Beautiful Dark Temptation by Roxas Winters
Tomás
I’ve lost everything.
Forced into a prison masking as a school, I find myself in the crosshairs of more than one killer. My savior? The arrogant prick who wants to control me. Kieran is a nightmare wrapped in a seductive package and when he sets his sights on me I don’t know whether to fight him or kiss him.
Kieran
I am the eldest bastard of one of the four founders of Arcadia University, and I will do anything to see my family fall.
The secrets I’ve kept hidden behind my heart now threaten to bury me alive with the arrival of Tomás. He consumes my space, my thoughts, my nightmares. I hate him for how he makes me feel. This toxic attraction between us forces me to question what matters most—vengeance, power, love. But Tomas doesn’t fit into my world of lies and violence and I’m not ready to lose it all for a beautiful dark temptation.
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EXCERPT:
Tomás
I shifted in my seat. This was a prison. “Are we able to go off campus?”
The smile of his remained. “There may be field trips, teacher sponsored events, and special accommodations for a release, but that would need to be approved by your sponsor. Everything you need— convenience stores, clothing stores, restaurants, are all within campus.” He looked at Mad Dog.
It took me a moment to absorb what he was saying. Mad Dog held the keys to my prison. I shot to my feet. “No way.”
Dr. Casera seemed to have expected this, giving me time to process, but a prison warden was a prison warden. “If freedom outside these campus walls is what you need, we can make arrangements. This is not a prison.”
“Bullshit. This is a prison.” I glared at Mad Dog who didn’t even move.
What are your options? that fucker’s body language said. No skin off his back. I’d die here or out there. Pick one.
I walked to the back of the room, running through shit in my head. I could try Nick. He’d probably let me hang out with him. I could try Aunt Tita. She was my mom’s oldest sister. She would take me in. I had uncles too. I could go back to family. Any one of them would take me in.
But then what? What if moms wanted me back? She always knew which buttons to push to get me back. The thought had me vibrating.
A chair scraped the floor behind me, and I turned to see Maddox climb to his feet. Not Mad Dog as I knew him but the killer, Maddox Brennan. He remained on his feet, leaning against the arm of his chair, just watching me play this shit out in my head.
I paced for a few seconds and then stopped at the window, looking out over the green grass and trees. I felt trapped. An animal in a cage. A fancy cage, but a cage. I’d been in this position before. A feeling of hopelessness poured over me, and I planted my forehead on the cool windowpane. The glass in front of me misted as I exhaled, and I drew a happy face. I used to draw them all over Daniel’s car windows so when he’d be making out with a girl and the car windows misted, he’d see all of them. He used to get pissed and chase me around the trailer for it. Shit, it hurt not having him anymore. It was like a part of me had died too.
Maddox Brennan had killed him and then bought me. Despite him not wanting sexual favors, he still controlled me. He’d wanted me here and here I was. Everything paid for—housing, food, books, tutoring—by him. I had nothing he didn’t give me. I’d sold my soul to the man who killed my family.
And it stung.
Dr. Casera and Mad Dog remained silent behind me, letting me process my shit.
“What would you have done if I killed your brothers?” I asked into the window. I didn’t care that Casera was in the office. Dealing with the mafia, cartel, whatever, he probably knew everything about everybody.
“I would’ve killed you,” he said. “Slowly.”
My eyes burned and I shut them. I didn’t want to see my own reflection anymore.
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