// Best YA Romance in the Romance Fiction Awards 2021//
Thrill Hawthorne, keeping up to his name, lives his life on the edge. Or so people think.
Ignatius Rookwood is the darling son and the sole male heir to a gigantic business corporation. Or so...
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The moment Thrill stepped into his house, he knew shit was about to go down. He had a sixth sense about this sort of thing and he was proved right when he found Drayden, Emily and Quinn seated together in the lounge, with a man Thrill did not recognise.
"Why are you so dishevelled?" Emily asked when he approached the group.
Though his clothes had dried, they were wrinkled and dirty and his hair was a mess. "I was in the rain." He faked a goofy grin.
"Why? You'll fall sick!" Emily shook her head in displeasure but the concern was clear in her words. "Go get changed."
Thrill did not obey. "What's this meeting about?" he asked instead, his eyes on the stranger. The man, probably in his fifties, was wearing a well-tailored suit and, though he was not smiling, there was some sort of kind look on his face.
"Hello, Thrill," the man smiled, and Thrill had enough experience to tell it wasn't one of those fake smiles that everyone went around with. "I'm Roem Mersden, your lawyer."
Thrill frowned and awkwardly reached out to shake his hand. "Hi."
"Go get changed," Drayden broke in, his voice devoid of any emotions and his face deadpan. "Join us after."
Thrill wanted to argue, but he did not want to go against Drayden. He had hurt him enough already. "Okay."
When Thrill returned, after taking a quick bath and changing into a fresh pair of clothes, the people were still seated exactly how he had left them, except this time the adults had drinks in hand. Drayden was sitting at the edge of a couch, his elbow on the armrest and cheek rested on his knuckles. He was scowling down at his phone. Thrill smiled at the sight.
"I'm back!" he announced cheerfully, and walked to the bar cart and poured himself a drink. Drayden shot him a look of disapproval but said nothing. Um shit! That probably meant Thrill was in trouble. He went and took a seat beside Emily, away from his adoptive brother. "Before y'all say anything," he said, taking a sip of the cocktail, "I want y'all to know that I'm not going to use today's incident against Ignatius."
His declaration resulted in an uproar, with Quinn asking him to be sensible, Emily asking him to reconsider and Mr. Mersden reminding him of how precarious their situation was. Drayden said nothing.
"I know all of you are trying to help me," Thrill said, "but it's just wrong. We're better than this."
Drayden let out a laugh.
"What's funny?" Thrill challenged.
Drayden's smile was venomous enough to scare others but Thrill knew him long enough to not flinch at his harshness. "What's funny is how you still can't get it through that thick skull of yours!"
"Drayden," Emily warned and though Drayden ignored her, Thrill understood what she was trying to say – not in front of the guest!
"You think we're here for fun, do you?" Drayden sneered. "That we're somehow enjoying this? Do you not realise the mess we're in? Do you not understand what can happen to you if you lose the case?" He turned Mr. Mersden, "Tell him. Tell him how many years he will have to rot in jail."
