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“So, what’s your endgame? Is this just another way for you to mess with me?” I sneer. “You haven’t fucked my life up enough, so you thought you’d take the only person left who matters to me?”
“I assume you mean Lacey.”
“Of course I mean her,” I growl, narrowing my eyes.
“You’ve got this all wrong, Lucas. All I wanted to try and do was find a way to reconnect with you. I thought if I could get Lacey on my side to see that I’m not a bad guy then you might listen to her.”
“Why go to all the hassle?” I ask. “Why not just pick up the phone and call?”
“Because you’d have just hung up on me,” he replies.
He’s right. I probably would have.
“I never meant to make things worse, and I never intended to develop feelings for Lacey.”
I look at him sharply, my stomach twisting into knots. “You don’t even deserve to speak her name,” I say, gritting my teeth. “Don’t talk to me about Lacey. You took advantage of her. You lied to her and me. Why should I trust anything you have to say? You should’ve told her who you were, or better yet, you should have just stayed the fuck away.”
“Told her?” he laughs. “Is that really what you would’ve wanted? Because I get the feeling she doesn’t know about your sister, or how you blame yourself for her death.”
“I blame you,” I growl.
“But you blame yourself just as much,” he says, his dark eyes piercing mine. “What if you’d just done what she wanted and let her hang with you that day? Maybe she’d still be alive. That’s what you tell yourself, right?”
“Shut your fucking mouth,” I hiss, moving so close to him I can feel his breath on my cheek. I glare at him, forcing myself to look him in the eye as I release all the anger I’ve cooped up inside me for the last ten years.
“You blame me because it eases the guilt you feel yourself,” he says. “You want to hate me, because hating me gives you purpose. Tell me I’m wrong,” he urges me.
My fingers curl into fists beside me. I can’t tell him he’s wrong, because he’s not, and that fucking kills me.
“Just stay away from her,” I say, defeated. “You’ve messed her up enough, okay? For her sake, leave her the hell alone.”
“You really like her, don’t you?” he asks, his eyes burning through me.
My heart pounds. He’s the last person I want to admit my feelings to.
“If you like her as much as I think you do, then you need to do something about it before you lose her. She’s too good a person to wait around for you, Lucas.” He pauses long enough to look me in the eye. “You tell me I’ve messed with her enough, but I can say the same about you.”
“Except you’re the one taking advantage of someone half your age, who is not only your intern, but also your son’s best friend,” I hiss. Doesn’t he see how much worse he is than me? “Was fucking her part of the plan, or was that just a bonus?”
“She told you about what happened Friday,” Aaron says, his face going white. “Is that all she told you?”
“What are you talking about?” I mutter, confused. “I’m talking about you seducing her to get to me by hiring her. What do you mean, Friday…?” I stop talking as it finally hits me. We had plans that she couldn’t make, Friday night. She cancelled them for him? I hunch over, my hands resting on my knees. I feel sick, like I’m going to vomit, but that’s nothing compared to the rage that’s rising inside me. I can’t believe she would do this to me.
I straighten up and pull back my arm, my fingers clenched into a tight ball. Using every bit of my force, I swing, my fist hitting him square in the nose. I stagger back, out of breath and oblivious to the pain radiating through my wrist as his hands fly to his face. Blood pours from under his hands as he glares at me, a look of disbelief on his face. With adrenaline pulsating through me, I take a step back and flex my aching fingers. With one hit, I feel better than I have in weeks.
“I should’ve done that a long time ago,” I mutter, spitting the words out.
I stare at him for a moment before turning around and storming out.
I’m at my car before the full ramifications of what just happened hit me. Although taking him out felt good, it doesn’t make us even. As far as I’m concerned, our relationship became unrepairable ten years ago. What I’m struggling to understand is Lacey.
She was with him, even after she knew who he was.
How could she do that to me? It cuts deep, deeper than I’ve ever felt before, and I don’t like it. I’m angry at her for siding with him, but I’m angrier at myself for pushing her into his arms. I told her to finish her fu
cking internship. She wanted to walk away, but I made her promise to go back. Not only that, I made it pretty clear that she and I weren’t going to happen.
What the fuck did I expect? I’ve been pushing her away for years. Only this time it’s too late, because I’ve pushed her right into the arms of the person I hate most in the world.
