Page 48 of My Captive's Heart

Snatching her arm before anyone can see, I shove us into the storage room. Locking the door, we’re bathed in darkness.

“We shouldn’t be alone, Mr. Smith,” she hisses.

“I swear I’m going to spank your ass and let everyone hear your cries if you call me that one more time.”

She half gasps, half mewls. Pulling her arm free, she tries to sidestep me. “I need to go. We both have people waiting for us.”

“I don’t.” I switch on the light, finally earning a closer look at her.

She looks as devastated as me. Sleep-deprived and sad. Yet she continues to put herself through this hell. What I don’t understand is why.

“Yeah, you do.”

“Who?”

“Kathy,” she spits out.

“I don’t want her.”

“Maybe you should.”

“You don’t mean that,” I murmur, tilting her face. She shuts her eyes. “Look at me, little bird.”

“Let me go, Alex.”

I pull her flush against me. “Do you know how painful it is to have you so close and not be able to touch you? Kiss you? Hug you?”

“A-Alex.”

“I’ve missed you. The last two days have felt like an eternity without you.”

She leans into me, curling her arms around my forearms. In the same breath, she backs away. “I’m sorry. I have to g-go.”

Drowning me in her scent, she exits the room. Once more, running away and leaving me behind. I stay where I am.

It isn’t until catcalls and clapping noises echo in my ears that I throw open the door, walking straight into my hellish nightmare.

Matt is down on one knee, holding Molly’s hand. She stares at him wide-eyed as he asks her to marry him.

One second.

Two.

Three.

I stare in slow-motion as she mouths the word ‘yes’ with a loving smile.

Our eyes collide.

She stares at my ashen face, pain flashing in hers, and yet she doesn’t stop Matt from sliding the ring onto her finger.

My broken heart crashes to the ground as I watchmyworld become someone else’s.

EIGHTEEN

MOLLY

I’m an engaged woman.