Anguished (Crimson Elite 2)

“I’m sorry,” I say as I reach over covering his hand with mine.

He shrugs. “I’m sorry you were pulled into this.” A chill runs up my spine and I know he’s behind me, I retract my hand placing it in my lap as I reach for my purse and start to stand.

Turning slowly, he isn’t watching me his eyes are firmly on his brother. “You’re trying for seconds now?”

My eyes bulge. Seconds. “You’re a real asshole you know that?” Walking off, I can hear him coming after me, but I don’t bother turning back until he catches up and stops right in front of me.

“Why are you with my brother, Storm?”

“He wanted to see you.”

Gosh, he looks so good. So fucking good. His black shirt clings to him, and I know exactly what’s underneath it.

“So, he went to you for that? Tell me, did you fuck him, too? I mean I wouldn’t be surprised considering Selena did.”

Nope.

No, he did not go there.

I open my mouth to say something, but nothing seems to leave. No words want to even reply to what he’s just said. Pulling out my keys, I go straight for my car and get in driving off. He doesn’t follow me. Thank God for that. Because I may have run over him twice for good measure.

Asshole.22EchoHe’s waiting out the front, he knew I’d come back for him. He’s leaning against the wall of the coffee house when I reach him. I want to tear his head off, make him understand that he can’t do that to me. The minute I arrived I saw him sitting across from her, her hand on his as she probably listened to him spin some shit about how heartbroken he is, and how hard done by he is. When in reality, Mike’s the one that gets everything.

“Take a breather.” My hands close around his throat as I pin him to the wall. People gasp around us and I hear the rustle of chairs and feet but I just don’t care.

“You think you can keep chasing after what’s mine?” He tries to laugh, so I squeeze his throat tighter. I lean in close, so I’m right near his ear. “I have the means to end you, Mike. Make you disappear so no one will ever find you. Do you know that?”

He doesn’t reply to my words, but I know he understands them. I release his throat and take a step back, turning and walking away from the front of the shop. I know he’ll follow because he came here to see me, and he won’t leave until he’s said what he needs to say. I walk far enough away then turn to see him. Mike’s standing behind me waiting for me to stop.

“Are you done?” He stretches his neck out as he stands opposite me.

“Nowhere near done, if I had my way you wouldn’t even exist,” I seethe trying to keep my hands at my side and not back on his throat.

“I didn’t come to steal her if that’s what you think.” He cracks his neck.

“I don’t think you can steal her, Mike. I just don’t want you near her without me around. It’s as simple as that.”

“You kissed my wife… my fucking wife,” he says turning the conversation to what he’s really here to talk about.

My cell starts ringing loudly, so I silence it in my pocket.

“I didn’t kiss her, for fuck’s sake. She kissed me, you fucking idiot.” He doesn’t say a thing at my words, it’s one of the first times I’ve ever seen him quiet. Ever. “Now tell me what the fuck you thought you were doing bringing her into this? Storm has nothing to do with it.”

He laughs. “She does. I knew you were ignoring me like you’ve done all your life. You love her. I saw it in your eyes when she left after we found you. Hurt. You never had that with Selena because you never really loved her.”

“Who the fuck are you to tell me who I love?”

He looks around then back to me sliding his hands into his pockets. “Why do you hate me so fucking much? It can’t just be because I fell in love with Selena. It has to be more than that.”

The nerve of him, the fucking nerve.

“It’s you who thinks yourself as better than me. It’s you who’s a mummy and daddy’s boy. It’s you who has his head shoved so far up his own asshole that he can’t see straight.” Having no idea why the fuck I’m still standing here talking to him I start to walk away.

“I loved her, Echo. I fucking loved her, and you broke that. You broke it,” he yells after me.

“You broke that by getting with a whore, not me. I never kissed her back.” I feel like a damn broken record. When I get in my car, I finally look back at him, he hasn’t moved from the side of the street, he’s simply staring at the ground.