They’re taking her side.
“Are you fucking serious?” I blast with waving arms. “You’re protecting her!”
“What in the actual goddamn fuck were you doing?” Maddox bellows.
I narrow my eyes at him as I work my jaw. “Making sure she earns the money she’s being paid.”
“So, you force yourself on her? It’s come to that?” Maddox is as pissed as I am. I know why. Even understand it. Except the part where he thinks I would’vegonethrough with it.
But he wants to play that shit?
“No. She has a job to do. I mean it’s what she’s always done, right? Fuck me then take my money. She acts like a whore; I may as well treat her like one.” I pull money from my back pocket and throw it at her.
She jerks away from Dane, spinning to face me, tears still streaming down her face. “I never fucked you for your money,” she yells back.
“Really?” I challenge. “Because you sure as bloody hell took the money and ran.”
“You told me to,” she screams. “You told me to get rid of the problem and not to come back.”
Everyone stands around us, ready to whisk the damsel to safety in case the volatile man with anger issues becomes too much. We have everyone’s undivided attention. I step toward her, but Maddox puts himself between us. I jerk my glare toward him. He looks at me with sad eyes. “We’re not protecting her, Ryder. We’re protecting you.”
“I don’t need it,” I growl then step around him until I’m in her face.Then ask her the question I already know the answer to.
Heaven
Easy On Me
Everyone is waiting for the explosion. They’re completely silent as they wait for the battle to ensue. Some are waiting to understand what’s going on. Others are waiting for an explanation of what they think they know.
The only sounds echoing off the stone and wood walls are our heavy breathing and pounding hearts.
The moment I made eye contact with Ryder, I should’ve left. Nothing good can come from the two of us being in the same space. Anger and pain fuel the two of us so completely.
But I always thought it was his anger and my pain. He had no reason to hurt. He was the one who sent his mother to be his executioner. Because that’s what she was. She killed a part of me that day at his bequest.
Pure, malicious fury blazed from his eyes, slashing a hole right through me. The pain was nearly physical, making me check multiple times for blood.
But the pain and hurt in his eyes is what nearly brought me to my knees. It’s what made me do what he demanded despite myself. It matched, maybe even surpassed, my own. I’d seen the pain behind the anger all those years ago, but this – this was crippling. I wonder how he is still standing. Breathing.
I don’t understand the pain. It couldn’t be because of me. Could it? Not when it was his decision to send me away. To destroy our family before the idea had a chance to settle.
His harsh words scorch my soul. His glaring hatred incinerates my spirit. And I hate him just as much.
But the lust — and love —is still there. My body is still electrified by his dirty words and the lude way he stares at me. The words hurt but they also burn at my core. And I’m not the only one affected. He wants me. He hated that guy touching me no matter how he tries to hide it.
When he pulled me to his lap, his arousal dug firmly at my backside, making my core clench. I wanted to hate it, deny the truth. I would have succeeded if he hadn’t buried his face in my hair for a moment. Breathing me in, he shuddered and swore and said something I’m sure he didn’t mean for me tohear, and I didn’t understand.
“You fucking broke me,” his voice wasn’t even a whisper. He didn’t want anyone to hear it. Or to hear the way his voice shattered around the words.
I felt it the moment he locked it all away. I felt the tightness in his body. The air around us got a bit colder, harder, as he shut it all off like some kind ofmachine.
He shoved me to my knee, his eyes cold and indifferent. I couldn’t stop the tears. He probably thought it was because of the humiliation he was subjecting me to, but it was for the pain I saw in his eyesbecause I know as cruel as he tries to be, Ryder is not that person. Helashes out with words. He would never force himself on someone no matter how hurt or angry he was.
Again, I didn’t understand.
When Maddox pulled me to my feet, shoving me to Dane, I buried my head in his chest and let my pain mix with Ryder’s. I sobbed for the agony we were both suffering.
Then things quickly changed; escalated as accusations were thrown. Now I stand here, as he asks a question that has me stunned silent. It has me doubting everything I’ve ever thought to be true.
