Voracious (The Edge of Darkness, #2)

by Leigh Rivers

“I want to be enough for you, my little princess,” I say, choking up for some reason. “I’ll never get drunk around you, and I’ll stay off the cigarettes. I’ll even stop smoking joints when you get here. I’m going to make sure I’m the best version of myself, so I can be a good daddy for you.”

“I just don’t want to fuck things up.” We both gasp against each other’s mouths as I push into her. “You couldn’t even if you tried,” she tells me. “Because you love me.” “And you love me,” I counter, pushing a few inches deeper. She nods, biting her lip as I sink to the hilt and put her leg on my shoulder. “More than anything,” she says. “Please don’t hold back.”

more like an essay – saying how sorry she was for failing me and our daughter, that she loved me and our angel more than anything. She wished she could have protected her and promised that if she’s ever granted the chance to grow another life inside her, she’ll do everything in her power to keep the baby safe. She said that when I’m ready, if I’m ever ready, that we should leave town and try again. I told her she was my entire fucking world and it wasn’t her fault – I’d also move to the moon with her and have a football team’s worth of kids if she asked me to.

He pulls me against him, and it’s only when my head drops that I realise my eyes are burning and my cheeks are wet. My body is shaking as the tightness intensifies in my heart, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it. Dad’s hand is at the back of my head as he tells me repeatedly that he’s got me. He tells me it’s okay to feel. It’s okay to let it all out. He’s here.

“I’d never touch a gun. People already have a grim view of me because of my surname. I need Nora’s approval.”

“That was cute.” Completely out of my own control, I feel myself blush. Me, blushing – the fuck?

“She will accept us. Because I love you.” Another thrust. “I’m always going to love you, Freckles.”

“I’ll stop birth control,” she says as she rides me. “I won’t take my pill today or any day after, and I want you to finish inside me, Kade. I want everyone to know. When I get back from my night out, the world will know who I love.”

“And who do you love?” “You. Always. You’re mine, and I’m yours.” She gasps and caresses her own tits, and I grit my teeth to stop myself from finishing before her. Her voice is laced with pleasure as she keeps talking, her body like a fucking temple as she writhes above me. “You’ll be the father of my children, the love of my life and the person I get to grow old with.”

“There’ll be no other ending for us, Freckles, because you’re fucking it for me.” Fuck. After tomorrow night, I get to have it all. I’ll finally have all of her.

“Someone by the name of Christopher Fields tried to hack into our systems, and my team backfired it and downloaded some of his files. Pictures, videos, you name it. Very incriminating.”

The sound is off, but they’re yelling at each other in double time as she covers herself, sobbing into her palm. He grabs his hair and paces, then gives her a change of clothes to cover her nakedness. She keeps mouthing sorry. Sorry. I’m so sorry. It’s my brother. He’s a monster. I thought you were Kade. And Jason mutters a fuck and storms out of the room.

My brain goes cold just as the footage skips one last time – to Stacey standing on the Erskine Bridge with tears pouring down her face, wearing what she had on when I told her to get the fuck out of my life. My brother is trying to get her down. Stacey was suicidal for something that wasn’t her fault. No.

I park down the street from her house, and my lungs completely seize when I walk up with a bag of her things and see the black Jeep sitting outside. I nearly fall to my knees when Stacey emerges from the passenger side and heads for her front door. I drop her things on the ground and watch Jason’s car drive away. And there’s my answer. To say I’m heartbroken is an understatement. I don’t think I’ve ever felt this way or know how to control it.

If I die, then everyone suffers. I’ll be gone, and I’ll leave my family in ruin. Stacey will blame herself. Jason will too. My lungs sting, shrivelling from lack of oxygen, and my muscles go limp, the pressure in my head halting, and my vision goes blurry. If I die, at least I’ll get to be with my angel.

My girl who didn’t willingly fuck my brother and was raped by multiple men after being drugged. Who has a second brother who abuses her and is responsible for the death of our daughter.

Once I get Stacey away, I’ll go there. Nora needs a fucking boot for letting this happen under her roof – and I’ll punch Kyle for not noticing either. But if I get my hands on Chris? Everything my dad has done in his life will pale in comparison.

years. I left her. I left her with a broken heart after being drugged and raped and abused, after losing our baby. Then her dad died two months later. She tried to contact me so many times, and I ignored her.

“Hey, Freckles.” I bite my lip and screw my face up as my ribs burn, taking a deep breath before continuing. “I’m so sorry. I’m so fucking sorry for not knowing what you went through or giving you a chance to explain what happened. I should have heard you out. I should have stayed. But you need to listen.” I wince and pull the phone away, so she can’t hear my groan of pain. “They know who you are, and what we were. They’re going to come for you. Please. Please, baby, you need to run. Run, and don’t you dare turn back. Get away from all of them. You… you hear m-me?” My

eyes close, and my phone slides out of my hand, but I quickly grab it. “Please hide, please.” My vision goes dark, and the tremble in my bones stops. “I n-never stopped loving you.” My heart is fucking sore, but I need to get this last part out. I know I’m dying. But the only thing I’m worried about is her getting the fuck away from those evil pricks. “I will… will always lo-love you, Freckles. Go, live your life and be free. Meet someone who can tr-treat you ri-ight. For-for-forget me.” I can’t hear anything, not even my heartbeat. “Pl-please for… forgive me. B-Be safe and ha-ha-happy. I love you. I…”

“Your friend tried to intervene – did you know that? It backfired. We have Sebastian Prince.”

part, I take my first line of coke at a party Base drags me to, and the buzz knocks me on my ass, all thoughts of Stacey temporarily gone. I take another. And another. Until the hours start blurring together. Our bender lasts four days – four fucking days of going from party to party, club to club. I don’t think I’ve slept a wink.

