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“I want to protect you.” He gave me the barest of shakes before releasing me. The raw honesty stunned me. “Why is that so difficult for you to understand?”
“Being that you’re a raging asshole more often than not? You didn’t used to be—” That was the most difficult part. Tears burned in my eyes, although I refused to shed them even as emotion tried to clog my throat. No, I wasn’t going to cry over Adam. I’d done that so much over the years. Not anymore. “You used to be my friend, and then one day—you just cut me out. Never a kind word. Every single syllable you delivered was a cutting comment. You interfered, you followed me, you compared me to my mother. You wanted me cut out of everything. When you’re not around to do it, Ezra is more than happy to do the same.”
“How am I trying to control you now?” Adam asked, head cocked, and I wished we could strip away these masks. I knew it was him from how he moved to how he focused on me. Didn’t mean I didn’t want to see his face.
“Where are we?” I motioned to the alcove.
“Maybe I wanted to be alone with you and lately, that’s difficult because you’re always with that damn—” He broke off, editing himself.
“You’re always gone. You never say where. You played dead for how long? I didn’t even know you weremissinguntil Ezra freaked out at me for disappearing to help find Emersyn.” He’d been beside himself. “Then he didn’t even tell me anything as he hauled me to his island for a month.”
“He what?” Adam snapped.
“You heard me. Maybe you two should talk more instead of telling me I need to go with you or stop doing what I’m doing.” The longer this went on the more upset I grew. Upset and disappointed. I thought I’d gotten past the hero worship I’d had for Adam when I was younger. He literally could do no wrong, and then he’d turned on me.
Here I was, being pathetic about it.
“Lainey—”
I sliced my hand through the air. “I’m done. You had your dance or two and your private moment. Now I need to get back to my date.” I glanced to the alcove. Was there a latch I could press that would open it again?
Nothing obvious jumped out at me. Fine, I knew Waltham Corners well enough, I’d make my own way back. I pivoted away from him and gripped the skirt to make sure it didn’t trip me as I walked. I barely made it two steps before he gripped my arm and hauled me backwards.
Aggravated, I turned and slammed my free elbow into his gut. He grunted but didn’t let me go. Instead, he whirled me around and pushed me against the wall. “I’m not done yet—”
The rest of the sentence cut off as Karagiani just appeared out of the shadows. His plague doctor mask offered a terrible visage as he hauled Adam backward. Pretty Boy was there, stepping between me and Adam, even as Karagiani jerked one of Adam’s arms up behind his back. The grunt of pain didn’t sound manufactured.
“Stop,” I ordered. I moved up next to Pretty Boy.
“He tried to kidnap you,” Karagiani said, his tone flat with dislike and irritation. Right.
“It definitely looked like that,” I said. “Although he wanted to talk to me in private. Granted, he could have handled it better…” The last I directed at Adam before looking to Karagiani again. “Let him go, please. He didn’t hurt me.”
Not this time. No, this time, the possessive bastard just infuriated me.
Pretty Boy glanced at me and while the shadows did make reading eyes a challenge in the isolated hall, I could almost taste the question in the air.
“I’m really alright,” I murmured. “It’s Adam.”
Some of the tension drained from his posture and he nodded. “I agree with Mayhem. Let him go.”
Karagiani released Adam, though he was hardly gentle about it. Adam pivoted to face him and I could almost see the fury shimmering in the air off of him. “You put your hands on me again, and you’ll regret it.”
The threat held real menace. While the plague doctor mask hid Karagiani’s expression, his posture exhibited no response. “Touch the principal again, and you won’t be around to make anyone regret anything.”
Adam straightened, shoulders back and his head up even as he fixed his jacket. I didn’t have to see his face to know he was already plotting something. Karagiani had not made friends.
“Maybe we should all return to the gala,” I suggested. Pretty Boy held out his hand and I took it without hesitation. “There is certainly more to see and do.”
“Of course,” Karagiani said, motioning for us to precede him. He planned to put himself between us and Adam. I could have protested, but the crackling tension and the stiffness in their postures threatened a powder keg of a response.
I glanced from right to left. It took me a moment to pin down where we were precisely. Left. That was the way we needed to go. Milo was silent as we walked and I only stole one look back to see Karagiani standing off with Adam for another few brief moments before he followed.
The stroke of Milo’s thumb against my wrist alerted me to the hammer of my pulse and I glanced up at him. “Sorry,” I murmured. “I didn’t expect Adam to pull the disappearing act.”
“I guessed,” Milo said. Though his jaw was tight, he managed to not grind the words. “We waited, but after five minutes and you didn’t reappear, we came hunting.”
“Thank you.” We followed the bend in the hall that led back toward the entrance to the ballroom.
