Crave The Illicit by Ashton Brooks & Gail Haris

Author:Ashton Brooks & Gail Haris [Brooks, Ashton & Haris, Gail]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Gail Haris & Ashton Brooks
Published: 2023-04-24T23:00:00+00:00

Blue Rose, Alabama

Chanda

I usually like funerals. There is something comforting about celebrating a life, or having the right to mourn a life taken too soon. A form of closure from one day to the next. Honoring the memories of the deceased. Death comes for us all, but during the service there’s hope that life does have meaning. Not today though. This is borderline a circus. A monstrosity. I guess it’s fitting for the monster the casket is holding. I find myself not feeling as I expected I would. I’m rather disappointed. It doesn’t seem like much has changed in the dynamics of things. I was hoping by cutting off the head of the snake there would’ve been some grand change… But it hasn’t.

It’s sunset as my heels click on the stone of the family’s private mausoleum. Rhett Carmichael was one of the most disgusting and cruel men, yet the crowd for his funeral is embarrassingly large. The weeping over the top and the number of flowers sent for this man makes me gag. The candles for his vigil remind me of a scene on the news when celebrities pass away. He doesn’t deserve it. None of it. My eyes keep moving to his widow, even though I will myself not to look. The woman is essentially the queen of our world, and she owns it. Put together from head to toe, elegant in her designer black dress, golden hair neatly in a twisted updo, but it’s the confidence and air of power she exudes. I admire her. She tolerated that dumb beast of a husband for years. I feel that, because I’d done it, but not as long as she had. I killed mine… and hers. Little does she know the person who saved her is taking a seat a few feet away. She sits stoic, barely listening to the priest as he gives his speech, her hand clasped in her son’s hand. Next to him sits his twin, who looks like he is feeling about as much as I am, and next to him sits Taylor and then my brother, Lee.

Forcing my eyes forward, I try to focus on the ceremony, but something feels off. I’m being watched again, but there are so many people in the crowd it makes it difficult to decipher. I glance a few rows back, and my eyes connect with Jose’s. Heat smolders in his eyes, and it takes everything in me to stop my lips from spreading into a smile at him in response. I know he’s planning to make me pay for my stunt the other night. I’m looking forward to it. I like when Jose chases me. I crave his attention, even if I don’t deserve it.

“Go in peace,” the priest finishes his verse. I stand and boldly stare back at Jose. Let’s see if you have the balls. I start to meld into the crowd, my need to be chased, conquered, rising to the top. Heated awareness crawls along my

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