Page 93 of The Monster and the Masochist

“Cass…” He took advantage of how stunned I was to take my hands in his. He clutched my fingers tightly, giving me a horrifyingly sincere look.

“I know I tease you all the time, but… I think you’re incredible, Cassandra. You blow me away every day. You’re a fucking force. Sometimes I feel like I’m lucky to just be breathing the same air as you. So when that woman… She’s a woman, right? When she was staring at you like that, and you couldn’t seem to take your eyes off her… I was so jealous. I didn’t know she was your future sister-in-law. I never would have called her that if I knew that’s how you two knew each other.”

I blinked as I processed his words.

There was a lot to unpack there… and most of it made me angry.

‘Just kill him already. You’d be doing the world a favor. One less idiot man to waste everyone’s time,’ my monster hissed, and this time, I was having a harder time disagreeing with it.

“So you would have still called her a dyke if she wasn’t my sister-in-law?” I asked, my voice back to that cold, dead tone that meant I was seconds away from fully succumbing to the murderous rage I’d been fighting to keep contained since I was a small child.

“What? No, that’s not what I meant! Christ… I keep saying the wrong things…”

“Well, she’s not just my sister-in-law. She’s my fiancée.”

I said it calmly and clearly. Almost deadpan. His fingers spasmed around my hands as if he thought that if he held onto me tight enough, he wouldn’t lose me.

“What!? No she’s not. Don’t be ridiculous, Cass. You’re not gay.”

‘You’re right. I should just fucking kill him,’ I whispered to my demon, and the thing just laughed quietly inside my chest.

I was wondering if I would be strong enough to simply strangle him to death before he managed to overpower me, or if I should kick him in the dick, then make a beeline for the knife block on my counter, when my elevator dinged.

The next series of events almost seemed to happen in slow motion.

Nolan twisted to glance over his shoulder as the doors opened to reveal a sweat-slicked, flushed Theodora.

The veins in her arms were pumped up from her workout, and she was in her usual all-black gym fit. She had her gym bag slung over one shoulder, and she was using her free hand to tap out a message on her phone to someone.

My phone buzzed on the table, and my heart warmed as I realized she’d been texting me.

Probably to tell me she was home.

The warm feeling faded as she glanced up, her dark, intelligent eyes taking in the scene before her.

I watched as she processed the fact that Nolan was here.

Her brow furrowed, and her gaze dropped down to where he was clutching both my hands in his.

I quickly yanked them away, but the damage had already been done.

The surprise on her face quickly darkened to anger, and to my horror, something that looked close to hurt flickered across her features.

It only got worse as I watched her glance over to the bouquet of flowers he’d placed on the counter before basically accosting me in my own home.

“Theo…” I said, my voice coming out breathy and much too squeaky for my liking.

Her gaze slammed into mine, and I felt a cold shot of a feeling I didn’t recognize course through me.

Anxiety?

If this was what anxiety felt like, it fucking sucked…

“Well, don’t let me interrupt whatever’s going on here,” she said, her tone cool and detached.

As angry as she clearly was, she still took the time to kick off her shoes before brushing past Nolan as she made her way toward the hall that led to the bedrooms.

“Theo, wait–” I called, reaching for her as she walked by, but she stepped out of my reach.