she was back to her old self. I’m sure they had lots of orgies while we were gone.
Once Teddy felt Mom was stable and could recover at home, Zade drove us
back to their house. His team took care of the bodies and even went as far as restoring the house to its former state. I think Dad was shaken when he walked in, and it looked as if nothing ever happened.
He let Zade and I help get Mom settled in their bed and then promptly kicked
us out. That was five days ago, and he still won’t let me see or talk to her.
My only reprieve is he’ll let Daya in, thinking she’s removed from my felon
life or something. But now I’m unsure if he’ll even allow that anymore.
“Why? Did she say that herself, or is that a decision you’re making?”
“I know what’s best for my fucking wife,” he snaps, his anger rising. But I don’t shrink away like I normally would’ve. I told Mom that version of myself was gone, and it was the truth.
“So, what you’re saying is that I’m not good for her,” I conclude, my voice
shaking with anger. My fist curls, and the urge to send it flying into the wall nearly overcomes me.
“You and that boyfriend of yours,” Dad corrects. “I’ve agreed not to go to the
police about this entire situation. But that doesn’t mean I will allow you both to
be in her life if this is what will happen. If you want to fuck off and become a
criminal, fine, but don’t involve us in it.”
The phone clicks off a second later, and I erupt. Letting out a frustrated scream, I send my phone flying across the room, right as Zade steps through the door.
He stills, eyes tracking the phone as it crashes into the stone wall and crumples to the floor in pieces.
“Do you want me to go kidnap her?” he offers.
I snap my head to him, my rage deepening.
“He’s not letting me see her because we’re criminals. And your solution is to… commit another crime?”
“Well, when you put it like that.”
Growling, I whip away from him and storm towards the balcony, needing to
get away.
The warm wind whips through my hair the second I step out, sending the
strands flying around my face. It only embodies how I feel, like Medusa with a
crown of angry snakes.
It’s not fair, but it’s becoming harder and harder to look at Zade and not blame him, too. I’m beginning to revert back to that bitter, hateful part of myself that was convinced my life wouldn’t be such a goddamn shitshow if Zade didn’t
come barreling into it.
And like Medusa, because I’m wrongly being punished, I want to punish
everyone else in retaliation.
I feel Zade behind me before I hear him. Always so silent—always sneaking
up on me.
“Your dad is being an asshole, Addie, but she’s going to recover, and he won’t
be able to keep her from you,” Zade assures quietly.
What if he gets into her head by then? Convinces her I’m bad for her, and then she decides that I’m not worth loving after all.
And they will always feel that way while I’m with Zade. They will always see
him as a bad choice, and as long as I’m with him, they won’t allow me into their
lives.
Just when I get the chance to have a real relationship with my mom, it’s
ripped away from me. It kind of feels like condensing my entire childhood into one day and making me relive it.
“Maybe you should leave,” I mutter.
A beat passes before he drawls, “You want to repeat that for me, little mouse?”
Clenching my teeth, I bark, “You need to leave.”
I told my mother that Zade would always love me unconditionally, but that love is what almost got her killed. He said it himself—Claire wants me so goddamn badly because of him. Because of how much I mean to him.
Accepting his love was hard, but I learned to be okay with it when I was the
only one in danger. Now, I don’t know if that’s the case anymore. My parents may be assholes, but are their lives worth sacrificing for this shit?
I keep my eyes pinned to the water sparkling in the afternoon glow, but his silence is so powerful, it invades all five of my senses. All six of them, if I’m being honest. Because I can feel how enraged he is.
“You think that’s going to solve all your problems, don’t you?” he chuckles.
I whip around. “Maybe it would. You can kill Claire and all her minions, and
I will finally be able to live in peace.”
He cocks a brow, and his eyes have never suited him better until this moment.
One so ice-cold, and the other so full of darkness—two dangerous parts of him
reflecting onto me.
“This is getting old, Adeline.”
I rear back. “Why, are you mad that you can’t make me obsess over you to the
point where I need you by my side every fucking second of the day? Or because
you can’t—”
“What, baby? I can’t what? Make you love me? Care about me? Or is it that I
make you feel all those things when you don’t want to?”
He gets in my face, anger tightening his scars and amplifying the icy darkness
in those yin-yang eyes.
Have you ever come face-to-face with a pissed off bear? Looked into the eyes
of the beast as it seethes? Most don’t live to talk about it.
“You think I’m going to believe your little lies? As if I possess an ounce of
insecurity.” He ends that last statement with a laugh, and it grinds against my nerves. I feel my face brighten while my eyes darken.
He’s laughing at me, and I want to hurt him. Not with my fists, but with my
words. I want him to hate me so he will understand what it feels like to hate someone so much, yet still crave them.
For once, I want him to feel what I fucking felt when he forced his way into my life.
“No, but it will bother you when you find that all your efforts have been wasted.” His smile slips, and I feel my first dose of victory. I take a step into him, enjoying the way he stiffens. “All that time spent, using my body against me in the name of love, only to never make me love you at all.”
This time when he smiles, there isn’t an ounce of amusement. It’s fierce and