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He’d physically removed Grey from the frat house and then tossed everything Grey owned—valuablesincluded—out of his bedroom window without letting him collect his stuff.
That wasn’t the worst of it.
A few days later, still bitter at the fact that Grey would turn his back on the frat for a girl, he’d crashed her birthday party. He’d threatened her with a knife.
The police had been involved, and Will ended up doing some jail time for that and for the combination of a few other misdemeanors I hadn’t been aware of.
He’d gotten out of jail on parole earlier this year. When he’d heard of Adrian falling for Gabby, he’d gone psycho all over again. He’d abducted Gabby, threatening her as punishment to Adrian for breaking The Pact.
Sudden fear tore through my chest at the memory. The card slipped from my hand.
I held my breath, placed both feet flat on the floor, and gripped the edge of my desk.
In the past two instances, Will had attacked women to get back at the men who’d broken The Pact.
Nervous energy spurted through me in such a rush I pushed to my feet, needing the movement. Needing to process the sudden realization.
After tonight, I was moving precariously close to the breaking point as well.
I hadn’t cared about The Pact since leaving college, really. Even while dating Amelia, I hadn’t been in danger of breaking it.
But now?
“Ella,” I said on a breath to the empty room.
Ella was worth going back on my word. She was tough but sweet, selfless and hardworking. She was irresistibly beautiful, and I hadn’t been able to get enough of her.
The look in her eyes when she’d taken my clothes from me, the way our hands had brushed, the way she’d felt in my arms…
From the tingling euphoria and possessiveness I felt, I knew?—
I wasn’t just close to the edge.
I’d already slipped off of it.
The strength threatened to leave my knees. I staggered to the wall between the two windows behind my desk and leaned against it, breathing inexplicably roughly.
The prospect of loving anyone had been impossible for so long. I’d avoided it as a plausibility for over ten years now. I’d feared being entrapped in the same mistakes my parents had made; I’d feared marrying only to lead lives of mutual resentment and loneliness the way Mom and Dad did.
Those fears had shifted entirely—without me even realizing it. I’d pursued Ella only as a game at first. Things had gradually evolved into something more real. Now, the only misgivings I held with regard to love and marriage was putting Ella in danger.
How did Will know I was getting so close to her? Did he know I was falling for her?
Why did he care? And was he the one who told Ella’sstepsister?
“He’s back in jail,” I said aloud to the empty room.
The words didn’t appease my fears. If anything, they made them worse.
What was Will up to? Had he been the one to send the warning cards to the wedding? Had he somehow contacted Pris? How did he even know her?
I didn’t like this at all. I had to talk to the guys, but it was the middle of the night.
I swore and clenched my fist to keep from striking out at something. There was nothing I could do about it right now. I’d have to wait until after Christmas to get to the bottom of this.
I readied for bed, set my alarm, and settled onto the folded-out futon. The room still smelled like her, like moonlight and pomegranates. It would have been all too easy to keep kissing her, to forget the rest of the world and focus only on her.
I was glad I hadn’t, though. We needed to rest before meeting the kids at the hospital in a few hours.
