“Foxx,” his friend pressed.
“Alastair, enough.”
“No, it’s not enough. Because I’ve seen this before…you falling in love with the wrong person. You put everything into it, and I watch them give absolutely nothing of themselves back, as you end up a mess of tears and pain, devastated and confused as to why you weren’t enough. Even though it was never about you, and all about them being selfish bastards not worth a damn.
“Except, this time, unlike the others, you know going in that this man has nothing to give you. You know that there is no hope for more. You are teetering with emotions for a man who we aren’t even sure is capable of liking you, or anyone else for that matter, let alone loving someone. So, no, Foxx, I won’t give up. So you might as well give in now.”
Foxx sighed and rubbed at his eyes. “If I go on that date, will you leave the subject alone?”
Even as he asked the question, he knew he was about to lie. He couldn’t—wouldn’t—go on a date with Iggy. Because…just based on how Harlow had reacted already, he was afraid that going on that date, even if he had no intentions of taking things further, would mess things up between them. They weren’t dating. Foxx had every right to date and fuck whoever he wanted. But he didn’t…want to lose what they had…
Was that wrong of him? Maybe it was… And perhaps…the fact that he didn’t want to mess it up really screamed how deep he was getting…
“If you go on the date, I’ll leave it alone.”
He turned away, taking a deep breath as he stared out at the sky again. After a few moments of silence, he let the lie come out. “Fine…I’ll go on a date with Iggy.”
“What?!”
His eyes widened at the familiar harsh growl. Foxx spun, spluttering, “H-Harlow…”
The subject of the whole debate stood stiffly near the entrance of the hallway, his face unreadable.
“Harlow!” Foxx cried when the man turned away and left without another word.
* * *
Pulse pounding in his head,Harlow slammed open the door for the underground parking deck. Entering, he didn’t stop until he reached his Jeep. Hands clenched, he barely held himself back from slamming his fists into the hood.
Harlow took a shuddered breath, followed by another and another. After a few moments of breathing, he pressed his fists to the still warm metal, sagging there as he continued to take deep breaths in and out.
Staring at the shiny black surface, rage bubbled through his veins, even while the rest of him—his heartbeat, his breathing—calmed.
Harlow slowly smiled. It would be so easy… Iggy…had never been a threat. Just some fuck up who bumbled his way through hunts. He wasn’t a threat, even now. But he was…in the way…
No, not in the way. He was just trying to touch something that wasn’t his to touch!
Foxx was HIS! No one else’s! No one else would touch Foxx. No one! He’d kill them all first. Iggy could be the first to go. He could make an example of him. String him up, skin him alive… He could…
Harlow’s heart started to pick up speed again… Hands clenching further, his nails dug into his palms as he pushed them hard into the cooling metal.
“Fuck!” He sagged further, pressing his face to the hood. “Fuck…” Harlow repeated, softer this time, before sighing and pushing up. Rubbing his temples, he took another deep breath before pulling out his phone. Flipping it open, he dialed a number that he really didn’t want to call.
When the call connected, he didn’t give them time to say anything. “Wes…” He swallowed. “Either move up my appointment or prepare to help me hide a body.”
Harlow paced back and forth in front of Wes, trying to keep calm. It wasn’t working. He felt just as enraged as he had when he walked out the night before. And it…didn’t feel normal.Hedidn’t feel normal. His rage felt different than it ever had before. More volatile than usual.
“I can’t…calm down.”
“Well, killing Iggy isn’t going to fix the problem.”
Harlow scoffed. “Wanna bet?”
“If you actually wanted him dead, he already would be, wouldn’t he?”
“No. No, I'm pretty sure I do actually want him dead. But, here’s a clue, you can’t just off some fucker without planning it, if you want to avoid prison time.”
Which he did. Though, depending on what prison he ended up at, he could then take out some of those priests…but the fact would still remain that he’dbein prison. And if killing Iggy hadn’t gotten him on death row, he likely would eventually end up there. Because there would be an endless amount of people, guards, and other inmates, who would no doubt try to touch him, and then he’d have to kill them. Regardless of it being sexual or not. Because being locked in a box with people constantly fucking touching him with their filthy, disgusting?—
