“I don’t want to see you. I never wanted to see you again.”
“Yet here we are, reunited, as if it were meant to be.”
“Don’t be thick, you sick fuck. You’re here because you were invited. Because you’re connected to the Blackwoods. That’s it.”
Rosco bares me a sick, wolfish grin. “You remember I’m thick as fuck, huh?” He brings a hand from his pocket to grope himself and I shudder, ice-cold sweat trickling down my spine. “I remember how loud you screamed at it too.”
He closes the distance and I can’t fight the tears anymore. He’s too much, he brings too much pain with him. He brings too much fuckingbaddarkness.
I drop my head in shame, guilt, regret. “Please, just go,” I whisper, hating how I can’t summon enough strength to be brave in front of him. How much his presence crushes me. How small he makes me feel.
“Oh, baby,” he drops his voice to a quiet, smooth tone, as if talking to a lover. “Don’t be sad. It’s good. I’ve missed you so much.” A crooked finger comes up and hooks under my chin, and I’m powerless to stop him tilting my head up to him. He’s about Fiz’s height, but when he looms over me, he shrinks me a lot more than Fiz does.
Those amber eyes that glow like the flames of Hell. The flash of metal and fire and razor-sharp pain that flicker there as I’m held hostage by his gaze throws me back into the black hole of my nightmares.
I keep my lips pressed together to stop them from wobbling.
He runs his other hand down the front of Caden’s blazer, down my stomach. The sensation of him touching me is like having a hundred spiders crawl all over me. “I can’t say I’m thrilled to see you wearing another man’s clothes, though.”
“Fiancé,” I spit.
Rosco snorts, dismissing the correction completely. “Did you miss me?”
I sniffle, a tear escaping as I blink. “No, Rosco.”
His thumb comes up and grazes my bottom lip and I quiver.
Please, make him go away,the darkness whimpers.
I can’t, I silently reply. He won’t ever go away.
“Now, now, baby, don’t cry for me. This is good. Now you’re a part of the Blackwoods, we can work closely together. We can see a lot more of each other.”
The very thought has my body summoning strength it had temporarily been zapped of. I use both my hands and shove him hard in the chest, getting a couple steps between us as he staggers back.
He just laughs. “There’s my little fighter.” He advances towards me again.
I’m about to scream. I open my mouth wide and suck in a long breath to scream this fucking place down when the door bursts open.
I swear I could crumble into a pile of tears and bones at the sight of Fiz.
He takes the scene in for a moment, a confused, unhappy expression on his face, before it dissolves and the aloof Fiz appears again. “Your fiancé wanted to know what was taking so long.” His eyes dart between me and Rosco.
I gulp down the fear, knowing I’m safe now. “I’m sorry, I was trying to –”
“Trying to climb out the damn window.” Rosco cuts in, then sneers. “I was helping.”
Fiz tilts his head and narrows his eyes at him. “I bet Caden would love to know you were helping his bride escape his clutches.”
Rosco laughs, straightening his shirt. “Can you blame her? You’d have to lack brain cells and common sense to willingly marry him.”
Fiz’s eyes flick to mine and, for a moment, it looks like he might believe I was trying to escape. I shake my head slowly.
Fiz’s attention goes back to Rosco. “It’s more believable that she saw your ugly ass waltz in here and tried to flee out the window. That would make more sense.”
Rosco waves it off. “Whatever.” He starts toward the door.
Fiz doesn’t move out the way. He folds his arms across his chest and becomes a brick wall.
