Ruin (Rhodes #1) by Rina Kent

                             It has been a long week of handling Mae sporadically, trying to figure out what to do with her. My thoughts are plagued with ways to end her life and get it over with. I had my little fun. I got her close. I shattered her calm life. I could break her soul to pieces with one more night in the darkness.

                             Yet, the reason behind her haunting paintings still eludes me. It’s even more confusing that she’s terrified of the dark in the first place. Is she a masochist to draw about something she fears?

                             The more I visit her, the stronger I’m drawn to unravel her.

                             I don’t want things to end here.

                             My gaze darts to the file Kane delivered. It lays on my desk, untouched, seducing me to delve into its pages.

                             I’ve read nothing beside the front cover. The report could appease my curiosity and put an end to this random obsession. But do I want to get acquainted with Mae that way?

                             ‘Stop playing morals, you kidnapped her.’ Aunt’s tone is bored.

                             ‘Read about her and end her life already,’ Father says.

                             Where’s the fun in that? It’s more enticing when we face each other. It’s amusing when she tries to extract courage from her fears.

                             Mae’s a readable yet somehow an unpredictable book. It’s not what I expected when I took her. By my rules, she should be either off the hook or for the take. The in-between where she sleeps isn’t supposed to exist. It’s making the whole taking her thing sound more and more like a mistake.

                             ‘You just figured that out?’ Mother asks in a sad voice.

                             My phone buzzes. The estate’s front security’s number. I answer. “It’s still early for the meeting, Kane.”

                             “It’s me, Sir.”

                             Xan. Tristan’s version of Kane. Bloody hell. My cousin is back.

                             I jump from the sofa, and turn off the office’s monitor. “Where’s Tristan?”

                             “He’s at the dungeons, Sir.” Xan’s monotone voice resonates in my ear like a hammer.

                             Fuck!

                             My freedom will be snatched without mercy if Tristan finds out about Mae. “Which dungeons?”

                             “The Northern Wing’s, Sir.”

                             I release a long breath. “Where’s Kane?” I’ll kill the bastard. His job is to alert me when Tristan returns.

                             “He went to the company, Sir.”

                             Huh.

                             Without telling me first?

                             “You’re asked at the main dungeons, Sir.”

                             “What for?”