“And I’m the only one who can give you everythingyouwant.”
He released my mouth and smirked down at me. “Let me show you how easy life can be. Let me show you how good it feels to be owned by someone withrealpower.”
Heat traveled up and down my spine. How many women had this worked on? How dare he posit himself as the only solution to the problemshis familyhad a large part in creating?
“Listen to me very carefully, Roman,” I hissed. “You willneverown me. I would sooner die.”
As soon as the words left my lips, Roman’s smirk evaporated. He took a step back. A vein in his forehead pulsed, as if he were holding himself back, straining against the darkness swimming in his brown eyes.
“None of this impresses me. None of it. Enjoy your hedonistic buffet and billionaire conspiracy roleplay. All I see are a bunch of losers playing dress-up.”
A chill crawled down my spine at the look on Roman’s face. It was inhuman, no light in his eyes, no emotions written into his features. Just a cold, deadly, precise glare.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, but I was too angry to focus on my body’s glaring warning signals. I retreated instead, only turning to get one final piece in.
“And another thing. Ilovethe disgusting, abhorrent subway!”
When I made it to the front porch, the world was dark and quiet. Distant voices and screams permeated from the woods or the home, but everything was muted, like a slowly fading dream.
Wes sat on the front steps, his back to me. In the foyer, Jayne had tried one more time to convince me to stay before giving up.
Whatever their plans had been for us, we’d clearly derailed them. And that was the only thing that brought me smug, spiteful comfort as my world crashed down around me.
Who was I if I had no one to save?
Or, rather, if I had no one to save butmyself?
Wes turned his head as I approached. I didn’t sit with him like I had after our first party. I didn’t ask him how he was getting home—ifhe was going home.
I had nothing to say.
A black car slowly approached, gravel crunching under tires.
“I’m sorry,” Wes said, turning away to watch the car approach.
The car pulled into the driveway, stopping in front of us.
I heaved my duffel bag over my shoulder and passed Wes on the steps. “For what?” I asked, unable to stop myself.
“All of it, Nova. I’m sorry for all of it. I’m sorry I couldn’t give you what you needed. I shouldn’t have?—”
I whipped around. “Correct. You shouldn’t have. ButIshould’ve known better.”
Wes didn’t respond. I watched him wrestle with my words for two short seconds before I turned away for the last time.
I didn’t look at him again, not even when the car started moving, and Wes remained seated on the porch steps, alone.
On the way back, I cried softly for an hour and a half. I cried until I felt numb, the past few hours hanging in my mind like some strange dream.
Itallfelt like some strange dream. I could’ve been convinced I’d hallucinated the entire past three months—if Hudson and Delilah hadn’t met Wes in the flesh, perhaps.
I’m coming home. Without Lorelei. Without Wes. It’s all over.
Hudson
Fuck. Okay. I’ll meet you there. I’ll get ice cream and pizza on the way back.
My friends were the only source of light I had to hold on to right now, my only anchor in these turbulent waves of shame and heartbreak.
