Grave (Dark Kingdom, #3) — Chapter no 26

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

GRAVE

I WAKE UP with a pounding headache. A ringing in my ears and sensitive eyes. I realize I’m in a bed. It’s not mine. But I’ve been here before. I remember the purple accents.

I roll over to see April lying next to me. Sound asleep. “What …?” I trail off, lifting the covers to see she is on her left side, facing me. And she wears a shirt from Kingdom. It’s a men’s shirt, swallowing her up. And that’s it.

Then I look at myself. I’m completely naked.

Fuck!

I lie back and run a hand down over my face. How did I end up with her last night? I look back over her, and she still wears her makeup. Black streaks that I know have to be from tears are now dry on her cheeks.

What did I do to her?

Fuck, we were supposed to have a date. Right? Why can’t I remember it?

Did I physically hurt her? I lift the sheets once again and run my eyes over her exposed skin but see no physical signs.

I crawl out of bed and stumble to the en suite bathroom. I wash my face with cold water and brush my teeth with a random toothbrush. I’ll use anything to get this awful taste out of my mouth. Then I use the mouthwash. The taste no longer lingers, but my mouth feels like fucking sandpaper.

What the hell did I do last night? And how did April end up here? Did I fuck her? I don’t remember shit!

I run a hand through my hair. It’s standing every which way. There are dark circles under my bloodshot eyes. And a cut in the corner of my upper lip. Not the first time I’ve woken up in this situation, just wondering how she got involved in it.

The bathroom door opens, and Titan enters. He takes one look at me naked and shakes his head, looking away. He tosses me a pair of gray sweatpants that are in his hand, and I sit my ass on the side of the tub to put them on, not trusting my balance to stand.

Once on, I stay sitting and place my elbows on my knees and lean forward. My face falls into my hands. “What happened?” I clear my throat at my rough voice and rub my throbbing temples.

“You got fucked up,” he answers simply.

“No.” I shake my head. “We had plans …”

“She found you at the Airport. On drugs and with Lucy.”

“Fuck!” How did I end up with Lucy? I can’t remember. And what the fuck was I on? “What all did I do?” I ask roughly. “With … Lucy?” I hate having to ask that question, but it’s a possibility. The drugs and women run hand-in-hand. I get high, and get my dick sucked. Then I pass out and wake up alone. And I’ve always been okay with that.

“That’s something that you need to discuss with April,” he answers.

That doesn’t make me feel any better. I drop my hands and lift my head to look up at him.

He leans up against the closed bathroom door with his arms crossed over his chest wearing a scowl on his face. “She and Jasmine found you passed out in a room on the floor.” I swallow. “Jasmine called me. April was crying.” I close my eyes. “Said they couldn’t get you to wake up, but you

had vomited on her.”

“Fuck! Fuck!”

He sighs. “Emilee and I came back from New York early and went and picked you guys up. Brought you both back to our place. I had some Kingdom shirts in my car, so Emilee helped her clean up and change. I put you in the shower and cleaned you off.”

I stand, and the room sways, so I place my hand on the wall to stabilize myself. And Titan steps into me. “She didn’t want to stay with you.”

Then why did I wake up with her? “But she …”

“She stayed ’cause she didn’t want you to die in your own vomit while you slept off whatever the fuck you had taken.” His voice rises. “She didn’t want that on her conscience. Whatever the hell you’re doing, you need to stop.”

My eyes narrow on him. “What does that mean?” My drugs and drinking aren’t new to them.

“Whatever fascination you have with April. Cut it off now.”

“Fuck you, Titan!” I push off the wall.

He shoves me back. He comes to stand against me, pinning my back to the wall next to the tub. “I’ve never told you what to do, Grave. It’s not my place. But whatever you’re doing with her. Call it off! Now!”

“Fucking move …” I go to shove him away, but he doesn’t budge. He’s too strong, and I’m too weak at the moment. A night of endless drugs will do that to you.

He leans down, his lips by my ear. “She’s better than you. Deserves better than you.” I stiffen at his words. “She cares too much for someone who has a death wish. Stick with fucking Lucy. She’s more your speed.”

Then he steps back, digs his hand into his pocket, and pulls out a bottle of pills. “April found these in your jeans.” He throws them at my chest before exiting.

I spin around and punch the fucking wall, putting a hole in the sheetrock.

Leaning my head against it, I close my eyes as I try to calm my breathing.

He’s right!

April doesn’t belong in my world. My mess. Lucy reveled in it. Begged for another hit. Begged for me to bring another girl into our bed. She likes her life dirty. Just like me. But I’ve been clean. For April. So why did I fuck it up?

I push off the wall and yank the bathroom door open and go to storm out of the bedroom but come to a halt when I see April standing by the bed. Her ice blue eyes red and swollen.

APRIL

HE STANDS THERE staring at me with hard eyes as though last night was my fault. They fall to my legs, and I push the oversized shirt down, trying to cover myself.

He notices and looks away from me, his jaw sharpening in the process.

I take in his body. He only wears a pair of sweatpants. They sit low on his narrow hips. His defined V fully on display. I can make out the softness of his dick behind them. Normally, I would blush at what we’ve done in bed, but all I can think of is what he did with Lucy last night.

“Grave!” I fall to his side in the center of the room. His eyes are closed, and his lips parted. “Grave, wake up!” I shout, tears burning my eyes.

Jasmine falls down next to me and pulls her cell out of her pocket.

I cry as I touch his neck with shaky hands. His skin is clammy and pale.

Please don’t be dead. “What did you do, baby? What did you take?”

I wanted to wake him up. Scream at him. Pound on his chest and ask what the hell do you think you’re doing? Why do you waste your life? But I didn’t. I learned a very important lesson last night.

They don’t call him Grave for nothing.

“Are you even sorry?” I ask, breaking the awkward silence.

His eyes come back to mine, but he doesn’t answer.

I nod, getting my answer. I reach down and grab my phone off the floor and turn to walk toward the door. I’m pulled to a stop with a hand on my upper arm. I almost cry out from his touch alone. I put my head down, staring at the floor as tears begin to burn my eyes.

He gently turns me around and lifts my chin for me to look at him. My eyes shoot to the left, staring at a speck on the wall, not wanting to make

eye contact.

“Did I hurt you?” he questions roughly.

Just my pride. “No,” I growl, mad at myself. That first tear runs down my cheek, and I bite my bottom lip in shame that I let him affect me this much.

That I actually care that he stood me up to get high and fuck his fuck buddy.

The one that he blatantly lied about not fucking anymore.

He lets go of my arm, cups my face with one hand, and wipes it away with his thumb.

My eyes finally meet his, and he stares down at me, giving nothing away.

He’s hiding behind a wall a mile high. I look down and see a bottle of pills in his other hand. The same ones I found on him last night when I tried to shake him awake. When I screamed his name in the middle of the room, and no one helped me. No one seemed to care he wasn’t responding except for Jasmine. She was just as frantic as I was.

“Why do you do it?” I ask, my voice shaking. I feel like I was blinded to who he really is. To what he wants. It was all a lie, and I believed it. Last night opened my eyes. It’s not hard to figure out this is his lifestyle. Last night wasn’t just a one-time night with friends. How many times have I been with him, and he was high that I didn’t know about? Is he just that good at hiding it? Or am I just that blind?

He shatters my heart with three words. “To feel alive.”

There was no confusion. He knew exactly what I meant. And that scares me more than his answer. Anger takes over my heartache. What he’s done.

To me. To himself. I slap him across the face. The sound bouncing off the

walls in the quiet room.

His head snaps to the side. “April …”

I slap him again. Harder. His eyes close tightly. “Did you feel that?”

He straightens, running a hand down his face while his breathing picks up. His bare chest rising and falling fast.

My hand stings, and his face now shows two handprints of mine. I slap him again.

“Stop!” he shouts, gripping my wrists and slamming my back into the door, making it rattle. His drug-hazed eyes glare down at mine. “I don’t expect you to understand.”

“I don’t.” The words get caught in my throat, and my bottom lip begins to tremble, trying to keep it together. “I kneeled on a floor last night, Grave.

And I begged you to open your eyes. I cried for you not to be dead.” I choke out. “Do you know what that feels like?” I yank my wrists free of his hold. He’s weak. His body tired. Drugs will do that to you. Drain you of everything you have. I shove at his chest.

He takes a step back from me. “I don’t remember anything from last night.”

That makes me even more pissed. “You forgot we had a date? That you stood me up?”

