Chasing Heartbreak (Dark Love 6)

I raise my hand to stop him, my body bursting with fury. “The way I’ve always wanted? Four years ago, I’d have done anything for you to want me. But you’ve conditioned me to want only one thing from you.”

“And do you still want that?” He inches closer, dragging his finger across the bottom of my lip.

Our bad romance has been nothing but cheap emotions, which led to our bond being built by greed. A toxic lover, which is what Dominic is, becomes an addiction. He knows exactly how to keep me in his court begging for more each time we’re together. He’s learned to feed my weakness and nurture it into a vicious weed strangling my self-worth.

And despite our affair being kept a secret, it has caused more damage to the people we love, including one of my best friends—Eric. The game always needs to come to an end. There will be no winners because the rules we set up were destined for failure.

I let out a breath, tilting my head away from his touch. Taking a step back, I look at him with an unrelenting stare.

“I want to be loved entirely, for everything I am. I want to spend my life with a man and be the only woman to consume him whole. I want to make memories, feel loved, and express my love in return. I don’t deserve less than that, and what you’re doing is trying to make me believe that I do.”

The words have finally escaped me, releas

ed from a vault buried in the dark pits of my soul. For all these years, I’ve refuted love only to realize I can’t live without it.

A sound startles both of us, my head shifts to the entrance where Noah is standing with his duffle bag on the ground. Wide-open eyes reflect everything he feels, and I know instantly that his mind drifts to a jealous place in which the sight of Dominic and me has sliced him open like a sharp knife.

His posture stiffens, fists clenched toward his sides, drunk in anger as his eyes blaze a torch, and it’s only a matter of time before his fury unleashes.

Dominic’s expression shifts, almost as if I can see the wheels turning in Noah’s head.

“Let me guess?” Dominic shakes his head in disbelief. “So, is he the reason why?”

“You need to leave.”

“I’m not leaving, we’re not over,” he orders in a decidedly odd tone

“You fucking heard her.” Noah moves closer toward us, prompting Dominic to back off. My pulse begins to race from nerves as I purposely stand between them, knowing all too well a fight could break out at any moment.

“Who the fuck are you to tell me to leave?”

“Because I’m the man who respects Kate for who she is and what she wants. I’m not the one proposing she fuck me while I stay married to keep up appearances.”

Dominic’s anger ripples through his clenched fists before I see him swing at Noah. Noah ducks his head just in time, connecting his fist with Dominic’s jaw. Blood ripples out until I shout at them both to stop, my hands pushing Dominic away and trying to create distance from Noah.

“Go, now,” I warn Dominic, examining his face quickly. “Please, just go back to your wife. That’s where you belong. Not with me.”

Like an animal calling defeat, his nostrils flare violently as he takes one step away from us. “You’ve always come back to me, Kate. It won’t take long for you to remember why.”

I release the breath I’ve been holding in to watch him disappear down the stairwell and out of the building. My head falls, unable to look Noah in the eye because there are so many things that need to be said.

He broke me first.

I’m still angry.

And most of all—I hate that I miss him.

Reaching into my purse, I retrieve my key and unlock the door. I motion for Noah to come inside, keeping my words at bay. I quickly head for the freezer as he follows me and grab a tub of ice-cream since it’s all I have, placing it in his hand.

“Did you call him?”

“No,” I answer, defeated. “I didn’t.”

“So, he just came here? Just rocked up at your door.”

I nod, keeping silent.

“I need to know what happened?”