Page 82 of Play for Power (Central Sparks #3)

A scene is the last thing I want right now.

I just want this to be over. I want to go home with Caleb and forget about today altogether.

I reassure Jessie that I’m fine, and he backs away, taking Casey with him.

That’s when I notice Noah has also arrived, with a serious glare at Mickey, before he drags Addy farther onto the dance floor, their smiles returning swiftly.

I feel suddenly and strangely alone…only for the briefest of moments, until that familiar warmth presses against my back.

A possessive arm wraps around my waist, pulling me into his side. Caleb’s cool, easy charm rolls off him.

“Mickey. What a horribly unpleasant surprise.” There is something menacing in his tone.

“And I’m not at all surprised to find you sniffing after Rosita at some run-down club.” Mickey retorts with a snarl. All Caleb does is snort.

“Well, since I’d rather watch paint dry than listen to you enjoy the sound of your own voice, excuse us.” He slips his hand in mine and begins to turn us back to the table. I don’t make it a step before there is a grip on my arm as Mickey pulls me from Caleb’s grasp.

Caleb barely hesitates, taking the few assured steps forward to push at Mickey’s chest, forcing him to drop my arm as he puts distance between us. “Don’t fucking touch her.” He growls in his face and goose bumps prickle my skin at the anger behind each syllable.

A quick scan of the room tells me we’ve garnered all the attention I didn’t want, and it’s quickly becoming a scene.

In the next breath, Lucas is there, pushing between Caleb and Mickey, a hand on Mickey’s chest getting him to back away.

Lucas towers over them both, his bulk something to marvel over when you compare him to Mickey, who seems to think better of starting anything further as he backs up a step.

That’s when I see Ethan hovering by the side.

Not intervening, but his calculating gaze is watching the situation.

“Why is it always my club you idiots want to fight in?” Lucas teases Caleb, who doesn’t look in the mood for jokes.

He turns his attention back to Mickey. “Fellas. Let’s keep our heads, yeah?

How about we head outside for some fresh air?

” Lucas gently pushes Mickey in the direction of the exit and my breath stalls in my throat when he doesn’t budge.

Instead, he looks over at me and smiles in that slimy, sinister way he does and it sets Caleb off.

Ethan is there, a hand resting on his shoulder to keep him calm, and Mickey laughs.

Fuck.

“Go on, Rosita, pick a side. And remember to pick correctly.” He winks at me and panic clutches my chest, my heart beating a rhythm so intense I feel like the entire room can hear it.

Caleb’s confident laugh and the fact he doesn’t even look at me make it worse.

It makes me ache. Because he trusts me. He put the entirety of his heart in my hands and what did I do?

“Tell him, Rosie. Put the poor man out of his misery. Stop leading him around like a lost puppy and just tell him.” Mickey spits the words so loud all our friends spin in our direction.

In my direction. The worst is the look Caleb swings me.

There’s fury, probably at Mickey more than me, but there is fear…

there is real fear simmering in his eyes right now and I wish my throat and lungs weren’t burning with panic so I could say something.

“It’s time you finally put your family and your duty first. You knew this was coming, for years, you knew.

It’s time to grow up.” He doesn’t drop his smile; he looks all too pleased with himself, actually.

And me? I’m three seconds away from crumbling into a mass of bones on the floor of this bar.

It feels like the ground is shaking, but that might just be me.

My eyes sting with tears, with anger, my breath coming in hard and fast as my world spins out of control.

Like the worst kind of plane crash with no survivors, the room keeps on spinning until all I can do is look at Caleb. I just…stare at him.

He rears back slightly, backing away from Ethan and Mickey, walking right up to me, our eyes completely locked. I lose my grip on my mask, I feel my face show everything I’ve been trying desperately to hide.

Caleb goes to raise his hand to my cheek, but he lowers it, and his eyes, God, those stunning dark blue eyes burn. I see the moment he realizes it too…that I’m about to ruin everything. But everything was already ruined. The moment I caught feelings and didn’t let them go.

“What’s he talking about?” he asks gently, just for me.

“He… Caleb.” My voice catches in my throat and I can feel the first tear run down my cheek.

My eyes dart around at everyone. Every important person in my life is here…

witnessing my life falling apart. Mickey grins smugly, so utterly pleased with himself that I want to scream.

I want to rage and break him like how he is breaking me.

But the look on Caleb’s face, the anticipation for the blow, has my stomach hollowing out and I can’t find it in me to lie any longer.

“Caleb,” I breathe his name like a prayer. “Just…you have to let me explain?—”

“That’s what I’m doing. Right now. I’m asking you to tell me what is going on?

” His knuckles land under my chin, forcing me to look into his heartbreakingly beautiful eyes.

“Whatever it is, pretty girl, we’ll work it out.

You just have to tell me,” he pleads, his words soft, his heart bare before me, asking me to take it.

Except I fear I already did. And instead of taking care of it, of cherishing it, I’m about to shred it to pieces.

“Caleb…Mickey—Miguel…he’s— fuck. ” I scrunch my eyes closed and then take a deep breath, trying to settle into emptiness. I open my eyes, preparing myself for what’s to come, feeling only grief for the life I spent so long building as I watch it burn to the ground.

“He’s…my fiancé.”