The Rejected Jinx Is A Billionaire Heiress novel · Chapter 12 of 24

Chapter 12: After the Cameras

By midnight the police had taken our statements, the lawyers had gone home, and the Hartwell house had finally gone quiet.

My father slept in a guest room down the hall.

Margaret had gone to bed with the little knitted cap on her nightstand. She had asked the examiner if she could keep it until Danny had his own stone.

I lay in the room next to the nursery with the lamp on and stared at the ceiling.

I didn't want to think about Lorna screaming at the cemetery gate, or the reporters, or the small white casket.

I wanted something I could hold on to.

I put on my coat over my pajamas and went out the back door.

There was a stone cottage at the end of the garden path, with one window lit.

I knew whose it was. I had known since the first day, and I had told myself I didn't.

I knocked once.

Levi opened the door in a gray T-shirt and suit trousers, with his sleeves pushed up and a pen in his hand. His hair was a mess.

He looked at my face and put the pen down on the table behind him.

"Cora."

"I'm breaking my own rule."

"Which one?"

"The one about business." I stepped inside and shut the door. "This isn't business."

"Cora. After today, you shouldn't."

"Don't tell me what I should do."

"I'm not." His voice had gone rough. "I'm telling you I want to, and that I'd rather be the one who's sure you're sure."

"I'm sure."

"You went through a grave this morning."

"I went through it with everyone telling me how sorry they were. You're the only one who didn't say it."

His jaw moved.

"I don't want to feel sorry," I said. "I want to feel something that's mine."

For a long moment he stood there with his hands at his sides.

Then I took hold of his shirt and pulled him down, and he stopped thinking at all.

His mouth landed on mine hard.

It wasn't polite and it wasn't careful.

A sound came out of my throat that I didn't know I could make.

He backed me against the door.

← Chapter 11 · All chapters · Chapter 13 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend