His narrowed eyes slowly softened, just a little.
“But I hope I have the strength to kill you before you lay a hand on my family. Because I don’t want to have to avenge them the way you have to avenge your mother.”
The softness disappeared, and his gaze hardened once more. “Is there something you needed?” His tone was cold, as frosty as his eyes.
“I’m going back to my apartment. I can’t concentrate, so I’m just wasting my time.”
His reaction didn’t change, but he didn’t seem happy with that answer either. “Why can’t you concentrate?”
It was a stupid question because he already knew the answer. “I just want to be alone for a while.”
“To do what?”
“Get away from you.” I told him the honest truth, getting to the point because I wasn’t afraid to tell him how I felt. With every passing day, I hated him more than I had before. But I hated myself the most. The gun hadn’t been loaded, but even if the reality had been different, I was too stupid to squeeze the trigger.
I was a disgrace.
He didn’t react at all, like those words meant nothing to him.
I turned around without waiting for a response and walked out. I grabbed my bag from the bedroom then stepped into the elevator.
He didn’t come after me.
He left me alone like I asked.
When I was in my apartment, I got some work done and then went out with some friends. We went to dinner and then to a bar. I drank a lot more than I usually did. A few guys hit on me, but I didn’t show any interest.
Every man didn’t compare to Bones.
I hated that he was right.
I wasn’t attracted to a single man in any place we went. Even the hot ones weren’t hot enough. They weren’t built the way Bones was. They weren’t dark the way he was. They didn’t possess the right kind of confidence, the right kind of intensity. He was all man, all power. And he really did make all the others look like boys.
Little boys.
This man had ruined my life. I wasn’t the same person anymore. My tastes had changed, and now I was attached to a man who didn’t give a damn about me. He was my worst nightmare but also my wet dream.
Ugh, I hated him even more.
I walked home because I was so warm from drinking and being inside those stuffy clubs. I was just in my black dress and heels, the cold air feeling so good against my skin. I’d probably catch a cold by the time I returned to my apartment, but I didn’t care.
I didn’t care about anything anymore.
Bones isolated me from the world, preventing me from telling anyone what was really going on. He kept me in a cage with no bars, trapping me in my own mind. He made me obedient by giving me the best sex of my life.
It was a fucked-up situation.
A dark car pulled over to the curb, and the passenger window was down. Some guy had his arm hanging out, and he grinned at me in the creepiest way. “Hey, you want a ride?”
“If I wanted a ride, I would get a taxi.” I focused my eyes forward and kept walking. “Now, fuck off.”
The car kept driving next to the curb, moving slowly and matching my pace. “Ooh…she’s got a mouth on her.”
“If you like my mouth, you should meet my foot.”
“Sure,” he said. “I’d love to meet anything on that gorgeous body.”
I rolled my eyes. “Leave me alone. You’re creepy and gross.”
“Gross? Come on, baby. Get to know me first.”
Baby. I hated hearing him call me that. Only one man called me that, and only one man was allowed to. I’d tried to stop him from using the term a few times, but I eventually gave up because it started to feel right. Now it felt so right that hearing another man say it felt innately wrong. “I don’t want to get to know you. Now drive away before I rip your balls off and bury them in the snow.”
“Why don’t you lick my balls instead?”
That was it. I slipped off my heel, marched over to the window, and slammed my shoe right into his face, hitting him hard. “I told you to fuck off.”
“Ah, shit!” He leaned away and covered his nose because it was bleeding. The heel of my shoe hit him good.
I slipped my shoe back on and kept walking. “That’s what I thought.”
“Bitch.” The car came to a stop, and the three men got out and came toward me.
I was drunk and stupid, so of course, I wasn’t afraid. “You wanna go, assholes? Bring it.” I dropped my clutch and brought my hands to my chest, tightening them both into fists. “I’ll castrate every single one of you.”