“Aster.” Her name scraped from his soul. “No, fuck, please.”
He couldn’t fathom it.
What she was saying.
What she had done.
She hugged her arms over her chest. “It was just a stupid fantasy, Logan. I belong here. With Jarek. I’m a Costa princess, and thanks to you, my uncle is dead, and it’s time I took my rightful spot.”
She believed that? How could she fucking believe a word Jarek would feed her?
“Aster, no, listen to me.”
She recoiled when he grappled to take hold of her again, and her voice twisted with spite. “Don’t touch me! Don’t. Fucking. Touch. Me. You were never good enough for me, and we both know it.”
Agony spiraled with the anger. “Are you fucking kidding me? I would have died for you.”
“That’s good because you’re dead to me.” She took a step away. “I hate you, Logan Lawson, and I don’t want to ever see you again.”
“Aster.”
“Go! Do you hear me? I hate you. I hate what you did. I hate who you are. Just…go.”
She turned and rushed back into the foliage.
Numbness seeped into his bloodstream as he watched her go.
Dimness clawed.
He’d lost it all for her.
His brother.
Now his child.
Every hope now slayed.
He vomited the sickness onto the ground.
And as he reached into his pocket and curled his hand around the stone, he let bitterness take over every spot where Aster Rose had existed.
He let hatred reign, and he promised himself he would never be in the same position again. He wouldn’t stop until he held the power. Until who he was counted. Until he had everything.
Then…then he would make Jarek Urso pay for what he had stolen.
Resolved, Logan turned and slipped into the darkened night as that single, little star burned out.
FORTY-TWO
ASTER
With my handsolidly held in his, Logan darted back through Absolution’s main doors, dragging me through the raving crowd that had only gotten rowdier as it approached midnight.
He ducked down the hall where we’d entered, then he was hauling me into a private room and locking the door behind us. He moved across the room and fumbled around at the wall and pushed open a hidden door.
What the hell?
Confusion whirled through my being while my heart soared.