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Now that Indie is here, I’m intrigued by her. There’s no denying she’s beautiful, and I can see what caught Miles’ eye, but he’s far from superficial. For him to have fallen for her, after everything he’s been through—that I did to him—she’d have to be pretty bloody special.
That niggling urge to get to know her, to find out what makes her so special to him, has been itching away at me, driving me insane.
I’m not prepared to admit that I came to Caged today with the intention of getting to know Indie more, but now that I hear Miles yelling at her, I’m kind of glad I did. Though I can’t hear much of what’s going on—stupid soundproof door—as soon as the loud bang sounds, I know I need to intervene.
I’m almost one hundred percent positive that Miles would never hurt Indie, but that doesn’t mean she should be locked in the room and forced to listen to his angry tirade.
I bang on the door, making my presence known, and I’m not remotely surprised when I hear him tell me to fuck off. Naturally, I don’t listen, and threaten to break the door down if he doesn’t open it. I knew he would ignore me, which is why I threw Marcus’ name in there too.
Before I can even process what’s happening, the door flies open and Indie runs past me, a sob catching in her throat as she passes. I’m torn between following her to make sure she’s okay, and staying here to rip Miles a new arsehole.
I turn to give him a piece of my mind, and my stomach drops when I see the look of absolute devastation reflected in his beautiful blue eyes. His anger seems to have drained out of him, along with all of his energy, and he just looks flat.
I march into the office, slamming the door shut behind me. Even though he looks defeated, I can’t keep the fury from leaking into my voice. “What the fuck was that?”
Miles waves his hand, dismissing me. “It’s none of your business.”
His answer only serves to wind me up even more, and I take a step towards him, pulling my shoulders back as I draw on the leadership facade I’ve been perfecting recently.
“Like fuck it isn’t. When you are making girls cry, you sure as shit can believe I’m going to interfere.”
Miles drops his gaze to the floor, and it’s clear he’s ashamed that he made Indie cry. “She’s lying about who she is and why she’s here, which could be dangerous for us all. We don’t know her true intentions. I’m only doing my job.”
Even though his words sound logical, I’m not even sure he believes them, as he keeps his head hung in shame.
I let out a humourless laugh. “Bullshit.” Miles’ gaze snaps up to meet mine, and I can see the fire reflected. “You’re going after Indie because she left you and broke your heart. This has nothing to do with Marcus, or doing your job.”
Miles’ face scrunches up in annoyance, and he takes a threatening step towards me. I raise my brows in challenge, though I can’t help wondering why I’m deliberately winding him up, particularly when I can see he’s struggling to maintain his control.
Sure enough, as soon as he sees me challenging him, his anger gets the better of him. He slams his hand into my chest, hard, pushing me back against the door. He stalks towards me, his eyes dark and wide, making him look dangerous.
Why the fuck are you getting turned on right now?I think to myself, very aware that my cock is twitching to life, thanks to Miles’ proximity and barely concealed rage.
He leans in closer and my breath catches, my heart beating so fast and loud, I’m surprised he can’t hear it. There’s a million reasons why I should push him away, why I shouldn’t allow him to get this close to me, but as I look into his beautiful blue eyes, I can’t remember any of them. I can’t even remember what I was about to say. I’m lost in everything that is Miles.
I’m hypnotised as his gaze rakes over my face, hovering on my lips, before travelling back to my eyes. The silence hangs between us, though the air almost feels like it sizzles.
He leans in a little closer and I hold my breath, scared that even just the slightest movement will burst this weird bubble we find ourselves in. His breath flutters against my ear, making my stomach flip as a shiver runs down my spine.
His voice is barely above a whisper as he says, “You’d know all about breaking my heart, wouldn’t you, Pretty Boy?”
My breath hitches as I desperately try to pull in some much needed air, trying to clear the haze that’s lingering around my brain. This is the first time in ten years that Miles has ever mentioned what happened between us. Even during the counselling sessions I have as part of my recovery, Miles has always refused to stay in the room whenever that section of my past is brought up.
As my sober companion, he’s attended a lot of my counselling sessions with me, but that’s always where he draws the line. He knows I have to talk about it, to address what happened, but he’s always refused. He leaves the room if I even attempt to discuss it with him, so I’ve stopped trying.
The fact he’s standing here, his body flush with mine, so close that I can feel him, while he’s opening up the wounds of our past, shocks me.
“Miles.” I can’t help the way his name feels like a desperate prayer on my lips, tinged with just a hint of sadness for all the mistakes I made.
Miles shakes his head, and as he does, all the emotion that I saw disappears, replaced by the blank mask I’m so used to seeing. He takes a step backwards, and I mourn the distance. He’s only a few steps away, but I feel cold and alone again.
I want to wrap my arms around myself, to close my eyes, so I don’t have to see the empty expression I know he’s giving me, but I need to be strong. I can’t crumble the way I used to. I have to own the mistakes I made, and learn to live with my choices, no matter how much I might regret them now.
Miles’ face turns into a sneer. “This thing with Dee has nothing to do with you, so stay out of it!”
I shake my head, wondering how I’m going to argue with him on this one. How I’m going to make him see sense. “Miles, I?—”
Before I can even finish my sentence, Miles cuts me off. “I don’t want to hear whatever you’re about to say. Why don’t you go and check on the lying bitch? I’m sure you’re just dying to chase after her, like you did the other night.”