Page 150 of I'm sorry, Princess

“It’s destroyed,” I sob into his shoulder. “Everything’s destroyed.” My voice is raw, scraped bare. “What am I going to do?” I choke on the words, as though admitting them makes the ruin more real.

“Let’s go home,” Andres murmurs, his tone like a lifeline.

“It hurts,” I whisper. The pain is too much, it’s everywhere. “It hurts so much.” I press a hand to my chest, but it doesn’t dull the ache. “I’m in so much pain.”

The edges of my vision start to fade, the sounds around me growing muffled and far away.

“Hey! Hey! Wake up!” Andres’s voice is urgent now, cutting through the fog.

“Someone help!” Clara’s voice is shaking, and I can hear her crying.

But the darkness is so tempting, so quiet. My eyelids grow heavier.

The last time I wished I wouldn’t wake up was when my mother hit me for the first time.

Now, it’s different. My heart feels shattered into so many pieces I don’t even want to try to put them back together.

I just want it to stop.

I just want to rest.

And then the world goes black.

Chapter Forty

Lorenzo

Thud. Thud. Thud.

The sound of my heart hammering in my chest is deafening, louder than my fists cracking against concrete. My knuckles are raw, split open, blood dripping down the wall I’ve been pounding for an hour straight. I can’t feel them anymore, nothing but fire shooting up my arms, but the pain isn’t enough. It’s never fucking enough.

Because nothing hurts worse than that envelope.

That fucking envelope.

Inside, the contract. Her signature, clean and perfect, binding her to Ian like a noose around my throat. And the pictures. Fucking pictures. Serena with him. Ian’s hand gripping her waist like she belongs there. Her smiling at him, leaning close over coffee like it’s the most natural thing inthe world. Him whispering something into her ear, and her blushing.

Blushing for him.

My princess. Blushing for another man.

I almost blacked out when I saw it. My vision went red, my chest felt like it was splitting open. I wanted to put my fist through every wall in this fucking building. Wanted to tear it all down until there was nothing left.

And then she walked into my club. I saw her on the cameras before she even stepped through the door. Crying. Shaking. A fucking mess. My mess.

Every instinct in me screamed to go to her. To wipe her tears away, to pull her against my chest and tell her it’s all right, that she’s safe. My heart nearly broke just watching her. And I almost did it. I almost fucking begged her to stop crying.

But she doesn’t deserve my comfort.

She doesn’t deserve a single piece of me.

Because she betrayed me.

She fucking betrayed me.

If you think about it, she cheated on Ian too. What does that make me? The other man? The fool who thought he was enough for her? I should hate her, hate her until the fire in my chest burns me alive. And I do. God, I fucking do.

But here’s the truth I can’t choke down, I hate her because I can’t stop loving her.