Page 56 of The Vengeance You Crave

"Pey—"

"No," I seethe, tugging my arms so harshly that he has no choice but to release me if he doesn't want to hurt me again. "It's too late. It's over."

Slipping from between him and the wall, I continue toward the bedroom.

"Peyton?" His voice is deep, rough, and full of a pain that I understand all too well but it's not enough to make me turn around and after a second's pause, I step into the room and close the door behind me.

The second the lock clicks into place, a sob erupts from my throat and the tears I was trying so desperately hard to keep from falling from my eyes finally drop.

My back slides down the door until my ass hits the floor and I fold my arms around my legs and let myself break for the first time since I sat beside my mom's freshly dug grave and said goodbye to her for the final time.

I don't hear his footsteps over my cries, but I startle when he knocks.

"Peyton?"

I sniff and try to force down the lump that's clogging my throat.

"Go away, Luc. I don't need you anymore. I learned to live without you."

Not wanting to be so close to him, not trusting myself not to turn around, open the door and fall into his arms like I once would have, I stumble toward the bed and crawl under the covers.

I have no idea how long I lay there in a ball sobbing, or at what point Luca moved from the door, if he even did. But eventually, I drift off into a fitful sleep full of nightmares that wake me up more than once covered in sweat and desperate to outrun my demons.

* * *

I wake feeling as exhausted as I did the day before but instead of my entire body aching, it's just my eyes that sting after the inordinate amount of time I spent crying for everything I've lost.

My body begs me to turn over, pull the sheets over my head and force myself to get some more sleep, but I know I can't.

I've got a life and a certain unreasonable man to deal with.

I might have let him take over my life the past thirty-six hours, but I'm done. The girl who rolled over and let him take what he needed, let him lock me up in here like a prisoner, is long gone.

Today I'm taking back control because fuck him.

Fuck him.

I open my eyes ready to take on the world, or at least Luca Dunn, and scream when I once again find him staring down at me.

"What the fuck is it with you watching me sleep?" I bark, my fingers curling around the sheets.

He's sitting with his back resting against the headboard, his arms casually resting at his sides as if he was patiently waiting for me to wake because he actually wanted to see me or some bullshit. But none of that is what really captures my attention. That would be the fact he's sitting there with messed up bed hair and clearly only wearing a pair of boxers.

"Tell me you did not sleep in here with me," I demand.

His eyes bounce between mine for a few seconds.

"Okay, I didn't sleep here."

"Don't try to be cute, Luc. It doesn't suit you. Not anymore."

He shrugs and it infuriates me.

Throwing the sheets off me, I rush to pull his hoodie down my body that I'm still wearing to cover up the fact I'm bare beneath.

"I'm going home, and you're going to let me walk out of that door."

His eyes eat me up, lingering on my bare legs for a few seconds too long before he shifts on the bed.