It’s day five, and I nearly kiss a girl, but it feels wrong. She presses her petite body to mine, but I excuse myself and vomit my guts up in the alleyway of the club. If I can’t fucking kiss someone knowing how much she messed up, then how can she do that behind my back when we were good – when we promised ourselves to each other forever?

Base offers himself up on a plate – offers himself to me to keep my mind occupied while we lie on the bed, both stoned as fuck and trying to realign with reality. For a split second, I actually contemplate going for it.

Rule one: Stay away from your toxic ex-girlfriend. Rule two: Don’t unblock her number. Rule three: If you’re both in the same room, don’t fucking look at her – it’s a trap. Rule four: Under no circumstances will you have any sexual interactions with her. Rule five: Never forgive Stacey Rhodes.

“You don’t hate her, son. You’re just mad at her.”

“Spark that joint – I threw the other one away to be dramatic.”

“Don’t tell Luciella I took all those drugs. She keeps getting at me about doing coke, but she’d lose it if she knew I took ecstasy and acid.” “So you want me to lie to my sister?” “Pretty much. In turn, I won’t tell her you did them too.” Prick. “You do know that you two aren’t together? You can do whatever the fuck you want.” “Would you want the girl you loved to know how much of a fuck-up you are?”

I think I might be done – I might be free, but no matter how much havoc I cause, they always want more from me. Another death. Another fuck. Another drug. Another memory of Stacey holding me together. When I screw up, Dad either gets the punishment – or I do. Bernadette tells me to fuck her friends, and they pay me. I have to do it or they’ll target my family, but each time I push into someone, I try to think of her. I always think of her.

For the next two years, I die a little more each day, until the version of Kade Mitchell I want to be turns into a ghost. My soul is shattered and broken, and I lose all the pieces, unable to glue it back together.

Look at me now, my little princess. Daddy’s gone, and he’s never coming back.

I cried when I was handed a new passport. I cried when I saw all the money in my bank statement. And I bawled my eyes out when I chucked my old phone into a river. Barry keeps me updated on the dogs. He hacks into the manor’s cameras for me to see them with the staff, Aria cuddling Milo on the sofa while Ewan play-fights with Hopper. Getting their walks or splashing in the pool. I’ve become a serial stalker though. I deleted all my social-media accounts as planned and made a fake account. But I only made it so I could watch what everyone was doing.

From the moment my stepbrother laid eyes on me, I knew life was going to be hard. But for that year, that wonderful, glorious year when I was in my late teens, I had something, someone, that made it worth sticking around, despite all those bad things.

He tells her he’ll see her soon, then pulls me in for a warm, caring hug. I love getting hugs from him. He doesn’t always give them out, so when he does, I wrap my arms around him tightly and stay until he kisses my temple or the top of my head and tells me to fuck off.

I trace my finger up and down the scar on my throat, zoning out. My fingers tremble. The shakes have been getting worse, and my mind goes fuzzy a lot. Sometimes, I black out. That void swirls in and swallows me fucking whole, and I have no idea what happens when it does. It’s kind of my escape. What better place could it be than nowhere?

I punch her into silence. I don’t think – my mind isn’t working or thinking about the repercussions as I drop the gun and smash a tight fist across her face, knocking her to the ground. Wine splashes everywhere, the glass cracking, and she’s barely able to gasp before I’m over her – hammering my fucking fist into her face some more.

her version of fun usually means she forces me and Base on each other. We’ll be fine – we know what it is and what it means each time it happens. It’s either that or he needs to get on his knees for someone else.

Save him. Save her. Save them.

When I get away from Chris – because I will – I’ll give him the puppy-dog eyes as an apology. They always work.

“I should’ve told Kade what was happening. He would have protected our child – that’s on me. But I can’t wait until Kade gets his revenge on you. You took his daughter from him, and even if he doesn’t care about me anymore, he’ll torture you for that. I hope he puts you through hell.”

“Would you help him, Stacey?” I throw my head back and laugh. “He’s the son of Tobias Mitchell. He doesn’t need help.”

“It’s been four years since I started falling for him. I know he might not care for me, but I will always love him.”

Kade puts it back and studies his hand, which is very obviously shaking. I wish I was there to kneel in front of him and tell him it’s okay. Tell him his dad is coming to get him out of the mess he’s in. We’ll do what we can. We care for him and love him. Hold on a little longer. Please.

I miss him. I miss him so much that sometimes I find it hard to breathe. My bedside unit had a picture of us. I looked at it every night before I fell asleep. It was a little obsessive, considering we were done and all, but I’ve never really been able to move on.

“Are you going to be my forever, Freckles?” What is forever if it’s not with him?

“Why not just release it all?” Chris shrugs nonchalantly. “She’d retaliate by releasing what she has on me, and I can’t be with you if I’m locked up.”

I think Mum will be mad about it, considering she sees us as siblings, and Kyle will probably fold me into a suitcase, but they’d eventually be okay with it.”

They are the silver packages, as Archie explains. Instead of only being available for a set duration, these girls can be kept indefinitely.