another strand of hair behind my ear. I tilt my head, utterly confused by whatever language he’s speaking. He licks his lips. “Tajā skaitā jūs, vasaras raibumi.”

STOPPPP THAT'S SAD AND CUTE

“I’m new to this, so I have no idea how it works. If you want to see other people, then go for it.” The words taste like poison. “I can’t promise their bodies won’t show up in the River Clyde though.”

“I never stopped caring about Kade.” He shakes his head. “That’s a lie. Do you know how horrible it felt to sit there and watch my son fall apart because of what you did to him? How many times he had to call and tell me that the urge to drown himself, to throw himself off a bridge was getting worse, and he was scared. I may not fully understand how true love and trust and loyalty works, how it feels to have one’s heart ripped out, but I saw it all through my son as you broke each one of his emotions. How dare you sit here with me and claim to care about him?”

WHAT

“Aria found him close to overdosing on her boat. If he hadn’t managed to send her his location, he’d probably be dead.”

“You certainly showed him how to understand the negative ones. So much so that he was fully prepared to end his life because of it.” “I’m sorry your son did that, I really am, but if he ever sat down and let me explain, he’d know that the ten-second video he was sent was heavily edited from three hours of drugging and non-consensual activity.” My heart stops at finally getting the words out. Tears fall down my cheeks, and I wipe them away as my voice falters. “Help me, before he ends up dead, and we both lose him.”

“We’re all broken in some way, Tobias. But we can also be fixed.”

“You didn’t fall down the studio stairs, did you?” For a split second, I feel my heart shatter. My composure slips, and I try not to burst into tears and pull him in for a cuddle, to bury my head in his powerful chest. Lu always said her dad’s hugs were the best. I shake my head. “No.” “Did you abort the baby?” My eyes close. “No.” “Does my son know the truth?” I grit my teeth, clenching my jaw painfully as I turn to him. “It would have made things worse. I’ll tell him when I’m ready to. This is more important.” “You were attacked.” I nod. “Who?” “Please.” I shiver. “We need to focus on Kade first. What’s done is done.”

“She was my granddaughter. No one takes from me and gets away with it. Once I deal with Kade, I’m going to hunt down whoever is responsible. I promise you, little one.” I smile weakly. “You don’t need to hunt for him – he lives right under my roof.”

Period

He tells me that Barry is coming, but then says Barry might be dead, and I gasp. “I’m kidding.” “That’s not funny, Kade.

“I guess I wanted your voice to be the last I heard…” I straighten. “What? What do you mean?” “I took something I shouldn’t have, and I needed to hear you before…” he slurs. “Wait, I’m not hallucinating, am I? Are you actually talking to me?”

Kade has already unbuttoned his trousers and is asking me how much I paid as Barry grabs water from his fridge.

Oh baby...

“I miss her,” he mumbles. “But we have no chance of getting back what we had.” I fight the burn in my eyes. “I know.” “She was pregnant. A girl. We lost her.” My heart shatters. “I’m sorry.” “It sucks.”

I miss her, he’d said. I miss him too.

Stacey Rhodes is mine.

I realise I might be feeling an emotion I’ve only ever heard about. One I had no idea existed for me – never knew I was capable of feeling. An emotion that makes me want to blind everyone in the world so they can never see how beautiful she is. I’ll stick a screwdriver deep in their ear canals, so they’ll never hear her laugh. The idea of anyone thinking they can have her after me makes my blood boil. Dangerous. This is so fucking dangerous. I think I’m falling in love with Stacey Rhodes.

“He isn’t dead.” I will be soon. Or she will be.

Maybe it’s because she was once carrying our child and I witnessed the start of the swelling of her womb. I loved her already, but knowing she was going to be the mother of my child made me worship her in ways I had no idea existed.

“Because you’re hiding, and I want to hide with you.” I caress her cheek and press my lips to her forehead, catching her off guard. “Let’s hide together, Freckles.”

Lu: I’ll pretend neither of you just said that. Do you both forget who we’re talking about here? He flirts with my mum and Ewan, for God’s sake! Ty: Um, hello? Have you seen Ewan?

There is no future with Kade Mitchell.

Him and Lu really are twins. Moody bastards.

“Jesus, Kade. No. I’m not going on that huge thing! It will honestly kill me.” He gives me a look. “Are we still talking about the bike?” “Shut up.”

“I’ve put you in so much danger. I’m sorry.”

“I suggest you drive faster. They have orders to kill her. We can distract them.”

One move and I’d be able to snap his neck without even blinking. But that would only piss off his wife and I’m not ready to attend the funerals of my loved ones anytime soon.

“Be careful. If you get killed, I’ll fucking kill you.” Barry snorts, the connection growing weak. “Got it, boss.”

I’m not going to marry her and have children; I don’t get to have a happy ending.

I remember when we found out we were going to have a kid, I wanted them to have her eyes. I wanted them to have everything that made Stacey who she was. Smart. Brave. Confident. Beautiful.

“Where did you just go?” Where I always go. The void in my head.

“You weren’t supposed to have this life.” She’s shaking in my arms. “We should have moved away when we planned to. When I found out I was pregnant, we should have left and never turned back.”

It’s over as soon as it starts – I let go of her forever, and she’s vanishing into the jet, not daring to give me one last look. Everything else is done. We’re done. And that’s how it needs to be. I’ll stay away from her. I’ll do anything to make sure Bernadette never finds her.

I guess the team I had on the gates is dead. Everyone who was on shift and didn’t make it to the jet is dead. So many innocent lives lost, all because they were loyal to me.

“You’re a sneaky son of a bitch,” Archie says, getting to his feet and leaning his hands on the steel table. “My dad would have your tongue for speaking about my mother that way,” I reply with a smug grin. “But you’re too much of a pussy to say that to his face, aren’t you?”

“You go anywhere near my family, and I’ll fucking kill you.”

This I can handle. This I’ll take to keep everyone safe. This is the price I’ll pay to make sure they never find out who Stacey Rhodes is to me. At least I got to kiss her.