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“Word of advice, if you’re going to hurt someone with something, don’t just throw it at them, and also, before I go…” He takes a leering step toward me, and I don’t know if it’s an attempt to intimidate me or what, but I stand my ground. “Don’t think about leaving because I’ll know, and this time you won’t get away. We have unfinished business, Claire.”
Like always, he leaves me with my mouth hanging open and my still-beating heart in my hand. His footsteps echo as he walks out of the apartment, closing the door behind him. A second later, I hear the door to the apartment beside mine open. The threadbare walls make it impossible for an ounce of privacy, and now I feel even more exposed.
Lucca is here. He found me. There is no running anymore.
I’m a butterfly trapped in a cage all over again.
34
Lucca
The floor creaks beneath my steps. This entire complex is one dumpster fire away from burning to the ground. To think she’s lived here for six months, all on her own, unprotected. It makes me burn with rage. It makes me sick to my fucking stomach.
While I waited for her to return home, I scoured the entire apartment.
She barely has any food, any clothing, and no cell phone. She’s living a dirt-poor life, and I can’t fucking stand to see her like this.
I take a few calming breaths because my only other option is to stomp into her apartment, toss her over my shoulder, kicking and screaming, and drag her back to where this all started. It seems like a good idea, but giving her space and letting her get used to the idea of me being here seems like a smarter choice.
I’ll be the first to admit, I fucked up six months ago. When I told her I didn’t want a girlfriend, I was afraid. Commitment terrified me. I grew up in foster care. People came and went from my life whenever they felt. That wasn’t the biggest thing for me, though.
Knowing I wasn’t good enough for Claire was the nail in my coffin. She needed a good guy, a stable home, where she didn’t have to worry about any of my enemies.
Where I didn’t have to drag her into the dark with me.
I didn’t know what the fuck to do, but I was serious about figuring something out with her. I couldn’t even give thought to letting her go. I needed her like I needed my next breath.
It was easier for me to tell her I didn’t want a girlfriend and break her heart than risk hurting her by association. I was devastated, pissed, and disappointed in myself when I realized she had left. Tracy and Steven contacted me as soon as they got the message from her telling them she was leaving and how sorry she was.
If it wasn’t for Julian helping me, I most likely never would’ve found her.
I can’t fuck it up this time. I can’t.
I sit on the bed that came with the apartment. The mattress has springs pushing through it, and the walls have peeling wallpaper on them. Every time I look around this place, I’m tempted to put my fist through one of the walls.
Time dwindles away, like grains of sand slipping through my fingers. By now, she has to have cooled off and is probably asleep. I don’t like the idea of her being alone in that apartment.
My control wanes. It’s been six months. Six fucking months without her scent, without her tempting nature and smile. I need her, or at the very least, to be close to her.
But to be near her and not have her in the way I want is like hanging a steak over a lion’s head. He’s going to reach for it, snap and bite at it. He’s going to devour it whole once he gets his hands on it.
Bouncing my leg up and down does nothing to stop the agitation. All that is going to help me is to go to her. I have to get my fill of her. Unable to contain myself another second, I shove off the mattress and walk out of the apartment and into the hall.
I look at the door to her apartment and wonder if she locked the door. Knowing how angry and shocked she was at my appearance, she probably did.
Glancing down the hall both ways, I check if anyone is coming. Not that it would matter. Even if someone passed by, I’d tell them to mind their own fucking business. I fish the paperclip I used earlier from my pocket. Rattling the knob gently, I discover she locked the door. I smile. With a little finesse, I easily unlock the door and slip back inside her apartment.
Her apartment is identical to the one next door, with a kitchen that shares the space of both the living room and dining room. A door on the far right of the apartment leads into a bedroom, while the door closest to it is the bathroom.
