Page 7 of Cruel Crypts
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
She didn’t reply, just stared at me coolly.
“I thought I told you that you needed to find your own way home.”
“You told me that you have lacrosse practice, so I’d need to find my own way home. I decided to wait for you.” Her voice was sweet poison as she widened her eyes innocently. “Don’t think I missed you calling it ‘home.’ You think of it as my home too?”
My nostrils flared, and before I knew what I was doing, I was pressing her up against my car with my hand wrapped around her throat. Her pulse beat rapidly against my fingers, and it was fucking mesmerising. I found myself lowering my head to her ear, her pulse stuttering under my fingertips. My nose brushed against her soft skin, and my own pulse stuttered. What the fuck?
“Don’t fucking test me,” I ground out, releasing my grip on her. She gasped before bringing up her knee in a lightning-quick movement. Too bad for her, my reflexes were honed from years of training, and I easily countered her move, pinning her again and rendering her immobile. Lowering my face to hers again and doing my level best to ignore the feel of her soft curves against me, I spoke in a low, savage rasp. “I said. Don’t. Fucking. Test. Me.”
Her expression twisted into pure hate, and I drank it in.
Elena Greenwood would learn her place, even if I had to break her to do it.
4
ELENA
Wrapping the towel more tightly around my body, I gripped the doorknob and opened the bathroom door, letting a cloud of steam escape. The accommodation we’d been provided with consisted of three rooms and a bathroom, all opening into a central hallway. The first room had sofas, a TV, a bookcase stuffed with books, and a small kitchenette with a microwave, fridge, and sink. Across the hallway was my mum’s bedroom and the bathroom. My room was opposite the bathroom. We were on the ground floor of the house, and my sash window looked out onto a corner of the driveway. Not the most exciting view, but this beat our last residence by a million miles. That place…we were lucky to get out of that drug-infested hellhole. Not that we would have been there in the first place, if it wasn’t for—
“Elena.”
My mum’s voice stopped my thoughts in their tracks. I turned to face her. “Mum, hi.” I hadn’t actually seen her since I’d come back from school—she’d taken Josephine out somewhere, and then she’d fed her and gone through her bedtime routine with Maria, while I’d shut myself in my room and made a start on the piles of homework I’d already been given.
“How was your first day?” She scanned my face, concern in her eyes. “Did anyone give you any trouble?”
I shook my head. “No. There were the entitled rich kids that we knew would be there, but there were one or two that seemed nice. I made two new friends.”
“I’m glad.” Moving closer, she patted my arm. “I’m sorry you have to deal with the rich kids, but it’ll all be worth it in the end.”
“I know it will be.” My voice hardened as I thought of the way Knox had acted around me earlier. What an absolute arrogant wanker.
“Did you find out any information on the younger Ashcroft?” By “the younger Ashcroft,” she meant Knox, because he was the one I had to get up close and personal with. I’d never met their older sister as she didn’t even live here—I believe she was attending university somewhere, and obviously, his little sister didn’t count.
“Not yet, but I will.”
She nodded. “Good. Now, get some sleep.” Turning into her bedroom, she closed the door.
Back in my own room, I pulled on a comfy old pair of joggers and hoodie, twisting my damp hair up into a bun on top of my head. After shoving my feet into my flip-flops, I exited the bedroom and made my way down the hallway and through the quiet house.
Maria had told me, in a polite way, that my own clothes were only fit for burning, but now I had them on, I felt more comfortable than I had done all day. Those new clothes she’d provided me with—they were nice, but they weren’t me.
Heading into the cavernous kitchen, I faltered. Knox was sitting at the white marble island, his phone in one hand and a sandwich in the other. As soon as he saw me, he placed his phone and sandwich down, slowly and deliberately, his gaze boring into me the entire time. The kitchen was dim, the only lighting coming from the downlights underneath the cupboards, but it was easy enough to see his expression.
It was completely blank.
Two could play that game. After my sudden stop, I carried on as if he wasn’t even in the room, making a beeline for the fridge. Maria had said that I could help myself to food—meals were included as part of my mum’s employment package, and I would be doing a little light cleaning in return for mine. The Ashcrofts already had a cleaner—or cleaning crew, probably, but my mum had volunteered me to do this, and they’d agreed.
I’d just closed my fingers around the handle of the fridge when my hand was yanked away.
“Nothing in there belongs to you.” Knox’s voice was close to my ear, and the heat of his body was all up against my back. “Remember your place.”
I spun around, and now my chest was trapped against his, all hard, unyielding muscles. I craned my head back to look up at him, speaking through gritted teeth. “If you’ve got a problem, take it up with your parents. They agreed that I’d be doing some cleaning in return for my room and board. In fact, they told me I could stay for free, but my mum insisted. We’re not freeloaders, despite what you might think of us.”
A cold smile curved across his lips. “Is that so? Then earn your fucking place.” Tugging the fridge open so hard that I had to jump out of the way in order not to brain myself on the heavy stainless-steel door, he pulled a container out and upended it all over the floor at my feet. Leftover pomegranate chicken splattered across the tiles, a bright red stain on the shiny white flooring.
“Earn it,” he ground out, then slammed the fridge door and stalked out of the kitchen. I was torn between anger and disbelief—he actually just did that? I’d never hated anyone as much as I hated him at that point.