Chapter 14
FOURTEEN
LILITH
Dear Diary,
I can’t stay away.
Believe me when I say I’ve tried.
Like a caterpillar trying to turn into a butterfly, it’s impossible to stop it unless you die.
And if I die, I’m taking him with me.
Deadly smile and all.
I’ll burn my panties on the way to hell.
xox
For once in my life, I’m going to listen to my father. I will meet with the man he asked me to see. Hopefully, it will help.
I stayed at that hotel and visited my father a few more times, which I needed, and so did he. Now, I have decided I need to see Reon one last time.
This isn’t healthy, this obsession I have with him.
It’s not normal.
But what is normal?
I couldn’t resist when I saw the signs in my hotel telling me about an event for Patrick’s Aviation tonight. So, I chose a dress, got ready, and waited.
When I saw him arrive, I was sitting in the lobby. His gaze was trained ahead as Maya, the soon-to-be fiancée, walked next to him. I still don’t see a ring on her finger, but I know that’s where it’s heading.
“Maya, could you please ask Earl to come over here? I’m sure he would love to discuss everything with this lady. I’ll take a photo while you do that.”
Maya’s hand drops from his chest as she nods eagerly at him. She offers me the kindest smile before she walks off, holding her dress in one hand so it doesn’t drag on the floor. And when I look back at Reon, his eyes are already on me.
“Caterpillar.”
“Why do you call me that?” I ask, and he steps closer.
“You haven’t discovered who you are yet. I’m waiting for you to emerge from your cocoon, and when you do…” He leans down and whispers in my ear, “I’ll be waiting.” I hear him inhale deeply as I feel the softest touch of his nose on the pulse in my neck.
Did he just smell me?
Pulling back, he meets my gaze.
“I’m sure Maya wouldn’t appreciate you waiting for another woman.”
“I’m sure she wouldn’t,” he says, eyeing me. “But what she doesn’t know…”
“Won’t hurt her?” I add.
“Exactly,” he drawls, which causes my gaze to drop to his lips.
“When was the last time you played with red?” I ask, and his brows pinch together at my question. After a moment, his eyes light up in understanding.
“Do you want to do it again, Caterpillar? I’m sure I could find someone else for us. You could be the helpless woman again, though we both know you are anything but helpless.” His tone is harsh, but I see something more hidden behind his expression.
“I never said that.”
“But you think it.” Both brows rise at his words.
“I do not,” I argue, tilting my chin up.
“If you say so, Caterpillar.” He glances away momentarily before bringing his focus back to me.
“Maya said you needed me,” a man, whom I assume is Earl, says to Reon as he approaches, Maya at his side. I see the instant it registers on his face who I am. I’ve seen him at the bar before with Reon.
“Reon here was just telling me you’re the mastermind behind his company. That’s so amazing to hear,” I say to Earl, who looks at Reon before his eyes return to mine.
“Yes. Yes, I am.” His expression shows confusion, his brows furrowing as he tries to understand what I have said. His eyes flicker with a hint of concern, unsure of what to believe.
“This lovely lady was telling me how she enjoyed the cockpit of a plane way too much,” Maya says, then turns to Reon. “Maybe one day you’ll show me.” She sidles up next to him and places her hand in his.
“Cockpit? You fly planes often?” Earl asks me, and I shift my gaze from her hand to Earl.
“No, I went to Nashville last year, and it was a great experience. I enjoyed it tremendously.”
“Nashville,” Earl says, staring at Reon.
“I must really be going. Would you care to walk me out, Earl? I’d love to ask you a bit more if you’d oblige me.”
“If it’s about flying the plane, I’m sure I can assist,” Reon offers. “Earl, please see that Maya gets a drink. I’ll be right back.” He steps toward me before I have a chance to move away and offers me his elbow.
“I don’t want to take you away from your fiancée. I’m so sorry.” My hand lifts to my chest as I turn to Maya.
“It’s no problem.” She beams at my use of the word fiancée and doesn’t correct me. On the other hand, Reon looks like he’s about to crack his teeth from how hard his jaw is clenched.
“Thank you. It was lovely to meet you both.” As we walk out, I slide my hand into the crook of his waiting elbow.
Reon says nothing, but I feel him staring at me as we get closer and closer to the door.
As soon as we’re out of the room and the door shuts behind us, he turns and pushes me into the women’s bathroom, slamming the door and locking it from the inside.
“Reon.” I smile at him and step to the sink. Turning the faucet on, I wash my hands and then reach for a towel to dry them.
“Did you think I would let you run again?” He pushes off the door and stalks toward me.
I throw the towel in the trash and turn to face him. “I was hoping you would chase me this time.” I give him a wink, and it pauses his approach.
“Why?”
“Has your man had trouble finding me lately?”
His chin lifts, and he smirks. “Clever Little Caterpillar.” He tsks at me. “You did well at hiding this time.”
“My name is Lilith, Reon, you know this. Maybe you should give Maya a nickname.” The closeness of him affects me as chills run over the back of my neck.
