Empire of Hate (Empire #3) by Rina Kent

He grabs me by the shoulders, pulling me away so his blue eyes, the mixture of the stars and sky, are staring deep into mine. “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.”

My lips part open and my brain struggles to process every word he said, but I heard them all. Every single one.

And I still can’t believe it.

I think Daniel said he loves me.

No. Maybe he didn’t.

“Did you… Did you just say you love me?”

“Always fucking have, Nicole. I only figured it out late, as in when you broke my heart, and I was stupid enough to let it rot inside me and not express it.”

“Then…then why do you want to leave me?”

He drops his hands from around my shoulders and I want to grab them and put them there again. I want him to keep touching me, to keep telling me things I would’ve never thought his beautiful mouth would say.

Daniel breathes so harshly, his abdomen contracts and his nostrils flare.

“Tell me,” I insist. “And don’t even think about channeling the cold jerk lurking inside you because I know everything you said last night was to push me away.”

I wasn’t entirely sure earlier, but I’m certain now. If he really didn’t care about me, he wouldn’t have left me his money and took vengeance for me.

He’s not that selfless.

“You said it yourself,” he speaks with a calm that contradicts his disheveled demeanor.

“I said what myself?”

“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.”

“You didn’t push me into Christopher’s arms, my unhealthy obsession did. And you know what, I used to blame you sometimes, but I had no right. I also have no right to blame myself. It’s not my or your fault, Daniel. It’s Christopher’s. Okay? And 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 did,” he whispers. “When you thought I wasn’t looking. You were the only person I had trouble looking away from.”

“You were glaring at me.”

“Because I loathed how much you affected me even though you were hateful, not only to me but to everyone else.”

I snort out laughter mixed with tears. “Looks like we both misunderstood everything.”

“And we paid for it dearly.” He sighs deeply, painfully. “The years you were out of my life were so empty and desolate, I tried to fill them up with anything available. I didn’t realize I failed until the moment you walked into my office.”

“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.”

“Including the peach seed?”

“That, too.”

“It can kill you.”

“I always wanted what I shouldn’t have.”

He wraps an arm around my waist, pulling close so his lips are mere inches from mine. “Does that include me?”

“You’re the first on the list.”

A beautiful grin appears on his face. “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.”

“You’re fucking weird, did you know that?”

“You told me so when we were eight.”

“I did. But here’s something I didn’t tell you. Since that day, I don’t eat peaches.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t like things that can harm you.”

“Is that why you assaulted Chris?”

“It’s eleven years overdue, but I finally got the righteous type of revenge.”

“You got stabbed for it.”

“It’s worth it,” he speaks against my lips. “You’re worth it, Peaches.”

My palm finds his cheek and even though I can’t believe what he’s telling me, I want more.

I’ve always been greedy about anything that involves Daniel.

“Tell me we’re together. Tell me I’m yours as much as you’re mine.”

“Fuck right we’re together. And I don’t only belong to you, but you’re too deep into my soul, I’d have to die to remove you. And that’s just tragic, so you can’t leave me.”