Page 3 of Fated to Her

“I don’t need your help. I just need to be left alone.”

He reaches for me, but I slap his hand away.

“Don’t fucking touch me!” I snap on the verge of tears.

Why can’t they see I just want to be left alone? I can deal with them being here, but I can’t deal with their hands on me. Eli growls loudly, the noise vibrating off the walls before his fist hits the metal wall, making me jump, startled at his outburst. His fist dents the panel inward, and his breathing hastens.

“You’re not the only one struggling with your heat, Addie,” he snaps at me before stepping closer, his arms caging me in.

The doors open, and he steps back at the ding! I rush out and see Maya in one of the offices off to the side of the foyer. I rush over, sticking my head in and checking on her.

“Are you hungry, Maya?” I ask her, and she looks up and nods.

Hearing movement behind me, I turn, and Eli steps past me, having been to the vending machine. He has a can of lemonade in his hand and a bag of chips. He places them on the desk for her.

“Eli!” she squeals, getting up and running around the desk to him.

“Hey, princess,” he says, kissing her head as she wraps her little arms around him. She lets go before rushing back to her seat and twirling around on it.

I leave out, closing the door before heading toward the foyer, just as I see Bella arguing with Troy. Taylor comes over, trying to settle them down, and I hear the door open and close behind me but pay Eli no mind as I move closer.

“No, I’m fucking sick of it, Troy. I hate coming to work because of you!” Bella yells at him.

A few people come in before rushing back out the sliding doors when they hear them arguing.

Troy laughs. “I’m sorry, Bella, I didn’t mean to offend you. You both just have nice plump assess,” he says, pinching my sister’s butt.

Eli growls, but I see red. Taylor shoves him away and calls him a dirty old man. But before I realize what I’m doing, I pick up the round glass paperweight on the foyer desk and smash him in the head.

He collapses from the knock, and Bella and Taylor scream as I drop on top of him, smashing his face repeatedly, his face bleeding, covering my hands in his filthy blood before arms wrap around my waist, yanking me off him. Troy lies bleeding on the floor, and it angers me when I see Bella and Taylor trying to help him, grabbing tissues and trying to stop his face from bleeding.

“Ada, what have you done?” Taylor shrieks. Tears are running down her face.

“He was touching you,” I stammer out, gazing at my shaking hands that are saturated with his blood, his nose flat against his face, and his eye sunken in. The glass paperweight slips from my fingers and shatters on the marble floor.

Taylor frantically helps Bella. Why are they trying to save him?

“I could have handled it. You didn’t need to do that. Why would you do such a thing?” she says, trying to stop his bleeding.

I hear the fire-escape door burst open, and Cyrus enters then comes to a stop. He looks at the scene before him and then at Eli.

“Get her out of here. I’ll deal with this,” he says, and then Taylor and Bella get this dazed look on their faces before he bites his wrist, giving Troy his blood.

“No, leave him! Fucking let him die!” I scream, angered Cyrus is helping him.

Eli tugs me back and toward the parking lot doors just as Maya comes rushing out of the office. I completely forgot she witnessed that. She’s crying uncontrollably but Cyrus grabs her. He whispers something to her, and she dazedly walks off into the office again and sits.

“Get her out of here, Eli!” Cyrus snaps at him, and I’m ripped away before being tossed over his shoulder.

I thrash, kicking and hitting him as he stalks through the underground parking lot. I manage to hit him between the legs, and he drops me with a grunt before reaching for me again. My entire body trembles uncontrollably as I get to my feet.

“Addie, we need to leave,” he says, but I shake my head, tears running down my face.

“No, everything was fine until you two came into my life. You need to leave. Just leave me be!” I scream at him.

They did this. None of this would have happened if they hadn’t shown up here.

“Addie, please, the heat is making you angry. You need to calm down,” Eli says, his arms outstretched like he is trying to catch a wounded animal.