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“He left you?”

“Thea couple closer while other situations lead theht, because we did the latter I went through a self-destructive phase Partied too hard Lostevicted when Hoyt brought me here”

Daave it a little squeeze “That’s what you meant when you said this was a fresh start for you”

“Yup I’ here I can’t have kids, I don’t have anyone who’ll miss me, I was jobless, and I would have lost my home anyway Maybe it’s crazy, but I feel happier andon an island full of vampires than I did in my old life This is completely different from my initial plan But I needed ‘different’”

His dark eyes, unusually soft, roae, Lex”

“Yeah, e the subject fast or I’d be blubbering all over him “So … as your old life like?”

“Nothing to write home about My dad died before I was born, and then myalone because she didn’t love Austin He was a rich motherfucker and that definitely appealed to herShe ‘lunched’ and socialised and shopped like it was her job She couldn’t spend Austin’s ood with that because it meant she was dependent on him”

“You didn’t like him,” I sensed

“No He didn’t like me either Mostly because he hadn’t liked my dad, and he resented that my dad was the love of my mother’s life Whenever Austin looked at me, he was reminded that he was second choice”

“So he wasn’t a great step dad, then?”

“He de him Most of the time, an insistence on perfection is really just an excuse to criticise so for his approval or meet his standards, he was content to overlook ave er half-brother, Kaiden”

“You didn’t like him any more than you liked his father, did you?”

“Kaiden and me were like oil and water He’s a self-entitled little shit He did everything he could to earn his daddy’s approval, including treatingto make me feel like I didn’t measure up”

“They both sound like complete assholes”