34. Chapter 34
Chapter 34
-Annabella-
K ace did grow rather bored with the party after all, and I was ready to leave when he was. After proving that we weren’t people to look down on, Kace was no longer interested in staying.
Yet I had to go to the bathroom before we left, and so I disappeared for a little while. After washing my hands and fixing my hair, I stepped out into the hallway. But then I saw Zac appear, looking around, before his eyes fell on me.
He seemed angry as he came storming toward me. It was clear he had been looking for me, but I couldn’t understand why. I certainly had no interest in talking to him. So I tried walking past him, but he grabbed my arm and turned me toward him. Then he held up the ring I had given him back.
“What is this?” he asked angrily.
“What do you mean?” I inquired, confused.
“The ring,” he hissed.
“I see it.”
“Why would you give it back to me here at the party? What the fuck were you thinking?” he snarled. “You make it seem like I cared.”
“I thought you did!” I snapped. “I thought you did care, but then I learned you didn’t, and so why shouldn’t I hand it back to you at this party? It’s not like it meant anything at all, so why can’t I give it back now?”
Zac seemed to grow a little quiet, which confused me. But then I moved closer to him, realizing something when I saw his eyes glance around.
“Oh, unless the ring did mean something?” I taunted.
He seemed stunned by my question, and I smiled, ripping my arm away from him.
“I'm not your toy to play with. I have no interest in being the thing you take out when you want people to laugh. I'm done with you, Zac, and you know how much that ring meant to me, so I thought it would be the perfect way to get my message through. We are done with each other… Or maybe not even done because nothing ever began. I thought I had a friend in you, and I would gladly have continued only being friends, but I was wrong. You weren’t a friend. You were nothing,” I snarled.
He looked even more shocked at me, but I straightened my back, feeling good about myself. Then I began leaving. However, Zac wasn’t done and reached out, grabbing my arm harder this time and squeezing so tightly that it felt like he touched the bone.
“Ouch! Zac, stop it. It hurts!” I snapped.
“You think you can just humiliate me at my own engagement party? You think you can come here and act all high and mighty because you married the great Kace? He is nothing, and so are you ,” he growled.
“Well, if I'm nothing, then why are you still talking to me?”
Zac moved closer, and for the first time, I actually felt a bit scared of him. “Zac, let go!”
He pressed harder around my arm, and I whimpered, truly feeling pain. I tried pushing him back, but he was much stronger than me.
“Zac!” I yelled.
“You think you actually matter? You think you have value, but you do not. You’re mean less than air!” he snapped.
“Let me go!”
“Anna?” I heard a powerful voice echo down the hallway, and when I turned around, I saw Kace further away, with a dark look in his eyes.
When Zac noticed him, he slowly let go of me, and I stumbled back. Even after his accident, Kace carried power, and it showed because Zac didn’t dare do anything else. Yet he kept looking at me, and I felt his eyes bore into the back of my skull as I neared Kace. He reached out, holding out his hand, and I took it. “Are you okay?”
I glanced back at Zac, who was glaring at both of us. Then I turned to Kace and nodded. “I’m fine. Can we just go?”
“Sure.”
We moved away, going to the entrance of the house, and then left. I had no interest in saying any goodbyes. My arm was hurting badly, and I was certain a bruise would form.
It took a little while before we were in the car again, but I was so relieved when we were on our way back. When we stepped into the house, Kace called out to me before I could go to my room and look at the damage.
“Come with me,” he told me, rolling past me down the hallways.
I followed, feeling like I was in a trance. I was still trying to process everything that had gone down between me and Zac. I couldn’t believe what had happened. He had never been this way before.
Kace moved into his room, and I entered after him, but he went straight to the bathroom next. I walked inside, and he turned to me.
“Show me,” he ordered.
“What?” I inquired.
“Take off your dress and let me see.”
“I don’t need it off.”
“Then at least remove the sleeve.”
I sighed and nodded. My dress had long sleeves, so the damage couldn’t be seen. I slipped my arm out and then looked toward the mirror, but Kace was faster, grabbing my arm gently and turning me to him. We both studied the damage and saw a clear bruise on my arm.
“How hard did he grab you?” Kace murmured before looking into my eyes with a dark fury. But I didn’t feel scared at all. I felt quite comforted by the intensity because his anger was not directed at me.
“Hard,” I whispered.
Kace shook his head, then reached for a cloth, wetting it with icy cold water before pressing it to my arm. I hissed.
“Sorry,” he said. “I'm not good at being gentle.”
I chuckled a little, shaking my head. “I think you’re wrong about that.”
We smiled at each other, but we both knew the cold water wasn’t going to do much about the bruises. Still, it was a nice gesture, and I appreciated it.
“I'm going to strangle him the next time I see him,” Kace said darkly.
“No need. I don’t need my husband to go to jail,” I told him.
Kace found me amusing, chuckling a little. “Fine, then I will just make subtle threats.”
“Isn’t that technically a crime too?” I teased.
“Fine, warnings then,” he relented, making me nod.
“You can make warnings. I have a few things I would like to say to him as well, though.”
“I can imagine,” Kace murmured. “What even made him react this way?”
“The ring,” I said.
“Right, the ring,” he sighed, shaking his head.
“But it surprised me just how much it affected him. I didn’t think he would get that angry. I mean, I mean nothing to him,” I pointed out, but Kace remained quiet, which confused me. Why did he suddenly grow so quiet? “Kace?”
Kace focused on keeping the cloth against my skin, and it was taking away the painful sting.
“Kace?” I called again.
“Yeah?” he replied.
“Why did you grow so quiet? I mean nothing to him,” I repeated, and I heard Kace sigh before he lowered the cloth and then looked up at me.
“I don’t think that is true,” he admitted.
“What?”
“I mean, I thought the same, but no one who cares so little would do something like this,” he pointed out.
“I just hurt his ego,” I reminded him.
“Yes, but if you meant so little, not even his ego would have taken a hit. I think he needs you in a way that is sick and twisted, and he didn’t like seeing you rise up against him. You have been his booster for years, and now you did this,” Kace explained.
“Booster?” I echoed.
“Yes, booster. The one who comes to him or who he goes after when he needs a pick-me-up. It’s pathetic and it’s bad, but it does give you value.”
“Wonderful…” I whispered.
“Yeah, not really,” he groaned.
“Not really,” I mumbled. “So I'm a precious thing? I'm like the ring?”
“Yeah, you sort of are. You’re in his mind, his possession.”
“But that is sick!” I exclaimed.
“I know,” he said.
“Fuck!”