Read Online The Fortunates (Unfortunates #2) by Skyla Madi - Free Book Online

hands, but what choice do I have? He can’t protect me from Vince and I can’t live under Vince’s thumb. He haunts my dreams and terrorises my reality. I have to stop it. I have to stop it before he follows through with his threats. Before he hurts me for real.
    “You are more than enough.” I sniffle, sadness leaking from my nose. “That’s not what this is about. You love me, sure, but you love this poisonous society more. I get it. You’re scared.”
    He pulls away from me. “I’m not scared.”
    “You know that as long as this barbaric structure is in place you will always be powerful. You’re terrified of losing it all—terrified of becoming worthless, becoming like me. That’s why you kill these pathetic men who impose on me. I’m lower than them so they hurt me. They’re lower than you so you hurt them. I’ve yet to see you defend what is yours to those of your station or higher. I’ve yet to see you use your brute force against anyone who isn’t lesser than you.”
    He pushes his fingers through his hair and tightens them. “That’s not true.”
    I tilt my head. My tears roll with my stomach and slide down my cheeks. “If Vince hurt me today…would you kill him?”
    With a heavy exhale, Kade drops his hands to his side. “It’s not that simple. There are regulations in place. Regulations—”
    “That protect the Fortunates. I know.” I swipe at my cheeks and slip from the bench. “I have to protect myself. I have to put as much distance as I can between your house and mine.”
    His eyebrows curve softly, the last of his pleading expended on them. “Nine…”
    A thunderous pounding on the door cuts Kade off and makes me jump in my skin.
    “Lady Anna. Time to go.”
    Confused, I glance at Kade. His serious expression has settled in place, hiding the desperation I just saw. His eyes are dark, his lips pressed in a tight line. I swallow hard as fear seeps up my spine and poisons my blood.
    “That’s you,” he states, his voice as cold as ice.
    I frown. “That’s not me. That’s not my name.”
    “It’s definitely not mine. You better get used to it, Fortunate .”
    I flinch as splinters dig into my chest. No emotion crosses his face. He’s stone, like the first day I met him. That’s what I want, isn’t it? Detachment? I didn’t imagine it feeling this awful. I cross the bathroom and retrieve the shirt Kade peeled from my body.
    “I’ll return the shirt.”
    I turn around as Kade leans on the basin, his arms locked into a straight line and his large hands gripping the porcelain. His angry eyes meet mine in the reflection of the mirror.
    “Keep it.”
    My dry throat sticks together as I swallow and nod. I turn away from him and pull the shirt on over my head. The warm cotton wraps around my body, caressing every pore, kissing every hair. It smells like him. Of course it does.
    Because ripping my own heart out isn’t painful enough, I have to smell him while I do it too?
    “Kade…I’m sorry—”
    “Spare me your apology.” He turns around, folding his thick arms against his strong, shapely chest. “You’ve made your decision and I can’t change it. What more do you want from me?”
    What do I want? I don’t know. I don’t expect us to be friends. I just…I just want to look at him for a few more seconds.
    More bangs echo around Kaden’s room and they shout a name I’m not familiar with. It’s the name of a girl who was born a Fortunate and abandoned as a baby. It’s the name of a girl who had her future taken from her…
    …but it’s not me.
    “Sorry…” I mutter, turning away from him.
    My anxiety spikes. Never turn your back on a Fortunate. Granted, it doesn’t apply to me anymore, but it still feels so wrong.
    I can barely carry the weight of my own shoulders as I cross over to the bedroom door. I reach for the handle and as my fingers curl around the cool metal, a loud snarl rips from the bathroom followed by the startling crash of shattering glass.