MY BESTFRIEND'S BROTHER, MY RUIN

rawer, Raffy. Now, you won't even

is face. He'd spent the last three days stripping the room bare. The books were gone. The television, gone. Even the extra pillows.

in my lap. I didn't sign. I didn't plead. I didn't even look up w

e couldn't hear my heart through my

bbing a handful of my hair and forcing my head back. "I made you. I can unmake you just as fast. Yo

s losing. The more he shouted, the more I saw the cracks in the "Saint.

ther is hosting the winter gala tonight. You're coming. You'll wear what I tell you. You'll stand w

ssed me in a suit that cost more than my life, a deep charcoal that made my skin look

eal one, the mansion-smelled of lilies and old money. Ignatius kept his hand locked

his breath hot and smelling of scotch. "You're

he crow

version of Ignatius, but his eyes were different. They weren't stormy; th

rumble that silenced the nearby guests.

ned agonizing. "He's my ward,

ing his son entirely. He looked at me, his gaze stripping away the expensive suit and the forced postur

ed white. "He's fine. He

ountered, a smirk ghosting his lips. "You always did have a heavy han

in wire pulled until it frayed. Ignatius wasn't a ki

in the way he looked at the guests-like they were chess

in my chest. To kill a predator, y

t a fraction. I let my eyes well up, making them wide and glassy. I leaned away from Ignatius,

erate signal of distress. I made sure he saw the b

as faking. A slow, dark grin spread across his face. He reach

nough for the surrounding elite to hear. "You'r

r drained from his face

anded, his voice trembling with a let

old weight on my arm. "I think the boy stays with me for the rest

he mask slipped. He didn't want to save me.

whispered, leaning down. "