Prisoner (Criminals & Captives, #1)

by Annika Martin

Pain is a funny thing. We fight so hard to avoid it, almost more than death. But it’s the only thing that binds us. Going through pain together and coming out on the other side is the only form of friendship I’ve ever known.

I want to hurt her and I want to protect her. Break her and shield her.

“Because I had to get you out of here.” He closes his hand around my upper arm and pulls me up. “I’ll always come for you. You’re mine.”

This isn’t a fucking fairy tale. I’m not going to turn into a good guy because her cunt is made of velvet and rainbows.

Stepping into the library feels like going home, even with all the craziness of breaking in and Stone wanting me dead and Grayson being…well, Grayson. It’s as if we’re on some kind of nerdy outlaw date, picking out books together.

The cool metal racks are filled to the brim with old, dusty books. I relax a little, infused with a sense of safety. Books were not quite an escape for me. And they were never my friends. They were so much more than that—utilitarian and unbreakable. They were my armor, my wall against the world. Until I had Grayson.

When you’re in something like that for so long, you can’t get a bond fiercer. It was us against them, against everyone in the world.”

Some people have a relationship that’s sunshine and roses. Ours is darkness and vengeance.

And so I do the only thing for her I can: I force myself to stop following her. I do what I promised I never would: I let her go.