Page 43 of The Lies That Shatter
Stay safe. I’m watching Ethan’s security feed. You will be fine.
Did he just kiss you? I’m going to peel his lips away from his face with a carving knife.
If he touches you one more time, I’m going to break every single bone in his body.
I know this is fake, but you’re killing me. I don’t know how you do it. I’m so sorry. This hurts.
Hearing Ethan pretend he wants to marry you feels like a knife to the heart. You are mine.
I’m glad it worked and you’re safe, but I’m so fucking mad right now. I hate knowing he touched what’s mine. Even though I know you don’t like him that way, I hated thinking you might. I know I’m a hypocrite, as I force you to do this every day, but you’re stronger than me.
Can I come over tonight? I need to make sure you’re safe.
My breath hitches as I read his messages, watching him spiral with each new one I read. I love how fiercely possessive and protective he is over me, and I can relate, as it’s how I feel about him. Whenever that snotty rich bitch touches him, I want to rip the flesh from her bones. But it doesn’t change the situation.
MAC
You wanting to come over has nothing to do with my safety. You’re jealous. I know because that’s how I feel whenever you’re with her. But it doesn’t change our situation.
FINN
You’re right. I’m so fucking jealous, it hurts, but you’re wrong…everything has changed. Let me come over tonight and I will show you.
I know logically that I should say no. That no good can come from him coming over tonight, only complications that we’ve been trying to avoid. He still has a job to do, and he can’t get out of it.
We both know, if he visits my flat tonight, while our emotions are running wild, we won’t be able to hold back from each other. We will fall into each other’s arms, and make an already difficult situation more complicated.
Even though I know all this, and I know what the right answer is… I still tell him to come over. We’re going to get ourselves into shit, but at least we will finally have each other.
I’ve never found myself watching the clock as much as I have today. My whole body feels as though it’s on edge, my nerves humming with a mixture of excitement and pent up rage.
Even though Bree sorted the situation between Mel and Mac, the fact she ended up in a potentially dangerous situation angered me unbelievably. Until today, I’d put Mel in the blissfully ignorant category, believing she turned a blind eye to her husband’s actions, in favour of the lifestyle she gets from him. But now I’m not so sure.
Her actions today gave me a glimpse of a woman who is potentially dangerous, volatile, and vindictive. Which has changed the plans I have for Mel. I’m now a lot more invested in finding out how involved she really is.
More than that, I’m determined to make sure McKenna is safe. Today, when she called me, the fear was audible in her voice, and I’ve never felt pain like it. My instinct was to go to her, to protect her, but that’s the last thing I could do—and it nearly killed me.
Well…actually, if I thought that was bad, it had nothing on watching my girl pretend to date Ethan. I know it makes me sound really fucking hypocritical to say that, given I’m fake dating Mel in front of Mac, but I can’t change how I feel.
It doesn’t help that Ethan is a ridiculously hot guy, who’s also really nice, too. I’m sure if McKenna spent some time with him, she’d like him. He’s one of those guys—a little like Kian—that you can’t help but like. And I know for sure that he’d be interested in Mac—I mean, she’s the most gorgeous girl in any room, so why wouldn’t he.
Now that those thoughts have imprinted in my mind, I can feel them festering away like an infected wound, I can’t seem to get a grip on them. I want to push the jealousy away, to be the bigger man, but I fucking can’t. Jealousy is clawing away at the edges of my sanity, tinging my world green, and I don’t know how to control it.
I know I should stay away from Mac. That no good can come from visiting her this late at night, but despite knowing this, I’m still standing outside her door at around eleven at night, after spending all afternoon counting down the minutes until I could be here.
McKenna swings the door open, and before she has a chance to pull it all the way, I push my way inside, my temper that I’ve been trying to restrain all day is now simmering just below the surface. Despite not being too familiar with her flat, I push my way through into the open plan kitchen and living room.
I cast my eyes around, smiling a little as I take in the homely space that screams McKenna. Even though she’s not here much,I always knew she’d want to make any place she lives feel like a home. I guess that’s what happens when you grow up without one.
Once I’m in her living room, I look over at the comfy couch, but I can’t bring myself to sit down. I’m like a ball of anxious energy, and sitting is the last thing I feel like doing. So I pace. McKenna leans against the island in her kitchen, and as she picks up a mug she had obviously placed there before answering the door, she looks at me over the rim as she takes a sip.
The silence is deafening and doing nothing for my nerves. She doesn’t look nervous or scared. If anything, she looks…at ease. This just makes me more annoyed. “You are quitting the job tomorrow!” I snap, and her eyes flick up to meet mine.
“What?” she asks, putting her mug down as she continues to glare at me.
I take a step towards her, my eyes narrowing at her in challenge. “You heard me. This is too fucking dangerous now, and I want you out of there.”
Instead of backing down, or cowering under my intense gaze, her eyes lock with mine and she steps towards me. Each step of hers matches mine until we’re in front of each other. “You said to me just the other day that you don’t think Mel is dangerous. Even when I said I thought she was, you still didn’t believe me.”
