Page 67 of Trapped With You

The thing that hurt the most? My necklace was missing from her neck.

Meanwhile, I still wore the promise ring she gave me.

Sheer misery stroked my insides from seeing her throw her head back with laughter because of him. He smiled at her. She bit her lip. He moved in closer and lowered his head to whisper in her ear. She laughed some more.

I was tired of feeling like this. Heartsick, exhausted, and so fucking desperate for her touch. I’d give anything to see one smile, one glance, one inch of acknowledgment from my ex-girlfriend at this very moment.

Look at me. I’m right here. I need you so bad.

She didn’t look at me. She didn’t see me. She didn’t need me the way I needed her.

Today was nothing short of a shitshow. Firstly, Uncle Vance, Josh, and I went over to the De la Croixes—another crime family in Montardor—whom we had a truce with to discuss business. Secondly, on our way back home, a group of bandits Uncle Vance once pissed off ambushed us. Thirdly, we had to dispose of the corpses and burn our clothes, and nothing irked me more than ruining a new suit with blood.

And nowthis…watching the person you love most in the world ignore your very existence as though you were invisible and insignificant.

I turned my focus back to my friends to help alleviate the pang reverberating in my chest.

Nico was busy blushing under the perusal of a few sorority girls. Nate was casually flirting with the woman sitting next to him. And Sam was scanning the crowd for a certain blond bombshell as he took a pull of his Jack and Coke.

“Have you found her?” I teased, but my voice lacked its usual enthusiasm.

Sam released a groan. “Yes, and she looks so fucking perfect.”

I smirked. “Are you finally going to make a move?”

“If she stays put in one place long enough for me to make a move, I will,” he rasped. “She’s always slipping through my fingers.”

I chuckled and followed his line of sight.

Tucked in the corner of the bar near a billiard table, Anna—the beauty queen Sam was obsessed with—was talking to Gabby. I knew them both because they were friends with Layla, who wasn’t here tonight because Josh texted her that he was sneaking over to her place. He had a little scrape on his cheek, but he liked to dramatize everything in Layla’s presence. That way, she’d give him all her affection and attention as she tended to his injuries. And I was actually jealous of them.

If things were different, I’d be with Ella right now, and she’d be fussing over my wounds and giving me sweet kisses.

Apparently, I could only go three minutes without thinking of her.

My gaze automatically jerked to where she stood by the wall.

And caught the exact moment when fuckface’s hand slipped up Ella’s thigh and into her skirt.

My nostrils flared.

Ella glared, slapped his hand away, and shoved him back. He didn’t budge, getting closer with a sloppy laugh. She launched into a tirade, her orange claws digging into his chest in warning.

My mind buzzed like a hornet’s nest, one murderous thought after the other bouncing in my skull. The black mood pervadingmy being exploded until the only option was ending the fucker.

The boys sensed the shift in my demeanor and noticed the scene before us.

“Fuck.” Nico cursed and dropped one warning, “Cade.”

Sam slammed me back on the bar stool when I tried to get up. “Don’t do it. Not here.”

“I’m going to kill him,” I murmured with an eerie calmness. “I have to.”

The image of his blood on my hands, his broken limbs, and his eyes devoid of life flashed through my head. It pleased the envious beast inside of me who wanted his pound of flesh.

Nico pinched the bridge of his nose, Sam sighed defeatedly, and Nate said something intelligible to the woman he was talking to and she left before he fixed his attention on me.

“Listen to us for once, you stubborn ass,” he grated. “This is not the time or place. I’ll go have words with him so he backs off. But you’ll have to wait for another opportunity to behead him.”