“No,” he barks. “I remember the date. I just don’t remember how I ended up with Lucy.”

There she is again. She just stood there like a deer in headlights.

“Lucy, what did he take?” Jasmine demands, still kneeling next to me.

I’ve sat down on my ass in my dress and pulled his body into my lap. His

head in my hands.

I cry, shaking him. “Please wake up…”

“Lucy!” Jasmine shouts, jumping to her feet. She holds her phone in one hand with Titan on speakerphone. “What in the fuck did he take?”

“He … he … a pill bottle …” She sobs. Like she cares that he’s dying before our eyes. She was literally snorting a line of coke off a compact mirror when we burst into the room.

“Fuck!” Titan hisses through the phone. “We’re almost there.”

I start to dig through his jeans pocket. That’s when his body jerks, and he begins to vomit.

“Did you fuck her?” I ask. Jasmine said that Trenton had went up to the office to speak to Trey and that was when he saw Lucy and Grave all over each other sitting at the table, but no one mentioned sex.

His jaw sharpens. “I don’t know.”

My chest tightens at his answer, and those tears return to my eyes.

He sighs and steps toward me. “April …”

“Don’t.” I throw my hands up. I’m disgusted with him and with myself. I think I’m going to get sick at the thought of him with her. When he was

supposed to have been with me.

“I was fucked up,” he growls.

I gasp. “That doesn’t make it okay, Grave.”

“I’m sorry …”

“Don’t fucking lie to me!” I shout. Jasmine was right. I wanted him to want me. I wanted him to love me like I do him, but I can’t compete with someone like Lucy. She gives him something I never will. Acceptance. “I can’t be with someone who chooses to do drugs and fuck around on me. I refuse to lower myself to that level. I respect myself too much for that.”

With that, I turn, yank the door open, and then slam it shut. I look over

my shoulder to see he didn’t follow me.

I didn’t expect him to.

I walk down the hallway and enter the spare laundry room that Emilee showed me last night. I open the dryer to see if my dress is clean. Emilee was kind enough to bring us back here last night and help me out of my soiled clothes. I shut it when I see it’s empty. “Shit.” I hope it’s still not in the washer. I open it up, and that too is empty. I go to leave but see my dress

folded on top of the dryer.

Thank you, Emilee.

I quickly get dressed and drop the T-shirt in the small dirty clothes hamper. I hear voices downstairs in the kitchen, and I make my way down to them, carrying my heels in my hand from last night. Titan stands at the kitchen island with his back leaning against it and his arms crossed over his chest. Memories of last night come back to me.

The door busts open, and Titan enters with Emilee.

“I don’t know what happened,” I cry. My hands covered in vomit. “He just started getting sick.”

“Grave?” Titan slaps his face. He doesn’t move. “Grave, wake the fuck up, man!” he shouts, snapping his fingers in front of his face.

Still nothing.

“Get the door,” he orders to Emilee before he picks Grave up.

Emilee stands at the oven, pulling muffins out of it.

“Thank you for everything,” I say, getting their attention.

They both look up at me. She gives me a sad smile. “Of course. I’m glad

we could help.”

Titan says nothing.

“I’m going to get going,” I say awkwardly, pulling my dress down. It’s not short by any means, but I just feel vulnerable.

“Titan can give you a ride home,” Emilee offers.

“No.” I shake my head. “I’m gonna call an Uber.”

“Nonsense.” She waves me off.

Without another word, he pushes off the kitchen island, gives her a long kiss, and then walks toward me. I follow him silently into the garage. We get into a candy apple red Maserati and then he pulls out of the garage. I give him my address and then go silent again.

Twenty minutes later, he pulls up to my house, and I thank him. As I go to get out of the car, he finally speaks. “Grave isn’t like the rest of us.”

It makes me pause. I turn to look at him, waiting for him to elaborate.

He runs a hand down his face before releasing a sigh. “I told him to back away from you.” His eyes burn into mine at his words. “That whatever is going on between you two, to call it off. And I stand by that decision.” My heart pounds at his confession. “He’s not someone you can change, April.

And you’re not the type of woman to accept what he has to offer.” Then he turns to look straight ahead, dismissing me.

Numbly, I open the door and get out. I’m still standing there in complete shock at his words when he drives out of sight. He just said what I already told Grave, but that doesn’t make the pain in my chest hurt any less.