Tempest (Royce/Winston)

sneak peek

Jacob's P.O.V.

"If you're going to do it, then do it" I spat, my chest heaving as Chresanto stared at me, eyes blazing with anger as his arm held his balled fist in the air, ready to swing. "Or else get the hell off of me".

The position was uncomfortable, I was pinned onto the ground, a few rocks jabbing at my back, causing a slight arch in my spine. Chresanto's leg was in between mine, his knee inches from my groin.

"You think you'd know how to keep your mouth shut".

"That's so damn funny coming from you" I drawled, rolling my eyes before breathing deeply. I turned my head to the side, not even the least bit surprised that Elijah and Rayan were standing off to the side, doing absolutely nothing. "You can do anything you want, can't you? You can walk these streets like you fucking own them-" I lifted my hand to grip the collar of his shirt, yanking him closer so my lips were by his ear, "-but then come crawling into my bed when you need a shoulder to cry on".

Chresanto removed his collar from my fingers, pulling back a bit. "Yeah, you forgot all about that, didn't you? You've forgotten all the times you acted like you were the toughest guy on the block, only for your brick wall to crumble the second you were in the safety of my arms. Don't think I won't destroy your reputation Chresanto August".

"Try it and I'll fucking ruin you".

"Yeah, right" I taunted, "what, you don't want anyone to know that you're the reason your mom and dad gave you and your si-" "Jacob" "sister up, or that you enjoy po-" "Stop it" "poetry, or, oh, I don't know, that you regret who you are as a person? It's stupid, Chres, all of it. You're so pathe-"

I knew it was coming, the way Chresanto's eyes flashed with the monstrous glint that I've only seen but a handful of times. He punched me in the jaw, and it hurt, I knew it would. I've witnessed him box, I've seen what he can do to someone when he gets out of control, so it was no surprise that my head flew to the side, vision blurring for a quick second before things cleared up. It took a moment for the pain to catch up to me, but then it was there, and I could feel it, it was excruciating. I could've kicked him off me, started throwing my own punches, but all I could do was turn my head and look at him, and I laughed.

"After all the shit we've been through..." I whispered, "after me dealing with your ass for so long... This is what you do? You punch the only person who actually took the time to give a damn about you?"

"I never needed you..."

"You and I both know you're lying" I replied, pursing my lips and taking a moment to acknowledge the metallic taste of my blood collecting in my mouth. I glared up at Chresanto, deciding that maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I did something to him, so I spit at him, and that was all it took to really set him off.

"You're just like him!" He screamed, grabbing the front of my shirt, "you know that? You know how to get people to like you, to get people to think that you're on their side, then you do this... Y-You turn around and fucking use their weaknesses and secrets against them. You're manipulative a-and sneaky, you're exactly like him".

I could see the frustration and hurt that he was trying so hard to hide, his brown eyes welling up with tears, but knowing the almighty Chresanto August, he wasn't going to let anyone see him cry.

"I should've known, fuck, you look just like him, so of course you would act like him too".

That one sentence hit home, it really did, and it sent chills down my spine because there was no way in hell that he was talking about him.

"Who are you talking about?" I whispered, deciding to blame the slightly chilly air for the way my body was now trembling underneath him.

"Axel".

"You said you didn't know anything about him".

"You really thought I would tell you everything?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean? You lied to me? You know who killed my twin brother?"

My eyes widened in shock when I noticed the way he was looking at me, the quick flash of guilt that was soon covered up with smugness. I opened my mouth to yell at him, but all I was able to do was choke out the words:

"Chresanto, did you kill Axel?"

Chresanto stared at me for a moment before shrugging, he smirked and dammit, I wanted to tear him to shreds, but I knew I couldn't, not when he had information that I was trying so hard to obtain.

"You think you know so much about me, Jacob" he began, "you think you know everything about all that I've done". I thought he was finished by the way he stood up and looked down at me, preparing to walk off, but then he murmured a few last words:

"So I don't know, maybe I did kill him, you tell me".

(A/N: Hi, loves, I've got another Royce book that I'm writing. Hopefully you all enjoy this one, updates will start out a bit slow because as of right now, I don't have the whole plot yet. Tell me what you think of the sneak peek if you'd like. I hope you stick around for the official first chapter, and others that are to come as well).