Page 164 of Meant to Be

“You hurt my feelings, Josie. No one gets away with that.”

The blood drains from my face as he pins me with a dark stare that makes my insides crawl.

“What are you going to do?” My voice is so weak, it doesn’t even sound like me. Two men that have occupied my heart are bloody and unconscious. I can’t focus on anything else but that fact.

“I’m going to take something from you, so you know how it feels.” His fingers sink into my bicep, biting the flesh. I yelp as he drags me to my feet. My ankle screams, heat flaring down the sides. He shoves me into a chair. He presses the gun to my cheek, dragging it across my skin. It feels cold and slick. “Don’t move.”

He steps back and fumbles for the rope he has sitting there, then bounds my wrists to the chair. I hiss as the rope tightens, and the corners of his mouth twitch. He is enjoying this a little too much.

The legs of the chair drag across the floor and he places it about a metre from where Nick is still slumped over. My eyes follow the gun as he places it down and reaches for Harley. I tug at the ropes and they dig further into my skin.

With a groan, he hoists Harley’s long frame over his shoulder and throws him down onto the chair, placing him in the same position as Nick. Harley’s head bobs to the side, and I wince as I see blood run down his neck from the wound on the back of his head.

Elliot heaves a deep sigh, placing his hands on his hips, staring at the boys.

“They’re heavier than they look.” He dusts his hands and swipes the gun up before wandering over to where he was standing previously. He glances through the blinds again. Rain thunders down onto the tin roof, getting louder with each moment.

“We lived together,” Elliot says tersely, coming back towards me. He sits on the coffee table and it groans under his weight. Neatly, he folds his ankles, staring at me with an unflinching gaze. “You told me you loved me. Was that all a lie?”

“I cared for you, Elliot, and you know how you repaid my loyalty? By bullying me, manipulating me,hurtingme. Sending workers to spy on me in our own apartment. You’re sick and twisted. You’re not capable of love. You like to own people, and when you can’t control them, you get upset and do crazy things.” I seethe. “Like this.”

He scoffs. “Yeah. Okay. Whatever helps you sleep at night, Josie.” He tilts his head, eyes narrowing. “I’m not the one who abandoned you, without a word, into the night, never to be heard from again.”

“You hit me! And threatened me. Constantly,” I shout at him, hot tears brimming in my eyes. “If you call that love, then you’re more delusional than I thought.”

His nostrils flare. We glower at each other. He exhales, letting out a cold laugh.

“I didn’t come here to argue with you, Josie. I came here to show you what happens when you hurt people.”

“Youhurtme,” I hiss, my fingernails biting into the flesh of my palms. “I’m the one who deserves to get revenge.Notyou.”

I stare at him. I can’t stop. I take in every bit of him. Long legs. Pale skin. Lanky arms. Gelled back hair. His collared shirt. His expensive watch. His leather shoes. Squeaky clean, like always.

“So.” He faces forward and waves his gun at Harley, as if my last comment fell on deaf ears. “He’s the new boyfriend?”

Despite the rain bringing a cooler temperature with it, the small house feels airless. I inhale and inhale, but nothing is getting to my lungs. Dots dance over my vision and I blink them away.Focus, Josie.

“The old flame versus the new flame.” Elliot smiles. “Who will win?”

I say nothing. Heat rises in my cheeks and I pull relentlessly at the ropes. Elliot exhales a heavy breath, tapping the gun against the benchtop in a smooth, controlled rhythm.

“I’m a man of many things, but patience is not one of them.”

I scoff. “Yeah. I don’t need to be reminded of that.”

“Now, now, don’t be like that.”

Tears of frustration well in my eyes when the ropes dig deeper into my wrists. This can’t be really happening. This is some twisted nightmare or PTSD-attack, and my mind has tricked me into thinking it’s real.

I squeeze my eyes shut.

This isn’t real. This isn’t real. This isn’t real.

“Yes, it is,” Elliot drawls, causing shivers to roll over me. I must have said those words out loud. “You know it is.”

“What do you want?” I whisper.

“I’ve told you.” He strides over to me, then leans down, pressing his face so close to mine that the tips of our noses touch. “Pick one.”