Page 88 of The Cruelest Chaos

I storm into the bathroom, my blood pounding in my ears as I rip down the shower curtain, right off the stupid fucking metal hooks.

Fuck them both.

Ella fucked this all up. She’s taken Ria away, she’s put her in danger, and she’s…she’s fucked herself, too.

I head up the stairs, wanting nothing more than to put my hands around her fucking throat. I tried to tell her my secrets couldn’t be shared. I tried to give her everything she could possibly want this past month; fucking food, sex,my entire goddamn house. She’s had the run of this place while I wasn’t home. She’s been able to do anything she wanted. She doesn’t work. She doesn’t have the stress I have. She isn’t keeping secrets as if her fucking life depends on it.

She goes to the stupid fucking Ark, fucks around with boys like Connor. Comes home and does fuck all except wait for her mom to give her scraps of food and fucking attention. And, oh yeah, when she feels like, she lets her mom’s boyfriends fuck her in the ass.

Something shestillhasn’t let me do.

Fuck her.

She’s right where I left her, sitting on my goddamn couch in that same fucking position she was in before I found out she fucked me over.

I grab her arm, yanking her to her feet.

She jumps, blinking as if I’ve woken her ass up from a daydream.

“What the fuck did you do?” I can barely breathe, let alone speak, but I know she heard me.

Her eyes meet mine. They’re narrowed in anger, and she tries to jerk her hand from me, but I tighten my hold on her wrist.

“What thefuckdid you do?” I ask her again, losing my fucking patience which I already didn’t have. “Where did she go? What did she say to you?”

She doesn’t speak.

I grab her by her shoulders and shake her. “What thefuckdid you do, Ella, fucking answer me!” If she doesn’t start talking, I’m going to fucking make her.

Her lips are pressed together, jaw tight as ifshe’sthe one that’s pissed.

I press my forehead against hers. “Ella,” I breathe out, “I swear to God, if you don’t start fucking talking, I’m going to—”

“To what?” she whispers. She looks up at me through her dark lashes, and my hands slide down her arms, gripping her above her elbows. “Lock me in the basement?”

I squeeze my eyes shut, breathing hard. “You have no idea what—”

“You were keeping her here.”

“Ella—”

“You were keeping her here, too.”

Too?I open my eyes, speechless, the anger momentarily turning into confusion.What?

“You were keeping her here while I was here. You were hiding her away. To play with her when I was gone? At The Ark?”

My brow furrows, all thoughts of finding Ria slipping from my mind as I try to figure out just what the fuck she’s trying to say to me.

She shoves me, hard, and I stumble back, surprised, my calves hitting the coffee table. I windmill my arms, steadying myself. She takes a step toward me and shoves me again. I catch her arms, and we both fall back, my fucking back landing on the coffee table.

“Ella, what the fuck—”

She’s straddling me, her hands pinning my wrists to the table. I don’t fight her back because I have no idea what the fuck she’s thinking.

“You kept her here, too. What about me, Maverick?” She leans down close, her breasts grazing my chest. “What about me? You kept her here all this time you were…you were fucking me and feeding me and sleeping withme!”She’s screaming, her breaths coming out in pants, and it suddenly dawns on me what the fuck is happening.

“You’re jealous.” I can’t believe it. “You’re fucking jealous that I…that I had a girl locked in my basement? You’rejealous?”