He Thought I Loved Him, I Only Loved His Face Chapter 26

He Thought I Loved Him, I Only Loved His Face Chapter 26

“Rowan. Your father knows you left the country. Get back. Now.”

His friend’s voice was frantic on the phone.

Rowan didn’t respond.

“Did you hear me? He knows about Piper too. He’s furious. He wants you back to answer for it.”

Piper’s name. The source of all of it. Rowan’s fingers curled inside his sleeve.

“Fine. I’m coming back.”

The plane landed in New York. Rowan didn’t go to the Cross estate to see his father.

He had Piper brought to him first.

“Rowan, your father’s demanding to see you. Maybe go home first?”

His friend’s voice was cautious.

Rowan’s reply was ice. “Are you making decisions for me?”

“No.”

Everyone knew better than to push.

Piper walked in. Saw Rowan sitting there with a drink. She scrambled backward. Her voice shook.

“What are you going to do? Are you going to try to kill me again?”

Rowan looked at her gaunt, ruined face. The sight of her made him sick. And something else. A dull, grinding ache he couldn’t name.

He walked toward her. Slow.

Every step fed the violence coiling inside him.

Piper wept. Begged.

Rowan ignored it. He struck her across the face.

Her scream cut through the room.

Rowan clamped a hand over her mouth. Dragged her to the inner room. Slammed the door.

Piper had no strength to fight. She let him drag her. She crashed into the wall. Pain shot through her bones.

She curled into herself.

Rowan didn’t stop. His fists kept coming.

Piper looked up at the man above her. Pure hatred crystallized in her eyes.

Rowan stared at his bloodied hands. Felt a sick exhilaration.

“What right do you have to hate me? You were just after my money.”

“You worthless bitch.”

The words buried her.

Hatred consumed her completely. One thought crystallized in her broken mind.

If I die, you die with me.

Piper’s fingers found the fruit knife on the side table.

She drove it into Rowan’s abdomen.

Blood. Everywhere.

The only thing in her vision was the man who destroyed her life.

This was her one chance at revenge.