Anguished (Crimson Elite 2)

“You’re not really helping your case here, Selena, whatever the fuck that’s meant to be.”

“I made a mistake.” She steps closer again, her lips within reach.

“You want to leave him, already?”

She shakes her head. “No. I do love him. He gives me what you couldn’t, but he also can’t give me what you did. I miss our passion, I miss your lips. No one can make me forget about the world like you can, Echo. It’s your gift.” She reaches up and it happens in such slow motion that I don’t react. I can’t really believe it’s about to happen. It can’t happen, not right now. And as her lips hit mine, I don’t move. My body becomes like a stalk, frozen in place by her touch. It’s because she’s the fucking ice queen of playing with hearts.

Her lips don’t belong on mine. She moves them, her hands touching my side as my hands dangle to my sides. What the actual fuck! Usually, her kisses make me want to tear her clothes off, but right now I want her away from me, and don’t fucking know why she thinks this a good idea. We aren’t meant to be, I see that now. She’s broken, more so than me. At first, I thought it was me, that maybe I was incapable of love. That somehow, I pushed her away to go to him. I didn’t. She’s the one with the issue. It’s Selena that wants to keep her cake and eat it too. Well, I won’t be her side piece of fucking cake, I’m not that stupid.

“Oh my God.”

Words. Words that don’t belong to the person whose lips are on me right now make me push her off. When I turn, Red’s standing there, her hand to her mouth as she looks at me with pain in her eyes. Her hand slowly drops and my brother steps from around her with a look of pure unadulterated murder in his eyes. My first instinct is to tell Red it means nothing, that it’s stupid. Then I realize I didn’t actually fucking do it. Selena did, and when I look back at her she doesn’t have her usual smug look on her face. My brother, on the other hand, has a look I haven’t seen before. There’s no smugness at all.

Red pushes past my brother and disappears before I can say a word. Going after her, I’m stopped when my brother’s hand touches my shoulder. Looking at him, I can now see the anger and it’s not directed at his whore of a wife it’s solely on me.

“You’re trash. I knew I shouldn’t have let you come.” His fist connects with my face. Selena gasps behind me as I shake it off, with blood in my mouth I look up at him.

“That was your only shot because you’re hurt, but the next one I won’t fucking hold back.” His eyebrows are scrunched and he tries again, but this time I’m ready for it and duck before his fists hit me. Instead, it lands on the door smashing a hole through it. Grabbing his hands, I swivel and lock his hands behind his back, as I lean in close and whisper in his ear, “Next time look. I didn’t touch her. Never want to. Your wife kissed me. Think about it Mike, think about what you actually saw and you’ll know I’m not lying.” I push him free and in the room with his whore of a wife shutting the door which now has a hole in it.

“You couldn’t help yourself, could you?” Turning to my mother’s venomous voice, I look past her hoping to see a glimpse of red hair. But I already know she’s more than likely gone.

“Me?” I ask shaking my head.

My father’s eyes zoom in on the door with the hole. “It was his day, Echo, his fucking day. You couldn’t behave yourself for one day?”

“Oh, I did. None of that was my fault.”

My mother rolls her eyes.

That’s it! I can’t stand to be here any longer with people who think so fucking less of me.

“That’s it, I’m done. Well and truly fucking done. You have one son now because I can’t keep doing this. I don’t want to keep doing this. Creed’s mother is more of a mother to me than you have ever been.” I look at my father. “And you, if the sun shines so far up his ass, fucking take a ride behind it. I don’t have time for this shit anymore.” Turning, I walk off to hopefully fucking find Red, and I’m hoping she won’t fucking hate me too.

“Echo Brown you get back here, right now.”

I flip my mother the middle finger and keep on fucking walking, out of this fucking toxic family, never to return again.