Read Online Broken Prince: A New Adult Romance Novel by Aubrey Rose - Free Book Online Page B

bikini sitting by the pool. Printed for everyone to see. The idea of it made me sick, just like when I thought about the hunter who has assaulted me in the forest. I blinked and blinked and couldn't get the picture out of my mind. Was this really an adventure? It was beginning to feel less and less like the dream I'd thought living with Eliot would be.
    When I came back to the house, only the light to Eliot's study was on. I flew through the front door and went straight to the back of the house, throwing the crumpled newspaper Csilla had given me onto the kitchen counter. The picture of me in the bikini was taken from the backyard as I lay by the pool. I shuddered as I looked out of the back window toward the forest. There, the photographer must have stood amid the trees, waiting until I came out, to take photos of me.
    Starting in the kitchen, I slammed the shutters of the windows closed, one by one. One window was not shuttered; I yanked the curtain across it. Each window I closed shut out the daylight, and the rooms began to grow dark. I had not remembered to turn on the lights, and I didn't care. I wanted the whole house to go dark. I wanted it to be impossible to see me, to see Eliot. The dark was wonderful, the dark was blinding.
    I heard Eliot's footsteps on the stairs just as I closed the last shutter, sending the first floor of the house into near-complete darkness.
    "Brynn? What on earth is—"
    A scrape of wood on tile, a shout, and then the shattering of glass. I blinked in the darkness and fumbled for the light switch. When I switched on the hallway lights, I saw Eliot standing over the remnants of the vase that he had knocked over. Red roses and glass were scattered all across the tile.
    "Are you okay?" My voice sounded quiet.
    "Yes, yes. Let's—here, let's get this cleaned up." Eliot bent to scrape the glass together into a pile.
    "I didn't think—I'm sorry. Let me get a broom." My hands were shaking. I got the broom out from the pantry and came back to sweep the glass up. Eliot was picking up the roses and shaking the glass pieces off of them.
    "I picked these up for you on the way home," he said, giving a small chuckle. "I know cut flowers aren't supposed to last a long time, but still—"
    "I'm sorry," I said again. Eliot reached out for my shoulder but I ducked away, bending down to sweep the rest of the glass up into the pan.
    "What's the matter?" Eliot asked. I shook my head as I walked back into the kitchen and threw the glass away into the trash can. The shards tinkled as they fell into the garbage, and the few rose petals that had fallen off refracted red through the shiny fragments. How could I possibly ask him about what Csilla had told me?
    "I'm worried that we won't get this math paper written up in time," I said finally.
    Eliot leaned against the kitchen counter, watching me. His eyes were full of concern. I lowered my gaze and saw red on his hand.
    "Eliot, you're bleeding—"
    "It's nothing." He closed his hand into a fist, the red disappearing. "And it's not just the math you're worried about."
    "Eliot—"
    "Brynn, you have to trust me. Please. Talk to me." His eyes fell on the newspaper, and his entire face twisted into an angry grimace. I had never seen him look so upset, but the expression disappeared quickly into a neutral facade.
    "You read this?" he asked, his fingers tapping near the newspaper. He did not touch it, as though it were poison.
    "There's a picture of me in the backyard," I said. I felt tears burning the backs of my eyes, but I tried to keep them down. I did not want him to see me so vulnerable.
    "The backyard?"
    "They must have come through the forest and taken the picture from there," I said. "They're watching me. No matter where we are, they're there."
    "Brynn, I'm sorry." Eliot's hands pressed down on the kitchen counter, his fingertips white with the pressure. "This is my fault. I need to talk to you about this."
    My lips trembled and I set my jaw.
    "About what?"
    "You