He doesn’t let on that he’s affected, too.
But why else would we be here? He’s locked me in a bathroom and cornered me, for fuck’s sake.
He may not express it in words and possibly has tried to kill me multiple times, but I’m sure I have the same effect on him.
He likes me.
He simply has a funny way of showing it.
“Maya doesn’t need to develop into anything, Caterpillar. She knows who she is. It’s you who is struggling.”
“That’s why I’m here,” I tell him, one of my hands gripping my hip as I look up at him. “No more following, and no more stalking.”
“Does this include you?”
“Yes, of course it does.” I smile. “I am a lady. I’m true to my word, Reon Holloway.” I give him a playful smirk. “Now, as a gentleman, I want you to be true to yours.”
“Who said I was a gentleman, Caterpillar? I’m the furthest thing from one, especially around you.”
Licking my lips, I nod and then hold out my hand. “Truce. As soon as we walk out of this bathroom—”
“I don’t do truces with the woman I plan to fuck,” he says, cutting me off.
“We fucked, past tense. There’s no plan to,” I challenge.
Leaning in closer, he bends and touches his lips to my ear. “Oh, there is a plan, all right. I plan to have you in my bed, on the floor, on the fucking roof of my house. You don’t get to call this thing off, Little Caterpillar. You started it, and now I will finish it.”
I pull back from him. “You’re with another woman,” I point out.
“I’ll be ending it,” he declares, thinking he’s ending all discussion on the subject.
“You can’t,” I argue, shaking my head.
“I can do anything I goddamn wish.”
“I’m over you, Reon. It’s why I’m here… to tell you I’m moving on.” I smile at him. Tomorrow, I will meet with my father’s therapist. The one who can help me. Or so he says. But I need to start fresh, away from what has held me captive for the last year.
Him.
If steam could leave his ears right now, it would. It would shoot straight out and set everything alight. His jaw is hard, his teeth clenched tightly.
“You’re over me?” he asks, gripping the counter so tightly his knuckles turn white.
“Over me? Is that how you’re putting it?
” I remain quiet. “You can’t simply get over me, Caterpillar.
I’m a part of you at this point. There’s no escaping me, whether you like it or not.
” I gasp. “Do you want me to break you again? Break you so you can see that no other man can compete?”
Little does he know he’s already achieved that. Literally, every second of those nights we shared was perfect for me.
Even the part where my husband found us.
Perfection.
And I knew I had to run; otherwise, it would be ruined.
Why ruin a good thing?
“You would break me?” I ask.
“Don’t sound like you wouldn’t enjoy it, caterpillar. You did once before.” He smirks, dipping his hand into his jacket pocket. He pulls a box out and hands it to me. It’s a ring box, and I don’t want anything to do with it. “Take it,” he insists.
“How about no?” I glare up at him.
He opens the box, but there is no ring inside. Instead, it’s a pendant in the shape of a broken heart. He turns it over, and on the other side, it reads, ‘Mine’. Four simple letters that hold so much power.
“I’m not taking that. I’m not yours, and you are a fool to think otherwise.”
He pulls it out of the box, and I see a delicate chain attached to it. He moves to stand behind me. After brushing my hair from my shoulder, he fastens the necklace around my neck.
“It’s cute you think you can tell me what to do,” Reon growls in my ear.
“It’s cute you think I would listen to you,” I bite back, turning my head so I can see him. He’s smirking. I turn my face as he leans in, and his lips land on my cheek. “I didn’t give you permission to kiss my lips.”
“It’s not those lips I want, Caterpillar.”
“And I don’t agree with infidelity.” I pull away, but he tugs me so my back slams into his front.
“I’m not cheating.”
“You are. She and everyone else think you’re with her. I couldn’t care less what you think.”
“It’s an arrangement, Caterpillar.”
“One you agreed to,” I point out, the chain hitting my bare skin, and it’s burning a hole where it touches.
“One I had to agree to because I haven’t chosen a wife yet,” he explains.
I’d heard stories of The Creed of the Forsaken choosing wives for their members.
They place a necklace on their intended so anyone in the Forsaken knows they are taken.
My hand touches the necklace, and I wonder if it’s the same, even though I am not taken.
The truth and fiction of the Society are just that—only they know what the truth is, and no one ever corrects the fiction of the outside world.
Who would believe that filthy, deadly rich men have a Society that protects them?
Doesn’t their money do that already? No, they add more influential people to give them greater control.
It’s all a game of money and power.
And only those who are members know the true extent of it all.
“I’m going to choose a wife now.” His hands go around my neck, and I feel the cold of the necklace being placed there, with the heat from his hands almost searing me. “Mine,” he whispers, his teeth nipping my ear.
I pull away, and this time, he doesn’t stop me as I unlock the door and walk out as fast as my heels can carry me away from him.
When I look back, he lifts something from the neckline of his shirt. I see the necklace I lost that night hanging around his neck and a deadly smirk on his lips.