I spin to find her standing behind me, dressed in black leather, and blood-red lips, her gaze sweeping from me to the bed and back again. Fury flashes on her beautiful face.
“You aren’t allowed on this floor,” she snarls.
Something in me snaps.
“Who did this?” I hiss, my voice shaking with rage. “Was it you? Did you turn my best friend?”
Kayla scrambles up to her knees, clutching the sheets to her chest. “Elliot, please?—”
“Don’t,” I cut in, never taking my eyes off Vittoria. “And don’tyoudare try lying to me, too.”
Vittoria sighs, like I’m an inconvenience. “You should leave. Right now.”
“Why?” I step forward. “All this time? You’ve been keeping her from meall this fucking time?”
Her eyes harden. “Careful.”
“Was this Lucian’s idea?” I ask. “Or yours?”
“What I do is none of your business.”
“She’s my friend!”
“Not anymore.” Her mouth curves into something cruel. “Lucian’s bitch or not, I will kill you if you keep pushing me.”
Kayla gasps, panic all over her face. “Please, let me explain. I didn’t?—”
“Shut up,” Vittoria barks.
Kayla freezes instantly, eyes glassy, body going still.
Fury roars up inside me. I launch myself at Vittoria.
She doesn’t expect it.
My fist connects with her jaw, snapping her head to the side. Pain explodes up my arm, but I don’t stop. I hit her again, then again, driving her back into the wall. She snarls, blood slick on her lips now, surprise flashing across her face.
“You stupid girl?—”
She claws at me with her talon-like nails. They slash across my cheek, blood spraying. I barely have time to react when she punches me from the other side, sending me sprawling across the floor. Stars burst behind my eyes. She’s on me in a second, knee in my chest, hands wrapping around my throat.
“It’s time someone taught you a lesson. It’s long overdue,” she says. “Being Lucian’s newest toy doesn’t make you untouchable.”
I grab her wrists, twisting, forcing her balance off just enough to knee her hard in the ribs. She grunts, and I use the momentum to hurl her off me.
I don’t care anymore.
I’m going to kill her.
I surge up the same time she does. Fangs out, every violent instinct inside me screams, and I lunge for her again?—
But I’m stopped abruptly with a firm grip on the back of my neck. I’m ripped mid-air and thrownbackward.
The force is brutal, sudden, when I slam into the opposite wall with a bone-rattling crack. My vision swims, drywall crumbling around me. It takes me a second, but when I’m able to climb to my feet again, I see Lucian standing there between us, eyes glowing, fury radiating off him in lethal waves.
“Enough,” he growls.
My breath comes fast and wild. My entire body is shaking. Kayla sobs softly from the bed.
