He’s seconds from it, if that.
“Are you sure?”
“Mhmm. Can you make sure the cat door is open for Clover to come back in? It’s on the back door.” I will thank whoever I need to another time that Keo decided to install one. “I just let her out. You can go out that way as well.”
The entire time, I keep my gaze fixed on hers. I know my act will crumble if I even glance at Michael. He can break me, but I can’t let him hurt Cal. I’m not sure I could live with myself if he did.
“Alright…” She places her hand onto my forearm and gives me a weary smile. “Please text me when he leaves.”
“After I take a shower, I will.”
Her head turns, eyes narrowing on the man I know I’ll have to face alone any moment now. My heart races, thrashing against my chest as if it wants to escape with Calista.
As she walks away, I take a deep breath and release it slowly.
The instant I hear the door open, I fix my attention on Michael. He stands in the middle of the living room, hands at his sides, looking far angrier than the last time I saw him, and that’s saying something. Keoni had just beaten his ass and literally thrown him out of the cabin.
As the door clicks shut, his nostrils flare. “You know…” I’m not sure what I expected this moment to feel like—him addressing me directly for the first time in months—but it’s like ants crawling across my body. “I’m pretty upset with you.”
An urge to be snarky rises, but I swallow it back down. I need to be strategic. “I’m sorry.”
He snorts his irritation. “Surethe fuck you are.”
“Michael, what’s going on? You could get in a lot of troublebeing here.”
His anger seethes through his teeth as he spits out, “I don’t give a fuck, Ayden! I didn’t care a week ago when I arrived, and I don’t now.”
Sweat builds in my palms but the icy chill that rolls through me feels like I’ve been dipped into the lake outside.
“What?”
He begins pacing, between the couch and the fireplace, making sure to avoid hitting the coffee table. “All you had to do was come back home. None of this would’ve happened. I wouldn’t have had to do this!” He doesn’t quite scream, but his voice elevates slightly.
My guess is he’s worried that Calista might be standing outside, trying to listen. No. If she saw the note, which I know she would have, I’ve no doubt she’s far from this cabin, calling Ronan and Levi to come back.
“What do you want with me?” My words are more of a plea than a genuine question. “Whyme? There are plenty of people out there for you…”
He throws his head back and lets out a ‘pfft’. “You don’t get to fucking tellmewho I’m going to spend my life with.”
“I don’t want you. I never will.”
“You’d rather have your goddamn stepbrother. You’re sick in thehead, Ayden.”
Shrugging my shoulders, I nod. “I am. Fine. But it doesn’t change anything.”
When he takes a step toward me, I take one back. His head tilts as he gives me a filthy, evil smile. “But with him out of the way, I can have you again.”
A sharp pain pierces my heart. “What do you mean? Out of the way?”
“He’s brainwashed you. You were happy with me before he started to mess with your fucking head. You’ll forget all about him in no?—”
“What thefuckdo you mean?!”
His nostrils flare in response to me screaming at him, but I don’t care. “I’ve taken care of our problem.”
No…Is that why he didn’t come home?
I shake my head. “You wouldn’t…”
