Empire of Hate (Empire, #3)

by Rina Kent

“I became obsessed with you since you gave me that snow globe and laid your head on my thigh. That obsession turned to hatred and fascination over the years. I hated myself because I wanted you more than I wanted anything. I hated myself for never being able to move on from you, for avoiding all blondes because they reminded me of you. So the thing is, you never gave me a choice. The memory of you followed me everywhere like a ghost, or an angel, I’m not sure which. It’s hard to hate you and even harder to forget you, but loving you was the easiest thing that I’ve ever done. It was natural, inevitable, and fucking infinite.”

“That I ruined you, Nicole! If I wasn’t a fucking idiot and noticed the signs, if I didn’t choose to see you as the image you projected, I wouldn’t have pushed you into that cunt’s arms. You wouldn’t have lost a part of you that you’ll never get back. And I get that now, I get that no matter what I do, you’ll never forgive me for what happened to you. Which is why I chose to hurt you and myself and fucking leave.”

I didn’t mean you ruined me in that sense, I meant emotionally, you arsehole. You keep playing hide-and-seek with me, the moment I think you’re mine, you slip from between my fingers like sand. I’m tired of hoping, pining, and being so irrevocably in love with a man who never looked at me.”

“I was empty, too. And that box is what kept me feeling full enough to survive.” I smile a little. “I want it back, by the way.”

“What if you hate me down the line?” “Then I will just fall in love with you all over again. I’m persistent like that.”

Since that day, I don’t eat peaches.” “Why not?” “I don’t like things that can harm you.”

“My home is wherever you are. You’re my home, Nicole.”

“I said children are spawns. Mine and Nicole’s don’t belong to that list.”

“Thank you for giving me a family, Dan.” “Thank you for being mine, Peaches.”